Transcript: Christians and the Surveillance State: A Biblical Perspective on Covid 19

The video of the video is banned. There's a chance that this very video could be banned, as Google, YouTube and other apps are exercising more and more autocratic decision-making about what content they consider suitable for display on the Internet, and any reference to the Mark of the Beast appears to be getting unfavorable treatment. In our recent video about the coronavirus and the move towards a cashless society we explained that the COVID-19 pandemic has given the system a perfect opportunity to push the cashless agenda. We've been told that cash is unhygienic and could be used to spread the virus giving even more reason to switch to digital payments. We also touched on how the pandemic provides a perfect opportunity for governments and agencies to widely and rapidly scale up surveillance and the digital profiling of citizens. In a very short space of time, numerous reports have been published revealing the extent of this push which we expect to increase as time goes on. In this video, we'll touch on some of these surveillance developments while keeping in mind the bigger picture and, most importantly, what the Christian response to all this is. In a New Statesman article on 25 March 2020, entitled The Rise of the Biosurveillance State, Jeremy Cliff wrote about a trilemma facing governments in light of COVID-19. Put simply, governments have three options. The first option is for them to relax the lockdowns, but doing this too soon risks triggering a second wave of the virus. The second option is to maintain draconian lockdowns until a scalable vaccine is developed, but this will have a devastating impact on people's mental health, on society and the economy. This leaves a third and final option, bio-surveillance. This enables governments to release restrictions without risking a devastating second wave of the virus by isolating those who have or may have it. Of course what this necessitates is monitoring the entire population on a massive scale to determine their virus status and behavior While citizens in most countries would under most circumstances refuse to stand for the draconian measures being ushered in the arrival and proliferation of COVID-19 has provided governments with an unprecedented justification for implementing these measures, on the basis of security and protection. This has led to literally billions of people facing enhanced social monitoring through the advancement and enforcement of new surveillance technologies and regulations. In Moscow, for example, the city's residents are obligated to register for a government-issued QR code containing personal data to travel around the city in private or public transport. This would need to be carried at all times and presented to police when requested, either on people's smartphone or as a printout. Moreover, the city's inhabitants' movements can be tracked through a mandatory app on their smartphones. If someone doesn't have a smartphone, the city says it will lend one out, meaning there's absolutely no excuse for failing to comply. Authorities have warned that these new tools are being merged with a giant network of existing street cameras and facial recognition software to quickly identify residents who leave their homes and break quarantine regulations. Measures like these are, of course, being rolled out on the basis that they are in the public's best interest. This sounds almost reasonable in the face of a fast-spreading virus. However, what may be spreading even faster than the virus is the loss of people's civil liberties. One thing is clear, wrote Leonid Volkov, a chief strategist of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The coronavirus will eventually leave, but this digital concentration camp will remain. An article from The Guardian on April 14, 2020, revealed that governments in at least 25 countries are already employing vast programs for mobile data tracking, apps to record personal contact with others, CCTV networks equipped with facial recognition, permission schemes to go outside, and drones to enforce social isolation regimes. No doubt the number of countries employing these programs will increase over the coming weeks and months. This isn just an issue with authoritarian governments this is happening across the world said Samuel Woodhams the digital rights lead at the London Top 10 VPN who has compiled an index of new surveillance measures related to the coronavirus outbreak A lot of the technologies we're seeing are alarmingly similar. What this shows is that a global surveillance infrastructure is in the making, with the capacity to touch every aspect of our lives. In a recent interview, famed whistleblower Edward Snowden, who exposed the National Security Agency's surveillance of the American people in 2012, said, As authoritarianism spreads, as emergency laws proliferate, as we sacrifice our rights, We also sacrifice our capability to arrest this slide into a less liberal and less free world. Do you truly believe that when the first wave, the second wave, the 16th wave of the coronavirus is a long forgotten memory, that these capabilities will not be kept, that these data sets will not be kept? No matter how it is being used, what is being built is the architecture of oppression. This is where an understanding of Bible prophecy is so important to help bring a prophetic filter to current world events and developments. Unfortunately, this filter is left out of mainstream news, which is why even the best articles on the subject usually fail to give readers what they most need to hear. We know from prophecies in Daniel and the Revelation that a final world government and dictator, the Antichrist, will deceive people into contracting with the system in an irrevocable way. This government and leader will be unlike anything before its time. Scripture reveals that this beast system will trample on non-conformists, predominantly believers no doubt using its architecture of oppression to do this. Prophecy also indicates that most people will end up not just accepting this system but actually worshipping it, because it will profess to give them the prosperity and stability they crave. The reason the antichrist system will be so deceptive is because it will be a total counterfeit or imitation of the kingdom of heaven. The cashless society will do away with money but not with the spirit of mammon A false unity and peace will be offered but only on the basis that people bow down to the system decrees An advanced digital mainframe, connecting everyone with everything, will increase efficiency and production but it will ultimately entrap and enslave people. The system will also be perceived as a god in its scope and surveillance reach appearing to take on an even omniscient and omnipotent quality, while being utterly evil and godless. Weeping warned that the tentacles of the Antichrist system will reach everywhere, as it has been predicted that the entire population will need to accept the mark of the beast in order to buy and sell in this system. This is why it's so important for people to develop a faith bigger than money, bigger than the best and most powerful surveillance systems of man. We need to put our trust in our Heavenly Father instead, who has revealed prophecies to the human race to enable us to see beyond the current trends and darkness to an amazing reality. This reality is the return of Christ, who will come back to wipe out the Antichrist's counterfeit system and establish his eternal kingdom here on earth. Knowing this can help us to remain grounded and keep perspective if we refuse to act in fear and choose to act in faith as these global developments unfold. We're living in unprecedented times, where we will each be given the choice of siding with truth and love or siding with lies and oppression, with eternal consequences either way. We have found in the teachings of Jesus Christ the way out of the unfolding technocratic surveillance state. We are preparing to lose our lives in the process of speaking truths like this and learning how to disentangle ourselves from Satan's system, practically and spiritually. We hope to hear from others who are also willing to take a stand at this critical time in world events. so feel free to write to us at the email address appearing on screen now to be put in touch with other like-spirited people of conscience. Thank you.