It is now possible to make retail purchases and gain access to restricted areas like sports arenas with just a wave of your hand. A biometric scan of the intricate patterns of veins in an individual’s palm is now being used for commercial purposes. Uniquely encoded by nature and nearly impossible to replicate, palm vein patterns serve as highly accurate and reliable forms of identity verification and reduce the risk of identity fraud.
Visa and Amazon are already marketing the convenience of palm vein scanning for consumers who “no longer need to remember PINs or passwords, carry physical cards, or even have their phones on hand. With just a quick scan of their palm, they can complete transactions swiftly and securely, whether they’re buying groceries, dining out, or shopping online.”
The pandemic spurred consumer demand for touchless payment methods. As a nonintrusive biometric technology, palm vein recognition requires no chip insertion nor physical contact with the scanning device, making it quick and hygienic. It also employs near-infrared light to capture vein patterns, which poses no health risks.
The technology is already operating at some stores and is expected to roll out soon as a payment option in many retail settings. Amazon has even made signing up for its Amazon One biometric payment service as easy as downloading an app and taking a picture of your palm. Amazon One customers can use it for payment, entry, age verification, and loyalty rewards at any one of the 500-plus Whole Foods Market stores in the US, several Amazon stores, and over 150 third-party locations in stadiums, airports, fitness centers, convenience stores, and more.
As the use of digital currency and biometric scans become more widespread, Bible students should no longer wonder how the mark of the beast could be implemented. See Rev. 13:16, 17.
“Palm Vein Scanning: What is it & How Does it Work?” Security Journal Americas, securityjournalamericas.com, Sept. 7, 2023.
“Amazon Debuts App for Easier Palm Payment Sign-Ups,” Pymnts, pymnts.com, Mar. 28, 2024.
Currently, under the Canadian Criminal Code, it is an offense to “incite hatred or willfully promote hatred against any identifiable group.” However, a person will not be convicted of an offense if, in good faith, the person “expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.”
But legislation recently introduced in Canada’s Parliament would eliminate the use of “belief in a religious text” as a defense against hate crime charges.Repealing the exemption could criminalize sermons and messages using the Bible or other religious texts as the basis for critiquing other religions or addressing issues such as transgender rights.
Yves-Francois Blanchet, leader of the minority Bloc Quebecois party, submitted the private member’s bill to remove the religious exemption in November 2023 and again in February 2024. The measure received an initial reading in the lower chamber, but no action had followed as of March 2024.
However,a February 2024 opinion poll on the bill found that two-thirds of Canadians support it, and only 13 percent strongly oppose it. Yet removing the religious exemption would effectively criminalize statements rooted in religious beliefs. Canadians would no longer be free to articulate all their sincerely held religious convictions without fear of reprisal or persecution.
“Canadian bill threatens free expression of religious opinion,” Human Rights Law Alliance, hrla.org.au, March 5, 2024.
With global warming leading to more intense storms, two scientists propose adding a sixth category to the hurricane wind scale. The Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale currently tops out at Category 5—for hurricanes marked by maximum sustained winds of at least 157 miles per hour. However, sustained winds of 192 miles per hour or more could earn a higher designation.
“Climate change has demonstrably made the strongest storms stronger,” says Michael Wehner, one of the study authors. “Introduction of this hypothetical Category 6 would raise awareness of that.”
Do storms sustaining “Category 6” winds exist? An entire neighborhood in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines, was destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. More than 6,500 people died during the storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 195 miles per hour.
As ocean temperatures warm, maximum wind speeds will likely rise, and the amount of damage wind can cause increases exponentially with wind speed, the study authors write in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, published February 5, 2024.
But wind plays a relatively small role in deaths from hurricanes (typhoons). A 2014 paper found that 49 percent of deaths related to typhoons were caused by coastal storm surge, 27 percent by flooding from rain, and only 8 percent by winds directly. So instead of modifying the old scale, some scientists are in favor of producing an entirely new scale that reflects the totality of risks from a storm.
Either way, as the Bible predicts, we’re seeing forces in nature intensifying in these end times. See Luke 21:25, 26.
“Do We Need a Category 6 Designation for Hurricanes?,” Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com, Feb. 6, 2024.
More than 365 million (one in seven) Christians face high levels of persecution for their faith—and persecution is becoming dangerously violent in countries on the Open Doors World Watch List.
Attacks on churches and Christian properties skyrocketed in 2023, as more Christians than ever recorded faced violent attacks. Political instability, war, and extremism have created a perilous situation for Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa. Amid lawlessness, jihadist groups like al-Qaeda and Boko Haram have thrived. Weak governments fail to stop them, and militants attack Christian communities and churches with impunity.
Most Christians murdered for their faith in 2023 were killed in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria accounted for nine out of ten religiously motivated murders. Christians were also killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. Many more Christians have also been forced from their homes. Of 34.5 million displaced people across Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly half are Christians.
More than 14,700 churches or Christian properties such as schools and hospitals were targeted in 2023. It marked a six-fold increase compared with attacks recorded the previous year. In China, at least 10,000 churches were closed. In India, Christian properties were raided by violent mobs. And in Algeria, where there were 47 official Protestant churches, only four remain open and are now under intense pressure. These attacks put huge pressure on Christian communities, sparking fear and insecurity. Even if believers do regroup in smaller numbers, they have limited leadership and few resources.
The Bible predicts widespread persecution before Jesus returns, even worse than in the early Christian era. Let’s pray for the many Christian believers being persecuted for their faith while reflecting that our turn may come one day as well.
“World Watch List: Trends,” Open Doors, opendoors.org, accessed Apr. 10, 2024.
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