I have been engaged in a "discussion" with a "reverend" who doesn't think Revelation 13:16-17 is an important passage for Christians to live by. As part of that "discussion" I posted the following comment, which moderators at the conservative news site The Stream have refused to approve:
What's to interpret? The mark on your hand is your deeds and actions;
the mark on your forehead is your thoughts and affinities. When these
betray a love of that which God calls rebellion, you have marked
yourself as belonging to the enemy of God. The whole of Scripture, New
Testament and Old, refers to homosexual practices as sin. Sin is,
therefore, a rebellion against God. Taking the Mark of the Beast is
marking yourself as belonging to the Beast rather than to God. There is
no third choice. Either you belong to Jesus, or you belong to Satan.
When you force (or coerce) people to commit acts or thoughts that God
calls rebellion you are acting on Satan's behalf, not God's. You are
committing Spiritual rape. If you disagree with this assessment then the
only place you are reverent to is hell. It is that serious. Your
eternity is at stake. Satan has you imprisoned and the only escape is
for you to repent and take the mark of God instead of the mark of the
Beast.
I stand by what I have written.
