by Michael Armstrong
Do you know your credit score? You probably have some idea of whether it is good or bad. Especially if you have recently tried renting an apartment, buying a car, or purchasing a home. Lenders have a way of protecting themselves, and that is by keeping tabs on YOU!
Yes, you are being monitored. By giving you a gift you cannot refuse, on the day of your birth (your very own social security number) the government has provided a way for you to be identified. Doctors visit? School enrollment? Drivers license? Get a job? Start a business? Need a loan? Pay your taxes? You are going to need to know that number.
It is essential for you to participate in society. Now, before you begin digging that bunker or planning your flight to join the uncontacted tribes of the Amazon let us stop this digression into (oddly justifiable) paranoia and return to the subject at hand. Your social security number is what lenders use to retrieve your credit score. Your credit score is a numerical representation of the risk involved in lending you money, and in what amounts. Whatever that score may be, you earned it.
Now imagine the basis for that score were broadened. Imagine it graded not only your financial transactions, but your social interactions.
It is the duty of every conscientious Christian to examine themselves and the world around them in the light of scripture. We are reaching a point where government wants to examine you too. Not on account of God’s laws, but according to what THEY deem acceptable behavior.
To be converted it is necessary to repent. To repent you must acknowledge, specifically, your own misdeeds and shortcomings. These only become apparent when compared to the standards of the Bible, of God’s law and the perfect example of Jesus Christ. You realize that in God’s eyes, judging by His standards, you have really bad credit––extremely poor. Really, none whatsoever; a disgrace even to the dirt He made you from. Seriously, that dirt could have grown tomatoes, but again we digress…
The good news is you can be forgiven. Your debt can be paid by Jesus Christ who has shown that the flesh can be conquered by the Holy Spirit, whose life is worth more than all of ours put together. He is, after all, the Son of God, the being who did the creating, who called Abraham, wrestled with Jacob, dealt directly with Moses, and spoke to the prophets even before He laid it all on the line by being born of a woman and personally demonstrating how He wants us to behave. (Genesis 1:26, Micah 5:2, John 1:1-3, John 8:58, Ephesians 3:9, Hebrews 1:1-2)
The standards set by God apply to all of mankind. As it says in Exodus 12:49, “One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and the stranger that sojourneth among you.” In self examination, the faults of society in general also become obvious. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:” reads 1 Corinthians 10:13, and it is only too common for men to succumb to temptation.
Our institutions, be they church, state, or otherwise, falter on account of their human overseers, though they may have been founded on the best, most righteous intentions. That is why we look forward to the Kingdom of God. We need it. So many of the problems we face will be abolished by its advent, yet if we know these things, we know that the time immediately prior to its establishment will be truly terrible. This “time of Jacob’s trouble” will be unlike anything else in history, the absolute worst chapter in the story of mankind. (Jeremiah 30:7, Daniel 12:1, Matthew 24:21) Without divine intervention life on this planet would end.
Consequently, the scriptures regarding this time have always been examined most painstakingly. When comparing the present to the end time, one tends to bridge the gap in the fewest possible steps. The apostles thought Jesus Christ would establish the kingdom during His physical life, then again after His resurrection.
It is not likely they expected these 2000+ (and counting) intervening years. They might have found that discouraging, which could have detracted from the urgency of their message. It can be discouraging to us when events do not transpire as quickly as we expect them to. But the message is urgent. Either we will live on to the establishment of the kingdom or we will die, perhaps suddenly and unexpectedly, and our next moment of awareness will be at the time of the resurrection and judgment. It’s six of one, a half dozen of the other. Those who do live to see the return of Christ will have to endure terrible trials.
There are certain aspects of the end time that are unique. Earthquakes, war, famine, and pestilence will be on a scale hitherto unknown. Events like the blackening of the sun and the oceans turning to blood will be unmistakable. One detail, provided by Revelation chapter 13, has long captured the imaginations of men, provoking endless speculation. It is the mark of the beast.
This has proved to be fertile soil for prognosticators of all types and sizes. Not that the subject isn’t worthy, after all the faithful of this time are those “which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands.” (Revelation 20:4) The rest of the world is said to be “deceived” by the beast and his miracles. (Revelation 13:14, 18:23, 19:20) The pressure to accept the mark and worship the beast will be very great. Those who refuse will be put to death. It will be forced upon the world and without it no one will be able to buy or sell. (Revelation 13:16-17)
We’re talking about a world government with serious enforcement power. This government has a way of identifying people on the spot and excluding them from all commerce. Before this modern age such a system may have been harder to imagine. Business conducted with hard currency or through barter is not easily regulated. Self sufficiency takes much of the bite out of exclusion, but very few people could now describe themselves as such. Today we rely on the technologies of commerce to an extent that we may come to regret.
Cash is the only way to make purchases anonymously. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank in San Fransisco reported that only 32% of transactions were made with cash in 2015, down from 40% in 2012. That means the majority of purchases are tied definitively to an individual, bringing us back to our social security numbers and credit scores mentioned at the beginning of this article. So what’s the point? There is already a system in place capable of excluding you from commerce at the point of sale.
You’ve probably had a card declined at some point. Processing equipment determined almost instantaneously your available credit or bank balance. If no other method of payment was available to you then no transaction took place. Is it really that hard to imagine approval or denial based on some other criteria? “Sorry sir it’s been declined, your allegiance to the beast could not be verified.” (With tyranny and oppression for all!)
It’s really no laughing matter. The powers that be are already capable of excluding an individual. Who hasn’t heard of someone wanted by law enforcement having their “assets frozen”? They are effectively locked out. Maybe that is a good and reasonable thing at this point in time but the gist is that the mechanism exists, ready and waiting to be abused.
The same could be said for a great many of the conveniences we enjoy, in which we eagerly and willingly participate. It’s helpful, it’s easy, it’s fun, we’re connected. Allow access to contacts, files, location, camera? You can’t say no and still use the device. If it was never abused it would be great. It is admittedly awesome and useful and in no way inherently evil. However, the level to which we are exposed to surveillance and subsequently analysis is alarming. Even refrigerators have wifi and cameras!
As things stand right now we’re not being overtly abused (maybe just a little). However, you would have to have your head buried deep in the sand not to know that there is a concerted effort to vilify, shame, and exclude a great many traditional viewpoints from “polite” society, including many righteous precepts of the Bible. Intolerance will not be tolerated! At some point, enforcement is going to enter the equation. In some places it already has. The future could get very, very weird.
In China, the world’s most populous country at 1.4 billion, the present is already pretty weird. It seems that the great “cultural revolution,” despite occurring 50 years ago, has left the Chinese population with a lingering distrust of one another. Strange how purposely pitting friends and family against one another and slaughtering millions deemed not “loyal to the party” can do that. The proposed solution to this problem is the implementation of a social credit system. Currently participation is voluntary but that’s going to change in 2020.
Official Chinese hopes are that “It will forge a public opinion environment where keeping trust is glorious. It will strengthen sincerity in government affairs, commercial sincerity, social sincerity and the construction of judicial credibility.” Ah utopia! It sounds so warm and fuzzy… and delightfully mandatory.
The criteria for calculating these scores goes way beyond the obligation fulfillment history used to calculate our credit scores. One company tasked with creating an algorithm to determine an individual’s social credit score is Chinese multinational conglomerate Alibaba. (Like American Alphabet which owns Google, YouTube, Android, etc, etc, etc, yikes, etc.)
The factors taken into account are broken into five categories. Credit history, fulfillment capacity, personal characteristics, behavior characteristics, and interpersonal relationships. Different applications contribute information to provide real-time updates through data mining and facial recognition technology. Some of the parameters monitored inside these five vague categories include your general health, charitable contributions or volunteering, education level, recreation activities, who your friends are, locations you frequent, and many more.
Want your score to go up? You could donate blood, post “positive” social media messages, pay your taxes promptly, or get good grades. However, if you commit traffic violations, have too much screen time, or (gasp) share FAKE NEWS, your score will definitely go down. No deviations from the established “party line” will be tolerated either. You could be penalized with reduced internet speed, lose access to dating websites, or more seriously be denied education, employment, an apartment, and social security benefits. A good score will bring benefits such as access to financial services and travel privileges.
As of May 2018 millions had already been prohibited from flying or taking trains, blacklisted for social misdeeds. This information is not necessarily private. Reports have indicated there are communities where citizens’ social credit scores were posted near the village center. The extensive data mining involved in compiling these scores really abolishes privacy. According to the government, it will “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.”
Oddly, many Chinese people do not dread the full implementation of this system but hope it will make everyone be the “best version” of themselves. The combination of technology and tyranny make for some pretty terrifying possibilities. Just as social security numbers, the alleged “world governing” United Nations, bar-codes, surveillance technologies, implantable chips, and so many other “advancements” have been cause for concern. For those with an eye to the future, this is another startling indication of how close the end may be. The technologies we rely upon daily were almost unimaginable a generation ago.
When will the end come? “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” said Jesus Christ in Mark 13:32-33.
We see what is happening in the world. We see how end time events could begin to transpire. We see men obsessed with their own version of righteousness and the judgments of God discarded or perverted. He said, “In your patience posses ye your souls” (Luke 21:19).
We must continue to watch and pray. Paul wrote, “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9) The western world may not be ready to tolerate what is transpiring in China, but consider what has already been accepted.
Things can progress rapidly in times of calamity. We must hold fast to the truth of God and know that even if our “social credit” falls to absolute zero, our treasure is in heaven.
