Amish Lawsuit Claims U.S. Cattle Program Is Satanic

A group of Amish farmers in Michigan has filed a lawsuit claiming that a U.S. Department of Agriculture program designed to reduce livestock diseases is a front for Satanism and violates their freedom of religion.

The Agriculture Department has been encouraging farmers to tag their cattle with RFID chips in order to better track bovine disease patterns. The use of RFID, or radio frequency identification devices, has become common in passports and payment technology and may soon replace bar-code labels on consumer goods.

But according to the farmers, use of the chips “constitutes some form of a ‘mark of the beast’ and/or represents an infringement of their ‘dominion over cattle and all living things’ in violation of their fundamental religious beliefs.”

The Bush administration has asked a federal judge to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the federal program is purely voluntary. According to the Administration, the farmers’ real beef is with the state of Michigan, which required the use of the chips.

But the Amish claim the U.S. twisted Michigan’s arm by making federal grant money conditional on requiring Satanic practices.

Source: Wired magazine.

Image: Hans S. via Flickr.