Computers get Amish cult's goat

The Wisconsin Premises Registration Act, which takes effect November, is stage one of a computer based livestock tracking system. The idea is to help fight any potential outbreak of foot-and-mouth or Mad Cow disease.

But the Amish, who do not believe in using any technology that is not in the Bible, are concerned that tagging is the 'mark of the beast'.

Computer brands will be the thin end of the wedge that will see tagging adults and children as part of a grand plan by the forces of darkness. The Amish are worried that any livestock database will create privacy problems and mean higher operating costs.

Or so says a newspaper, in a different way. µ