RobRoy: “At least that implies that it is volunary.”
Kind of like how conversion to Islam is voluntary — according to the Bible, you either take the mark or suffer the consequences [no buying, no selling, etc.].
Real narrow choices, in my opinion
Yeah, I expect it will get to that point. What I meant by “voluntary” was that they don’t hold you down and do it to you. Rather, they compell you by saying, if you want to eat or work, you will get this mark. And you WILL worship the beast.
It is really pretty clear. The good news for anyone looking for this is that we will know it when we see it and there will be no doubt.