Janet Folger, formerly the National Director of the Center for Reclaiming America and current President of Faith 2 Action, announces that she will not be voting for Tommy Thompson, primarily because he reportedly supports the use of implantable Radio Frequency Identification chips.

And that smacks too much of the Book of Revelations for Folger’s liking:

He wants us all to be “chipped” with Radio Frequency Identification and sits on the board of the VeriChip Corp., a company currently talking to the Pentagon about inserting the grain-sized microchip into American citizens, beginning with our soldiers. High-tech stuff like that you can find in the book of … Revelation – written 2,000 years ago. Here’s what I remember from Sunday School: In the end times, there’s a one-world government and a good-looking charismatic leader who seems like a really great guy, except for the fact that he happens to be the Antichrist. He talks all about peace and requires that everyone take this mark in order to buy and sell. The upside of taking the mark: you get to buy and sell; the downside: you go to hell forever.

Folger, author of The Criminalization of Christianity, has a flair for dramatic rhetoric. As a featured speaker at the 2006 “War on Christians” conference, she stated that Christians have the right to remain silent in the face of persecution and hostility but “if you use your right to remain silent, those are the last words you’ll hear before seeing the inside of a prison cell.”

But even for an expert in hyperbole, Folger’s insinuation that Thompson may be the anti-Christ, or at least on of his henchmen, is pretty remarkable.

As I wrote about in my book, “The Criminalization of Christianity,” a wave of an implanted hand buys you drinks in Barcelona, Spain. Now it’s being used to buy groceries and clothes. But the mark in Revelation is “required,” just like in Mexico where many government workers are required to be chipped – all brought to you by Tommy Thompson’s VeriChip Corp. And now it’s in Ohio where workers in Cincinnati are being chipped by CityWatchers – a government video surveillance contractor. Big Brother full scale. Now, I’m not saying that people who get “chipped” at this stage are taking the Mark of the Beast – that would take a software change. But, I can tell you that I’m not going to let anyone put anything in my hand (or forehead), period. No matter how “logical,” “reasonable” or “practical,” if it’s inserted into the hand (or forehead) to identify, buy or sell, you can say whatever you’d like, but I’m out. I don’t care if it means I can’t buy anymore. I don’t care if it means I can’t fly anymore. I don’t care if it means I die. You can make your case, but I already made that decision – when I was about 10 – before any of this technology even existed.

Not surprisingly, Folger is one Religious Right activist who won’t be turning to Thompson as an alternative to the GOP frontrunners.