{"id":83,"date":"2008-12-04T13:52:04","date_gmt":"2008-12-04T13:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/textmessages\/2008\/12\/farming-against-the-antichrist.html"},"modified":"2008-12-04T13:52:04","modified_gmt":"2008-12-04T13:52:04","slug":"farming-against-the-antichrist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/textmessages\/2008\/12\/farming-against-the-antichrist.html","title":{"rendered":"Farming Against the Anti-Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of my colleagues and I have been following the discussion about how some Christians believe that (or have wondered if) Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ<\/a>. While we think about putting together something on that<\/span> story, in Other Anti-Christ News, the RNS reported this week on a farmer named Michael White who believes that rules restricting seed exchanges and replanting are not just bad agriculture, but a sign of the End of Days:<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

“The Anti-Christ will use seed to control nations and people,” White writes in the book he published in May, ‘The 666’s Are in the Seed.’ … “He will also use seed to create food shortages. Pantented seed will become the most prized possession of the Antichrist.”\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I first got angry about the rules governing seed patents while reading\u00a0Barbara Kingsolver’s engrossing\u00a0<\/a>Animal, Vegetable, Miracle<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0It’s a nerve-wrecking shame, and I number myself among those who are waking up to the problems of big agriculture and trying in myriad small ways to affect change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
In other words, eschatology aside, three cheers for Michael White. Read the whole RNS story after the jump.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n


<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Farmer links seed patents to the Antichrist<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

By KAY CAMPBELL<\/p>\n

c. 2008 Religion News Service<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 DUTTON, Ala. — Michael White keeps a Mason jar full of wheat grains<\/p>\n

next to his well-worn Bible.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 The jar was filled by his great-grandfather decades before anyone<\/p>\n

dreamed of genetically altering plants or animals. The jar reminds him<\/p>\n

of what he considers God’s first earthly gift to humanity: seeds.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 It’s a gift that is in danger of being eradicated, White says,<\/p>\n

through increased genetic manipulation of plants, hybridization and the<\/p>\n

patenting of genes by large corporations. God’s gift of seeds, given the<\/p>\n

day after he separated dry land from water, according to Genesis, is not<\/p>\n

something that should be taken away from a farmer. To forbid a farmer or<\/p>\n

gardener from gathering his own seed to replant the next year is<\/p>\n

something White sees as one of the signs of the end of time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 “The Antichrist will use seed to control nations and people,” White<\/p>\n

writes in the book he published in May, “The 666’s Are in the Seed,” a<\/p>\n

title that refers to the traditional number of the Antichrist of<\/p>\n

Revelation. “He will also use seed to create food shortages. Patented<\/p>\n

seed will become the most prized possession of the Antichrist.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 Like many Christians, White, who farms near Scottsboro, Ala.,<\/p>\n

believes the years before Jesus returns to Earth will be a “time of<\/p>\n

trouble,” filled with the chaos predicted in Matthew and Revelation:<\/p>\n

war, famine, pestilence, plagues and a world-wide totalitarian<\/p>\n

government. Many Christians believe a globally idolized figure, the<\/p>\n

Antichrist, will rule the world.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 White has been through his own “time of trouble” over seeds. A few<\/p>\n

years ago he and his father were sued by Monsanto for patent violation<\/p>\n

— it is illegal to save seed from patented plants for re-planting. At<\/p>\n

the time of the lawsuit, he said, his retired father hadn’t farmed in<\/p>\n

years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 The lawsuit against his 85-year-old father was dropped in the spring<\/p>\n

of 2006, shortly before White agreed to settle out of court with<\/p>\n

Monsanto. White will not comment on the details of that settlement. The<\/p>\n

consent injunction and judgment in the case states that White had<\/p>\n

planted, saved, cleaned and sold patented seed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 Who won or lost in the legal tussles he had, White says, is<\/p>\n

immaterial. What matters is that people understand that seed patents,<\/p>\n

non-reproducing hybrids and plants engineered to produce seeds that<\/p>\n

terminate a germinating seedling are part of what he considers an<\/p>\n

immoral corporate and legal control of one of God’s first gifts to<\/p>\n

humankind.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 Most seed scientists claim that genetically modified plants are the<\/p>\n

key to future bounty. Monsanto and other agri-corporations argue that<\/p>\n

protecting their patents through their Seed Stewardship programs enables<\/p>\n

their scientists to make more discoveries and ultimately to benefit all.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 In fact, patents “facilitate technology innovation which benefits<\/p>\n

all farmers, including the most resource-poor,” says John Combest, an<\/p>\n

issues manager for Monsanto, who commented about criticism of seed<\/p>\n

patents and genetic engineering by e-mail. Monsanto, he said, is helping<\/p>\n

to develop seeds to produce plants that tolerate drought and increase<\/p>\n

yields. Those seeds will be licensed to the African Agriculture<\/p>\n

Technology Foundation for distribution without royalties to farmers,<\/p>\n

Combest wrote.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 Many religious thinkers, however, have warned against the practical<\/p>\n

and long-term effects of tinkering with a system God put into place at<\/p>\n

creation. Statements of concern over genetic engineering and patenting<\/p>\n

of seeds have been issued by Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics,<\/p>\n

Baptists, Muslims, the National Council of Churches and others.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 One of the most recent was circulated by the International Catholic<\/p>\n

Rural Association, signed by some 250 religious leaders and faith<\/p>\n

groups, and presented to a United Nations’ meeting on food security in<\/p>\n

June. The goal of these groups, says Jaydee Hanson, who worked on<\/p>\n

bioethics issues for the United Methodist Church and now works at the<\/p>\n

Center for Food Safety, is to make sure farmers are not restricted from<\/p>\n

saving or exchanging seeds. That saving or exchanging is currently<\/p>\n

prohibited by Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 “TRIPS … hinder farmers’ innovations,” Hanson wrote in a recent<\/p>\n

e-mail. “Plants, seeds and genes (should be) part of creation which<\/p>\n

cannot be claimed by intellectual property rights.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 Michael White sees a blessing in his own troubles, although, he<\/p>\n

says, the three-year legal fight over seed patents cost him his<\/p>\n

business, his first marriage, his health and nearly killed his father.<\/p>\n

The shed at White’s seed-cleaning business was shuttered for four years<\/p>\n

when his customers quit coming after they received query letters from<\/p>\n

Monsanto’s lawyers, he said. The shed is now stacked with bags of the<\/p>\n

foundation seed he bought from Auburn University.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 These seeds, he says, are like his great-grandfather’s wheat. They<\/p>\n

will germinate plants that produce seeds that anyone can save and<\/p>\n

replant for the next year’s harvest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 White is now getting orders for the heritage seed from farmers who<\/p>\n

haven’t planted conventional seeds in eight or nine years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 “I hope there’s some good news in this picture,” White said this<\/p>\n

week. “It’s a monster, but people are waking up. The trend is finally<\/p>\n

turning around and going back to conventional. I hope I can wake some<\/p>\n

people up and get back to growing their own food.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 Even more important, White says, he hopes his book points out one of<\/p>\n

the ways people can see that the end of earthly time is at hand.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 “Unsaved reader, it’s altar call again,” White writes in his book’s<\/p>\n

conclusion. “The food shortages have begun. … The 666’s are in the<\/p>\n

seed.”<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of my colleagues and I have been following the discussion about how some Christians believe that (or have wondered if) Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ. While we think about putting together something on that story, in Other Anti-Christ News, the RNS reported this week on a farmer named Michael White who believes that rules…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity"],"yoast_head":"\nFarming Against the Anti-Christ - Text Messages<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/textmessages\/2008\/12\/farming-against-the-antichrist.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Farming Against the Anti-Christ - Text Messages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some of my colleagues and I have been following the discussion about how some Christians believe that (or have wondered if) Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ. 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