terrorism, national response & eschatology

Another large terrorist attack plan was foiled yesterday, bringing to the news editorials items about the seeming impossibility to prevent these types of things from occasionally succeeding. The "eschatological tension" arises when we start talking about the most likely solutions - increased surveillance, large databases and identification technology. For the pre-millennial set these are all concepts tied in with a one-world government and the mark of the beast and must be resisted. If, on the other hand the mark of the beast was actually a ritual that had to be publicly performed proclaiming allegiance to the Roman Emperor (who claimed to be a god) in order to engage in the commerce of the day, and if the force governing the nations is the risen Christ currently reigning at the right hand of God, then these technological protections for the kingdom should be (carefully) embraced...