Yes. We are heading into a time when we will literally have “drone wars.” Some will be military applications where the drones of one nation fight the drones of another nation. Some wars will be the drones of the security and police agencies of national governments fighting the drones of the drug cartels and terrorists. I suspect there will be many legal/courtroom drone wars as well. As the use of drones expands, there is a dearth of legislation and case law applicable to their safe and legal use. This post is to offer some of my thoughts on the subject.
Daniel 12:4 prophesies, “knowledge will be increased” at the time of the end (of this age), and the Hebrew word translated “increased” means an exponential increase. It is the same Hebrew word translated how the waters of Noah’s Flood “increased” on the earth in Genesis 7:17–obviously an exponential increase. A few decades ago, I think none of us would have had an inkling as to how far technology would advance. Technological leaps can can be a good thing or a bad thing.
The first link details some of the dangers of the expanded use of drones by private parties. It cites how drones with cameras could be a “peeping tom’s” tool for looking into females’ windows without subjects knowing they are being watched. Can you imagine what the paparazzi would do with spy drones getting pictures of celebrities at their parties, vacation beaches, on their yachts, in their bedroom windows, etc.? That link describes a case where a person operated a private camera drone to peer into the third-floor window of another person’s house. Was that person a peeping tom, a burglar “casing the joint” for objects to steal or what? This could be a common occurrence in the future if private parties can purchase drones without any legitimate need to own one. The case in point happened in liberal, politically correct Seattle. I can think of large swaths of the USA in the South, Appalachia, the prairie states, the Rocky Mountain states, Alaska, etc. where the outcome would have been much different. If someone had seen an unauthorized drone spying on their home as it peered through a third-story window, I think that drone would have quickly disappeared when it was hit by the blast of 12-gauge shotgun. After all, the drone is not a living thing so it has no personal rights. If it is trespassing, why couldn’t any homeowner legally shoot an unauthorized drone down?
The second link reports that film-making drones will soon be used by the movie-making industry. Think what those kinds of high-tech video drones could do in the hands of people or nations eager to spy on others. Of course, drones could have many useful applications. One would be to use them in urban warfare like what is now being fought in Kobani, the Kurdish city on the Turkish border being attacked by ISIL forces. If US Special Forces inserted clandestinely into the city used small video drones, they could locate ISIL troops and armored vehicles and call down air strikes with great precision. I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t already being done. In some future wars, I can foresee that small attack drones will sneak soundlessly upon enemy sentries and kill them with a bullet or explosive device. Defensive drones could also be hovering over sentries to defend them from the attacks of offensive drones. The use of drones could easily shut down the US-Mexican border to stop all illegal immigration quickly if only the US government wanted to enforce immigration laws. Spying applications for drones are almost limitless. This could also include corporate spying efforts. Think of how shoplifting could be ended by the use of drones. Department stores could deploy small, camera-equipped drones to monitor all shopping aisles within their stores to locate and apprehend any shoplifter caught trying to steal merchandise.
Indeed, where will drones be allowed and where will they be forbidden? The third link opens some interesting possibilities. The US National Park Service has banned drones from its supervised properties. The link notes this could place 84 million acres of US land off-limits to drones. My question: if one government agency can ban the use of drones in its jurisdiction, why can’t all other government agencies do the same? Indeed, why can’t private property owners ban drones from their airspace as well? If a federal government agency can ban the use of drones on its lands, surely state and local governments can ban their use as well. The 10th Amendment of the US Constitution reserves to the states all rights not specifically given to the federal government in the Constitution. Unless drones are being used in interstate commerce, it would seem each state would have the right to draft its own set of laws for drone usage and drone ownership. No doubt, different legislatures and city councils will take different views on drone ownership and usage. Legal battles will surely ensure. Since drones could be easily used for criminal purposes such as window-peeking, corporate spying, stalking, kidnapping efforts, burglary efforts, murders, spying on mates in divorce proceedings, etc., it is possible some jurisdictions will ban private ownership of drones unless a legitimate use can be demonstrated by a potential buyer (The US Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees gun ownership rights, but there is no drone-ownership right in the US Constitution).
The final link offers a humorous insight into the drone usage issue even as it makes a serious point. For ease of viewing, I included the cartoon re: drone use which i saw in a newspaper.
Revelation 13:16-18 prophesies the final “beast” system of global government on the earth will not only monitor but control financial transactions. If the beast system will have a “control freak” approach to financial transactions, it stands to reason they will want the same kind of control over all kinds of human activities. All kinds of specialized drones will be able to provide that capability. Civil rights advocates need to start drafting legislation and ordinances already to control the use of drones to limit them to legitimate usages only. Personally, I think that because it would be so easy to misuse a drone for criminal purposes, all citizens wanting to buy drones should have to be licensed to buy them and undergo criminal background checks as well. Governments should be limited by legislation and laws to control how public authorities use them as well to stop abuses via drone usage.
Welcome to the Brave New World that is gradually being imposed on the planet.
- http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/11/bruce-drones-from-bombing-terrorists-to-destroying/?page=all
- http://www.intelligent-aerospace.com/news/2014/09/26/faa-oks-drones-for-moviemaking-br-br-drone-advocates-cheer-latest-advance.html
- http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/20/travel/national-park-service-drone-ban/
- Chan Lowe: The drone craze meets Stand Your Ground
