A high school sophomore has been expelled from her Texas high school for refusing to wear an ID badge containing a tracking chip. She’s now taking the district to court.  San Antonio’s Northside Independent School started tracking their students in school in order to claim more state money tied to attendance. “What we have found, they are there, they’re in the building and not in their chairs,” says school spokesman Pascual Gonzalez. “If they are on campus, we legally can count them present.” The girl, Andrea Hernandez believes the chips violate her religious convictions, saying it resembles the mark of the beast. The school has offered to remove the chip from Hernandez’ ID badge, but when she and her family refused, the school told her she’d have to attend another school. A judge has issued a temporary injunction, allowing Hernandez to go to Northside, and now Hernandez is seeking a permanent injunction. (Ars Technica)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.