The book of Revelation
Superstitions associated with "666"
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Beliefs and superstitions about "666":
The number 666 has a strange fascination for people. Some suffer from
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (fear of the number 666):
- Telephone companies have met a wall of customer opposition when they
try to install a 666 exchange. One example was in
Vancleve, KY, the home of
Kentucky Mountain Bible College. They were assigned a phone number in
mid 2002 with a "666" prefix. Staff member Carlene Light said: "People
say, 'You're a Bible college and you have 666 in your phone number?' It's
the connotation. No one wants to be part of the mark of the beast." Vice
president Rob Roy MacGregor said: "In the secular world, 666 is not a
problem. It is for us." 1
- Various highways, formerly numbered 666, have been renumbered due to
public agitation. The sixth branch of the legendary Route 66 was
appropriately numbered highway 666 in 1926. The highway starts near Gallup,
NM, goes through Colorado and ends at Monticello, UT. It was referred to as
the "Highway to Hell." It was famous for its gruesome accidents and
legends of mad truckers, demon dogs, shape-shifting Native medicine men, a
vanishing young woman in a nightgown, people suddenly appearing in the
backseat of a car, etc. 2 The states
of New Mexico, Colorado and Utah agreed that they would change the highway's number to
491, on 2003-MAY-31. 3 There is no word whether
the apparitions have disappeared, now that the number has changed.
- When President Ronald Reagan purchased a house
in Bel Air, CA, its address was 666 St. Cloud Road. Johnny Carson, the
previous owner, had no problem with the number. The Reagan's asked that the
number be changed. The town complied. The new address is 668. 4
- Michael Drosnin predicted in his book "The Bible Code
II" that "the Bible code clearly states the danger in modern terms- 'atomic holocaust' and 'World War' are both
encoded in the Bible. And both are encoded with the same year, 2006."
Amazon.com visitors who review the book give it a rather low rating:
2.5 stars out of 5. He did not prophecy a month, day or hour.
Fortunately, the year has passed. The prophecy has
behaved like all previous predictions that have
passed: it was proven false.
5
- BrightSurf, a resource for science information, comments on "conspiracy
theories that have cropped up regarding the number 666..." They quote
Phillips Stevens, Jr., Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology, at the
University of Buffalo, NY:
"They believe the sinister number 666 is encoded in our nation's
banking system, in our medical and governmental records, and in our very
identity, in personal documents and in UPC bar codes -- this latter is
[seen as] evidence of the fulfillment of Revelation prophecy." 3
- On 1998-NOV, the American
Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island filed an appeal with the
State Department of Education concerning a high school student who was
suspended for wearing a T-shirt which displayed the name of a rock band and
the number 666.
"The ACLU's
complaint notes that the school district regularly allows students to
wear T-shirts bearing other religious symbols or messages (such as "I
will serve the Lord") without being punished."
John Dineen, a volunteer lawyer who filed the appeal, said:
"Public
schools cannot be in the business of approving a T-shirt about the Lord and
banning a T-shirt of a rock band, even a sacrilegious one. In the process of
trying to make schools safe, it's good to get rid of guns. It's not good to
suspend common sense or the Bill of Rights." 6
- Rumors started to circulate in
1980 that Proctor and Gamble's logo was a
Satanic symbol.
It was said that you could connect the 13 stars with lines that would spell
out 666. The number 666 is also said to be visible in the old man's beard.
"Proctor & Gamble worked very hard to counteract
the rumors, issuing press releases, instigating legal action and even
soliciting the support of leading Christian fundamentalists who announced
their faith in the purity of the company." 4
By early 1991, the company had answered over 150,000 telephone calls
and letters concerning the myth. They filed at least 15 lawsuits against
individual rumor mongers, but finally gave up and changed their logo.
More details
- This web site's prediction for 06/06/06 was that nothing much would
happen. We were not particularly surprised when we were shown to be correct. We
don't expect to be still alive in 2106-JUN-06 when the next 666 date comes
around.
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Roger Alford, "Ky. Bible college shuns 666 phone number," Associated Press, 2003-JAN-18, at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/ This URL is offline.
- Linda Dunning, "Highway to Hell: Mysteries of Route 666 Across Utah," at:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/
- "US Highway 666 Is Now Officially US Highway 491," 2003-JUN-05, at:
http://www.nmshtd.state.nm.us/
This is a PDF file. You may require software to read it. Software can be obtained free from:
- "June 6 focuses attention on '666' superstitions,"
http://www.brightsurf.com/
- Michael Drosnin, "The Bible Code II: The Countdown" Viking Press, (2002).
Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- Anon, "ACLU of R.I. Challenges School Ban on '666' T-Shirt," ACLU Newsfeed, 1998-NOV-13.
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Copyright © 2006 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally posted: 2006-JUN-06 (06/06/06)
Latest update: 2008-OCT-17
Author: B.A. Robinson
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