Devil theories spread across Internet on ‘666’
The web was rife with warnings of bad things expected to happen on June 6, 2006, the first time in 100 years that the date coincided with 666.
Websites devoted to 666 were the reference point for rumours of meteors smashing into earth or of pregnant women trying to avoid giving birth to prevent their babies being born with the mark of the devil.
The figure 666 is named the "number of the beast" in the closing chapter of the Bible, the "Book of Revelation", otherwise known as "The Apocalypse of John". Chapter 13, Verse 18 of the book, with its apparent reference to the coming of the Devil – "his number is six hundred threescore and six" – has for centuries absorbed meanings its author never intended. There is even a name for the fear of the number: hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.
To celebrate the so-called Devil’s Day, Chicago’s Internet-based Radio Free Satan hosted a massive party in Los Angeles, while a Netherlands-based evangelical organisation called on Christians in 21 countries to hold a 24-hour prayer vigil against Satanic forces.
The BBC News website reported that a woman who was turning 66 on 06/06/06, and was born weighing 6 pounds 6 ounces on June 6, was refusing to drive on her birthday to help avoid accidents. Marketing executives have been quick to cash in on the date, from a special release of the classic horror film The Omen, to conservative US commentator Ann Coulter using the day to release her latest book on "godless liberals".
A leading online gaming site posted 10-1 odds that there would be an Apocalypse on 06/06/06. Meanwhile, several Christian websites suggested Tuesday would bring people closer to "the rapture" — when God calls his Christian faithful up to the heavens, with www.raptureme.com showing a rise in its "rapture index" to 157. Rumours flew about whether the beast, who is also know as the antichrist according to some apocalyptic theories, would be revealed on the symbolic date.
For nearly 2000 years, believers have identified potential antichrists and the Internet is full of references to possible candidates, from Bill Gates to Yasser Arafat and Pope John Paul II.
One website warned that the "Bible Code says 2006 A.D. is the Year of the Beast" and predicted that the antichrist would reveal himself. It also said there may be a holy war against Israel and that the United States and Russia would be drawn into a dangerous conflict as a result.
Meanwhile, a Jesuit priest and professor of theology and religious studies called for calm on his web page devoted to 666, underlining that "combinations of three sixes can be found almost anywhere we want, if we look hard enough". In a warning to Internet users, Father Felix Just said that following the ancient practice of gematria – assigning numerical values to letters – "www" was also equivalent to 666.
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