{"id":549100,"date":"2006-06-07T11:04:39","date_gmt":"2006-06-07T11:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/549100-devil-theories-spread-across-internet-on-666.html"},"modified":"2006-06-07T11:04:39","modified_gmt":"2006-06-07T11:04:39","slug":"devil-theories-spread-across-internet-on-666","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/549100-devil-theories-spread-across-internet-on-666.html","title":{"rendered":"Devil theories spread across Internet on ‘666’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The web was rife with warnings of bad things expected to happen\u00a0 on June 6, 2006, the first time in 100 years that the date coincided\u00a0 with 666. <\/font><\/p>\n

Websites devoted to 666 were the reference point for rumours of\u00a0 meteors smashing into earth or of pregnant women trying to avoid\u00a0 giving birth to prevent their babies being born with the mark of the\u00a0 devil. <\/font><\/p>\n

The figure 666 is named the "number of the beast" in the closing\u00a0 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\u00a0 the coming of the Devil – "his number is six hundred threescore and\u00a0 six" – has for centuries absorbed meanings its author never\u00a0 intended. There is even a name for the fear of the number:\u00a0 hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. <\/font><\/p>\n

To celebrate the so-called Devil’s Day, Chicago’s Internet-based\u00a0 Radio Free Satan hosted a massive party in Los Angeles, while a\u00a0 Netherlands-based evangelical organisation called on Christians in\u00a0 21 countries to hold a 24-hour prayer vigil against Satanic forces. <\/font><\/p>\n

The BBC News website reported that a woman who was turning 66 on\u00a0 06\/06\/06, and was born weighing 6 pounds 6 ounces on June 6, was\u00a0 refusing to drive on her birthday to help avoid accidents. Marketing executives have been quick to cash in on the date,\u00a0 from a special release of the classic horror film The Omen, to conservative US commentator Ann Coulter using the day to release her\u00a0 latest book on "godless liberals". <\/font><\/p>\n

A leading online gaming site posted 10-1 odds that there would\u00a0 be an Apocalypse on 06\/06\/06. Meanwhile, several Christian websites suggested Tuesday would\u00a0 bring people closer to "the rapture" — when God calls his Christian\u00a0 faithful up to the heavens, with www.raptureme.com showing a rise in\u00a0 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\u00a0 on the symbolic date. <\/font><\/p>\n

For nearly 2000 years, believers have identified potential\u00a0 antichrists and the Internet is full of references to possible\u00a0 candidates, from Bill Gates to Yasser Arafat and Pope John Paul II. <\/font><\/p>\n

One website warned that the "Bible Code says 2006 A.D. is the\u00a0 Year of the Beast" and predicted that the antichrist would reveal\u00a0 himself. It also said there may be a holy war against Israel and that the\u00a0 United States and Russia would be drawn into a dangerous conflict as\u00a0 a result. <\/font><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a Jesuit priest and professor of theology and\u00a0 religious studies called for calm on his web page devoted to 666,\u00a0 underlining that "combinations of three sixes can be found almost\u00a0 anywhere we want, if we look hard enough". In a warning to Internet users, Father Felix Just said that\u00a0 following the ancient practice of gematria – assigning numerical\u00a0 values to letters – "www" was also equivalent to 666. <\/font><\/p>\n

INet-Bridge ||<\/em>\u00a0 <\/font>Discuss this article<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n


\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Satanists celebrated with rock concerts, Christian groups prayed against evil, betting shops cashed in and the Internet hosted a devilish debate on Tuesday, 6-6-6, the reputed Biblical reference to the devil. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-549100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}