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 One wonders if 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 and the prophecy has behaved like all previous future predictions: 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