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WASHINGTON — There's a name for it — hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia — fear of the numbers 666.
If you look hard enough, you start seeing 666s everywhere. In bar codes at the supermarket — mark of the beast? In product logos. Encoded in the names of the famous and the infamous. And, of course, on the calendar.
June 6, 2006. Sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of this century. Spooky, no?
The Bible itself has done the math, and six-six-six adds up to evil. That's the number, according to the Book of Revelation, by which the Beast, the Anti-christ, will be known.
This could be one devil of a day. Or not.
"There's nothing to get upset about," said Baptist preacher Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind series based on the prophesies of Revelation. The final book in the series, The Rapture, is being released, naturally, on June 6. "Everyone knows that the rapture event will not take place on 06/06/06 because Jesus prophesied that no one knows the day or the hour of His return."
Still, when the Bible puts a numerical value on evil, people are going to get squeamish.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-05-sixes-devil_x.htm