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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True®
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The Spectre of 6/6/6
Tomorrow (as I write this), it'll be 6 June 2006, which some have been shorthanding as 6/6/6 (except of course in Europe, where they put the dates in different order, in which case it'll instead read 6/6/6).
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And, sigh, some people are absolutely freaking out about its "Biblical implications" -- and not just in the U.S. The "fear of the number 666" is called "hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia", I read in an Aussie newspaper.
Searching on that word in Google News brings up 13 (ooh! Another unlucky number!) articles for me right now. There are reports that women due to give birth tomorrow are having cesarean sections or demanding their doctors induce labor to avoid saddling a kid with such a birth date. Some articles talk about "the end of the world", though I find it unlikely they've found too many people to actually go on record as saying it will be.
Me? I say dates are completely arbitrary; man has stuck arbitrary numbers on the days, starting at an arbitrary point in history, to make it easier to remember your anniversary so you don't catch ...um... hell from your sentimental spouse. The devil (or god, should you believe in either or both) don't plan their deeds around the arbitrary labels of man.
So I'll be going to the post office to check my mail (which is, after all, deposited in Box 666) just like any other day. It's the 21st Century, but there sure is still a lot of superstition out there.
Or is there? Maybe all this is just something "made up" for the media to write about, which leaves this as writing about the media writing about ridiculous superstition that doesn't exist. But then, I don't think so: it's amazing how many readers have "warned" me about "trivializing" such "important" and "serious" things. shrug They can cower in fear over arbitrary labels if they want. Just don't try to convince me to do it too. On the other hand, I am going to stock up on Get Out of Hell Free cards before I go out! ;-)
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As you may have noticed, the world didn't end on 6/6/6. Nor did it on 5/21/11. Nor will it next time people panic about something arbitrary.... And the world didn't end (nor did True) when we got to Issue #666 -- and in the blog entry for that, I answer the question about how I ended up with PO Box 666!
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5 Comments on This Entry
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Posted by Harmon, Houston, TX on June 6, 2011:
On the 6/6/6 date, the people in Hell, Michigan tried to drum up some tourist business by throwing a commemorative party. I was in the neighborhood, and decided to stop by and see how things were going. I got there mid-afternoon, and they had run out of beer, they had run out of commemorative t-shirts, the Sun was beating down hotter than, well, Hell, and the traffic on the two lane main road through town was at a dead standstill for miles. Whoever thought that a party in Hell was going to be fun....
Posted by Tom, Colorado Springs on June 7, 2011:
Our daughter's due date was 6/6/6. "Thankfully" she was born two days earlier.
As you said, it's just a date. There is significance for Christians, but not in the context of a date (or post office box). Nevertheless...
And thanks for sharing your story, Harmon!
Posted by Jon in Manchester, UK on June 7, 2011:
The only significance of the 6th of June is the Anniversary of the greatest amphibious assault landing the world has ever seen (and hopefully will ever see) -- Operation Overlord, D-Day.
The sacrifice of untold thousands of Allied troops to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today is what people should be thinking about on the 6th of June. Spare a thought and raise a glass in thanks.
That is all.
Posted by Janice - Oklahoma on June 10, 2011:
We just celebrated our fifth anniversary - we chose to get married 6/6/6, and the theme of our wedding party (held on the weekend) was Flying Pigs. Can you tell it wasn't the first wedding for either one of us? We finally got it right!
Posted by Allan, San Bernardino on October 3, 2011:
Speaking of random numbers(*)...
Someone born on 6/6/6 might indeed have more trouble than their peers, at least until they learn to lie about their birthdate. I'm not talking about anything supernatural; rather, the "educated" lunkheads who try to tell them what their birthdate means.
By similar logic, you should NOT buy a lottery ticket with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. It has exactly the same odds of winning, but if those numbers hit, so many people will be shouting "it's obviously been rigged" that there will be a huge investigation, and it will take decades before you see any money.
(*) Nothing on this page says "random numbers", but I followed a link from http://www.thisistrue.com/blog-the_end_of_the_world_2011_edition.html