The Connecticut Post Online - Few fear apocalypse has arrived with number 666

As of Monday afternoon, Danielle Proto of Stratford hadn't given much thought to the fact that today is the sixth day of the sixth month of the millennium's sixth year.

In other words, the date is 6-6-06, evoking the 666 number that some believe is a biblical omen of the final struggle between good and evil. �Maybe I'll stay off the roads,� said Proto, an employee at Roberto's Restaurant in Bridgeport and resident of Stratford.

Biblical scholars and historians are divided on the significance of 666, which some associate with the Antichrist.

But the so-called Number of the Beast has found a foothold in pop culture and the entertainment world has embraced it as a marketing tool. Twentieth Century Fox chose today to release its remake of the 1976 horror classic, The Omen.

Fans of the heavy metal band Slayer have declared today the National Day of Slayer, urging metalheads to crank up the volume wherever they are.
Conservative firebrand Ann Coulter chose today to release her new book, �Godless: The Church of Liberalism.� And the latest book in the apocalyptic �Left Behind� series, by the Rev. Tim LaHaye, is hitting the shelves as well.

A handful of people interviewed in downtown Bridgeport Monday were vaguely aware of the diabolical date.

But they were largely nonplussed.
�I go to church. It's the Bible, but it's nothing big,� said Carlos Granados, a native of El Salvador who works in Bridgeport. �It's just like, people make a big deal about it. It's nothing.�
Seth Lloyd of New Haven agreed. �I didn't even think about it, I don't take it seriously,” he said.
Maria Lotzko, of Seymour, shared the sentiment, but was a bit more cautious.

“I feel a little bit strange. I'm not really superstitious, but I'm one of those people where you never can tell,” she said.

The number comes from the biblical Book of Revelation, 13:18: “This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

Some manuscripts give the number 616, instead.

Despite the apocalyptic associations in pop culture, some scholars say 666 may be a coded reference to the tyrannical Roman Emperor Nero.

Even online gambling sites have gotten in on the action, taking bets on whether the apocalypse will happen today. The good news is, if you're worried about making it through today, BetUS.com says that the chances of an apocalypse are 100,000-to-1. According to the company's spokesman, Mike Forman, people are betting both ways.