Page 2 / News, Trends, Gossip and Stuff To Do : Controversy : A Number That’s Full of the Devil

666 was probably a respectable number once. But, as so many times before, Satan has spoiled things for non-Satanists.

According to popular biblical interpretations, 666 is the number of the beast, the antichrist, the devil. The three digits are so tainted that when they appear on a license plate, a Social Security card or a telephone prefix, they are routinely changed (unless, that is, you live in Silver Lake, where Pacific Bell has kept the 666 prefix).

Some believe that if the letters in a person’s name add up to 666, he is the antichrist (or at least is his--or her--very good friend). The trick is knowing how much value to give each letter. Previous numerical systems have claimed that everyone from the Roman Emperor Nero to Adolf Hitler was the antichrist.

Before the movie “The Omen,” such 666 discussions were largely limited to a few biblical scholars and numerologists. But the 1976 flick, which depicted the devil as a pale, young English boy with a 666 on his scalp, captured the public imagination.

Since then, speculation has abounded on the identity of the antichrist. More than a dozen Internet sites contend that Bill Gates, the multibillionaire head of Microsoft, is the evil one. Others argue that it’s Mister Rogers.

Alas, 666 has been surrendered to the devil. It’s unclear how the Fallen Angel became associated with this figure--whether it appeared before the Book of Revelation. But if the beast is so powerful, wouldn’t he have chosen the number himself? No. 2 seems a likely choice. Having fallen from heaven, we know he’ll try harder.

All we can say is that the man with the pitch-fork and horns works in strange and mysterious ways.