# Non-Christian Dopers: Would you feel any trepidation about 666 or a mark on your head or hand? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 22, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384 "2020-04-22T22:15:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/61 "2020-04-24T11:06:08Z")
No, but if it is a beautiful floral or fractal pattern, I might reconsider. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/62 "2020-04-24T15:42:01Z")
I built a demolition derby car many years ago, 1973 Chevy Impala station wagon. Painted it black with red and orange flames. Painted “Highway to Hell” across the hood. And gave it the number 666. Showed up at the race track, got a few comments from others but nothing negative. Went out and tried to win the demo derby but a broken drive line ended my afternoon a lot earlier than I planned. After the derby was over, they opened the pits to the fans to come out and look at the cars. I was accosted by 3 or 4 different folks. They wanted to save my soul and offered to pray for me. A month later at the next demo derby, is showed up with the same car, only this time it was painted white and gold with “Stairway to Heaven” on the hood. I flipped my number sign over to read 999. No one said anything this time to me. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/63 "2020-04-24T18:06:03Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I also blaspheme, walk under ladders, and do not believe in the easter bunny. Coming back to this – the ladders one actually has some logic to it; at least, if there’s anybody up on the ladder while someone else walks under it. There’s some risk to the person walking underneath that the person on the ladder might drop something; and there’s also a risk to the person up on the ladder that someone walking underneath might accidentally push into the ladder and bring it down. So if you’re walking under ladders – look up first; and if somebody’s up there, and there’s room to go around, then go around. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/64 "2020-04-24T21:03:54Z")
Jewish here. Other than my circumcision, I object to any tattoo or permanent mark on my body. I object to plenty of actual rules and laws that I see as pointless. I cannot imagine that I’d agree with a totalitarian government mandating some kind of mark of the beast. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Maple_Leaf)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/65 "2020-04-24T21:40:45Z")
I would most certainly object to a government forcing me to have anything implanted or imprinted on or into my body, be it a microchip or the number 666. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/66 "2020-04-24T21:44:54Z")
I’m not a non-Christian, but I’d only be ok with it if they also gave me a costume that let me appear to be an unspeakable abomination from the lowest depths of hell. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/67 "2020-05-02T02:45:33Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > I’m not a non-Christian, but I’d only be ok with it if they also gave me a costume that let me appear to be an unspeakable abomination from the lowest depths of hell. Uhh…sorry…we ran out – oh, but we DO have these masks from the middle floors. Very stylish in the hot pink… **Kayla’s Dad** , feel free to blast any phemes you want – but first ship me your leftover chocolates from last month. I have these scars from when I tried foil-fencing before my glove arrived. Right where those eight little wrist-bones allow me to bend my hand back, it looks like a little triangular cluster with 6, a q, and that lower-case sigma that I learned about in Statistics class. 😃 People have said it looks supernatural, but I tell them how I got 'em via perfectly natural means… –G! Well they call me the breeze! I just keep movin’ on… …–Ronnie Van Zandt (Lynrd Skynrd) …[though written by J.J. Cale] … _Call me the Breeze_ … Second Helping ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/68 "2021-02-21T04:48:22Z")
Why on earth would I feel trepidation about 666 if I’m not a Christian (which I’m not)? Now if it were pi to the power of 18.3, now there’s some scary shit. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/69 "2021-02-21T05:56:31Z")
When I was in high school, I worked at Target, and one of my friends there was a very devout Christian who would silently freak out whenever a $6.66 total came up. I told her, “It’s just a number” and she said, “No, it isn’t!” Yes, it is, in that context. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/70 "2021-02-21T09:08:34Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > For non-Christian Dopers, suppose there were some day some bar code or digital chip, or the number 666, or tattoo/mark that became universally required of everyone in order to buy or sell - would you feel any trepidation about having such a mark put on your body? (Not necessarily for theological reasons, but also for civil-rights, political, Big Brother/Orwellian concerns or any other such reservations) Hell yes. I don’t want anything tattooed on or implanted in my body without my consent. And I’d be extremely suspicious of any government that promoted the idea - for civil rights reasons, not religious ones. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/71 "2021-02-21T09:50:31Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > For non-Christian Dopers, suppose there were some day some bar code or digital chip, or the number 666, or tattoo/mark that became universally required of everyone in order to buy or sell - would you feel any trepidation about having such a mark put on your body? Yes, I object to permanent alteration of my body by someone else without my consent. That includes chips and tattoos. I have neither and desire none. > [@Riemann](#): > > Well, we’re likely to go cashless in the near future, and credit & debit cards could be replaced by payment systems implemented with implanted technology. So I can easily see this happening in our lifetimes. Yeah? We chip pets and material objects. I object to being reduced to chattel. And there was that whole tattoo thing the Nazis had going, which was part of obliterating the European side of my dad’s family so yeah, the whole concept tends to give me the willies. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/72 "2021-02-21T10:13:05Z")
One part of me says there would be such widespread objection that an underground economy would develop to bypass it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/73 "2021-02-21T12:16:34Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > suppose there were some day some bar code or digital chip, or the number 666, or tattoo/mark that became universally required of everyone in order to buy or sell Is it assumed that the bar code or chip also contains the number 666? Because otherwise, the things you listed are not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/74 "2021-02-21T13:03:28Z")
Atheist here – don’t care at all about religious significance per se. Though I’m very cautious about signaling to religious people for fear of their possible reactions. I’d be quite cautious about government tattoos tattoos for Orwellian fear reasons. And I don’t want to have anything to do with tattoos, anyway, associating them with Popeye. But I think it’s very unlikely the government will want to give us anything identifying such as tattoos or implants. Computers just have to get a bit better at recognizing faces, eyes, voices, fingerprints, and the like. That doesn’t require any permission from us at all, and even for the hypothetical goal of creepy authoritarianism would be way more effective and powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/75 "2021-02-21T13:22:26Z")
Everyone always seems inclined to equate the “Mark of the Beast” with credit card chips or RFID or the like, but that’s exactly wrong. The way a credit card chip or RFID works is, everyone has a different one. Its fundamental purpose is to tell individuals apart. But the Mark of the Beast spoken of in Revelation isn’t individualized: It’s the same for everyone. The only purpose it serves is to identify the wearer as being part of the Beast’s in-group. And it’s not required for buying and selling because it’s part of how the process of buying and selling works; it’s required because that’s store policy and/or law. The modern equivalent wouldn’t be an RFID chip; it’d be something like getting MAGA tattooed on your forehead. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/76 "2021-02-21T13:57:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I have a 999. So now you can work on raising Caine. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/77 "2021-02-21T16:57:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But the Mark of the Beast spoken of in Revelation isn’t individualized: It’s the same for everyone. The only purpose it serves is to identify the wearer as being part of the Beast’s in-group. I don’t think this is necessarily contradictory. If everyone has a QR code tattooed to their forehead, that is both “same for everyone” as a general emblem _and_ yet individualized at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/78 "2021-02-21T21:20:23Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It’s “Neron,” because that’s what it is in Greek, which is a declined language. I don’t know Greek, so I’m not sure which case “Neron” is (probably genitive or dative), and I couldn’t begin to tell you which declension-- I’m not even sure how many Greek has-- but that’s what’s up with the ending. Very late to the nitpick party here, but no, “Nérōn” is [the standard nominative singular masculine case of that name in Greek](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Νέρων). Likewise, [“Plátōn” is the standard Greek nominative singular masculine case](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Πλάτων) of the name usually rendered as “Plato” in English. The -ων nominative singular masculine ending is one of those [wacky Greek third declension etymologies](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ων#Etymology_4), in this case considered to derive from a possessive or [bahuvrihi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahuvrihi) construction. You’re right that in many Greek declensions the -ων ending is usually associated with genitive plural, though. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/79 "2021-02-21T22:36:08Z")
Well, I’m a proud atheist so obviously I feel no trepidation about an all powerful global dictator tattooing my forehead with a religious symbol marking my obedience. Why on earth would that be a problem? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/80 "2021-02-21T23:07:06Z")
Ah, well. My point still stands that the number isn’t “six, six, six.” It’s the value of 666, or DCLXVI, or 600+60+6\*, and that value is derived from the name of the Emperor Nero, _as his name is spelled in Greek_. \*or maybe 606, if it’s a mistranslation; I’ve heard that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384.md?page=5)