Every day, we encounter the randomness of numbers, but for some, there is a belief that there is no unpredictability when it comes to the meaning of numbers. For instance, you may hold a superstitious feeling about the number ’13’ and consider it bad luck. However, it is the number ‘666’ that sends people thinking thoughts about Satan, who is represented by what is known as the ‘Number of the Beast.’ For one man, this particular number has caused him to quit his job rather than ‘go to hell.’
Just last week, 52-year-old Walter Slonopas was working as a maintenance worker at Contech Casting LLC in Clarksville in Tennessee. However, his employment status with the company has since changed after resigning from his position following the receipt of his W-2 tax form that was stamped with the number 666. Slonopos is serious about the meaning behind the number, which is often used to represent the Devil. After the W-2 came in the mail, Slonopos took it to mean that he could either keep working at his job or go to Hell. It is his belief that if you ‘accept that number, you sell your soul to the Devil.’
Slonopas’ W-2 was labeled with the number 666 by the company responsible for Contech’s payroll. According to the vice president of sales and marketing for the Revstone Corp (which owns Contect Casting), the number is only meant as a reference to the order in which the forms were mailed out.
This isn’t the first incident that has caused Slonopas grief, who became a born-again Christian nearly 10 years previous. The Satanic number has troubled the worker in the past. During his first day on the job, Slonopas was initially assigned the number 668 to use when he clocked in for work in April of 2011. However, the human resource department gave him the wrong number, and it happened to be 666. After complaining, Slonopas was given a new number. Yet, in July of 2011, the time clock system for the company changed, and Slonopas was stuck with 666 once again. This mishap prompted him to quit and he only returned to work a couple of days later following a company apology.
Slonopas is just one of many who fear the number 666 whenever it emerges. First appearing in chapter 13 of the New Testament Book of Revelation, the number was used to describe a satanic figure called the ‘beast’ or Antichrist. It is told that this entity takes over the world and places the mark of 666 on people. It is a belief that this number will prevent the buying and selling of anything for those stamped with the number. Because of this, the number has a strong association with danger and evil. For those who follow the literal translation of the Bible, they view any tie to 666 as being a ‘betrayal of their faith.’ For Slonopas, it meant that he had to leave behind his job. He did not want to be linked to the Antichrist.
The number 666 has prominently figured into the interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Many have tried to use the digit to unlock the identity of the Antichrist. Political candidates are usually popular targets of such assessments, and have included the likes of Hitler, some U.S. Presidents, and even companies, such as Proctor & Gamble.
By quitting his job, the saga of the Satanic W-2 form does not end there for the former employee. Slonopas wants his former employer to reissue a new W-2 without the number 666 on it. He says that he refuses to file his taxes using this number. Even if the company offers his job back (which they would like to do), Slonopas says that he will not return for fear that this action would send out the message that he had placed money over his faith. A spokesman for the company is in awe that the same sort of incident would happen to the same person on more than one occasion. Contech has plans to mail out a new W-2 to Slonopas.
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