Bizarre News Juxtaposition
References to the Book of Revelations and to the "Mark of the Beast" are fairly common, of course. But it is kind of unusual to have them pop up in three wildly different news contexts in a single day. Yet that is exactly the situation. First, an Idaho man cut off his own hand with a circular saw, then microwaved the detached portion of his anatomy, reportedly because he was convinced he bore the Mark of the Beast.
HAYDEN, Idaho - A man who believed he bore the "mark of the beast" used a circular saw to cut off one hand, then he cooked it in the microwave and called 911, authorities said.
The man, in his mid-20s, was calm when Kootenai County sheriff's deputies arrived Saturday in this northern Idaho town. He was in protective custody in the mental health unit of Kootenai Medical Center.
"It had been somewhat cooked by the time the deputy arrived," sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said. "He put a tourniquet on his arm before, so he didn't bleed to death. That kind of mental illness is just sad."
It was not immediately clear whether the man has a history of mental illness. Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Johnson would not say whether an attempt was made to reattach the hand, citing patient confidentiality.
Wolfinger is exactly right, it is very sad. In fact it is a tragedy. Now on a somewhat less tragic, but possibly even more odd story, some backbenchers in the British Parliament introduced a bill to disestablish the Church of England as the official church of Britain. By some odd coincidence, the bill just happened to be assigned the sequential number of 666 - the very number of the beast.
LONDON (AFP) - Eyebrows were raised in the House of Commons on Thursday when a motion calling for the Church of England to be disestablished was listed with the number 666, symbol of the AntiChrist.
"This number is supposed to be the mark of the Devil. It looks as though God or the Devil have been moving in mysterious ways," said Bob Russell, a Liberal Democrat MP among those proposing the motion for debate.
"What is even stranger is that this motion was tabled last night when MPs were debating blasphemy," he added.
The motion calls for an end to the formal link between Church and State in England — embodied in the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is both head of state and head of the Church of England.
And to end the trifecta on a happier note, the small Louisiana town of Reeves is actually, finally getting rid of the number of the beast. They can change their telephone numbers - which have started with 666 for 40 years or so.
A small village in southwest Louisiana is finally getting its wish: to rid itself of a telephone prefix often associated with the devil or the Antichrist.
Starting this month, residents and businesses can change the first three digits of their phone numbers from 666 to 749. Mayor Scott Walker said he has made the change on his phone.
"It's been a 40-year battle" he said, counting at least four failed attempts.
Reeves has three churches - two Bible and one Baptist - and fewer than 450 homes. "This boils down to, this is a very, very religious community," Walker said.
Weird to see all those in such a short time frame.
Weird Stuff | Gaius Thursday, 10 January , 2008
By Maggie, Thursday, 10 January , 2008 @ 11:04 am
Cue the Twilight Zone theme …
By Uncle Pinky, Thursday, 10 January , 2008 @ 11:28 am
Weird to see all those in such a short time frame.
Not weird at all. Note that Hillary did take NH. You think the polls were that far off without a little … otherworldly … assistance?
By Lars Walker, Thursday, 10 January , 2008 @ 12:33 pm
My brother in northern Minnesota also lives in an area with a 666 exchange. He’s far from a fundamentalist, but says he wishes it were otherwise. The situation seems to attract a fair number of… unconventional people to move there.
By martian, Thursday, 10 January , 2008 @ 2:01 pm
Snowball fight anyone?
By NortonPete, Thursday, 10 January , 2008 @ 2:39 pm
Would anyone consider a study of Reeves ( crime, sickness, bad luck, lightening, hurricanes etc? )
There is 40 years of data, might have some interesting trends.