If there’s any number that freaks people out in Western culture, it’s 666, the supposed “number of the Beast” in the Bible’s book of Revelations. A Tennessee man who says that he’s been a born-again Christian for a decade was pretty spooked when he received the 666th W-2 earnings statement that his employer had printed. Now he’s quit his job and refuses to pay his taxes until he gets new, Beast-free paperwork.

In the Bible, 666 is the number that the Antichrist wants stamped on his followers, as well as all items that are bought or sold. (A non-literal interpretation of this passage had people freaked out when UPCs first came into use a few decades ago.) From the man’s point of view, the choice is simple: he can file his 1040 and keep on going to work, or he can sign his soul over to the Antichrist and spend eternity in hell.

“If you accept that number, you sell your soul to the devil,” he told the Tennessean.

His employer, Contech Casting LLC, will issue him a new W-2 in a blank envelope, and really, really would like him to come back to his job as a maintenance worker.

666 on tax form makes man quit job to save soul [Tennessean]

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