The Road to Perdition leads straight to the Heights of Folly when you're driving on Route 491 in New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. This route can't be found on roadmaps yet, nor are their any bullet-pocked signs along it that designate this federal highway, because until recently (May 31, 2003), this particular road was known as Route 666. No more. Governmental wisdom – state and federal – has decreed that the "Devil's Highway" will no longer bear the number of the beast. Taxpayers not consulted will bear the expense of this egregious and truly nonsensical change in designation. Based on what was reported in a Friday the Thirteenth (cross your fingers and face the wall!) story in the New York Times, one might conclude that superstition has won the day in the hallowed halls of government.
The 77 year old, 191 mile long Route 666 has ceased to exist as such because the number is believed by some to be "the number of the beast," per a literal interpretation of the New Testament book of The Revelation of Saint John the Divine, chapter 13, verse 18: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and the number is Six hundred three score and six" (Authorized King James Version).
Extrapolating from this Biblical text, a New Mexico state legislator (per a citation in the Times article) took it upon himself to proclaim in a resolution that Route 666 was not likely to be used "because of the fear that the Devil [sic] controls events along 666."
The amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America begin with the words: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…." Judicial interpretation of this amendment (Article I) has led to a prohibition of prayer in public schools and the banning of religious holiday displays in public places, but it seems that it is permissible to spend a large amount of taxpayer money to allay fears based on what some taxpayers might regard as rank superstition rather than sound Biblical exegesis. This is an unconscionable abuse of state power and does nothing to serve the cause of religion, individual beliefs notwithstanding. One can only hope that the ACLU will bestir itself to file a suit in this matter, for if ever a case could be made for activism against a state-religion issue, this preposterous usurpation of legal powers is ideal for the purpose.
This issue at hand is decidedly not whether or not the literal interpretation of The Revelation of Saint John the Divine is theologically "correct." The issue revolves around whether or not a governmental agency may order a costly change to the numeration of a long-designated federal highway without the consent of the taxpayers. Also at issue is the right of the legislatures of states to lobby the federal government to effect a change without first having put the issue to the voters of the states through which the highway passes, though it is hard to imagine that even were they to have voted for said change it would allow for the spending of federal tax dollars in a manner affecting all U.S. taxpayers, not just those of the states involved.
One might easily be tempted to laugh off the issue were it not for the precedent set by such a bizarre action taken by no small number of governmental officials. What possessed them? It is easy to imagine the 60s comedian Flip Wilson in drag squealing: "The devil made me do it," but in this case… No, it seems the folks in the federal government and various state legislatures take the devil too seriously for that.
What next?
It may be worth noting that the bright red (the devil's color!) numbers 666 which glowed from atop the Tishman building (located at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City) since its construction in 1957 have been replaced the with the perhaps less bestial "Citi," though the building has not seen fit to change its address entirely. The NBA has a large retail outlet there, making one wonder if perhaps Michael Jordan's seemingly superhuman talent on the basketball court may in fact derive from a Faustian bargain. Is Mayor Bloomberg going to stand idly by, or can we expect measures to be taken? Why has Hillary Clinton not spoken with someone? And Al Sharpton, the Reverend Al Sharpton…? Oh, well, it's New York, after all.
Would that this were indeed a laughing matter. But it is not.
There has been a marked encroachment into American political life of a particular form of Christianity that may be said to be far from representative of Christian beliefs in general and utterly alien to those of a large segment of the community of believers, not to mention the beliefs of many citizens of other religious faiths or of no faiths at all. This of late particularly vocal minority makes no secret of its intent to influence governmental policy. The United States Supreme Court, rightly or wrongly from particular moral standpoints, has handed down decisions in matters which make clear its supralegislatorial intent to bar any law perceived to interfere with the presumed secular intent of the Constitution of the United States. That it has done so with what many believe to be "bad law" (Roe vs. Wade springs to mind) is not at issue here; that it may do so selectively would be. Federal agencies spurred on by state legislatures influenced by what is tantamount to superstition masquerading as religious doctrine should be checked by the courts as soon as possible; the voters of the several states should then make their views known and voted into law (or not) by the ballot, removing from office any official who presumes to cause to be spent public funds gathered by federal taxation for purposes related to interstate commerce rather than "religious" numerology.
The "Devil's Highway" issue was, according to the Times article, brought to the fore this past spring by a group of politicians in the three states through which the road passes. The effort to force a change in the name was spearheaded by New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who argued that "the New Testament's association of 666 with Satan was impairing the economic vitality of the towns along its route." What, pray tell, is the evidence for this assumption? And why has it taken 77 years for this impairment to be noticed? It would not appear that the New Testament association of Bethlehem with the birth of Jesus Christ has contributed in any positive way to the fortunes of Bethlehem Steel, nor that the Old Testament association of the "land of Goshen" has done overmuch for fortunes of the trotting race track in the New York town of that name; perhaps the planned casino will fare better. As for devil's food cakes: take heed, Betty Crocker!
Herein lies the dilemma: one can't help but try and make a joke of it. But we should not and cannot, however preposterous the numerous examples of this sort of superstitious – one might even say "pagan" – emphasis on names and numbers might appear.
I do not presume to force my own religious beliefs on anyone and wish that the same courtesy be extended to me and to the other taxpayers whose pockets will be picked by this religiously partisan issue utterly devoid of justifiable motive. It is not for me or for anyone to decide whether or not "666" is an "unlucky" number, no matter what its "associations." It is one thing for a builder to decide to exclude a numbered thirteenth floor in a private building; it is entirely another to require that no public building have a numbered thirteenth floor. Imagine the uproar if such a law were to be introduced! Yet for the majority of America's taxpayers (or so I assume, perhaps incorrectly), no such consideration was made when a federal agency chose to renumber a 77 year old highway which bore its number thanks to logical historical association with the old 2448 mile long Route 66, a highway with nearly legendary folkloric associations (the Hank Snow song made popular by the Rolling Stones – "Get your kicks on Route Sixty Six" – , the 60s television program featuring two young busybodies in a Corvette) that was itself the object of a renumbering controversy that ended with its official decommissioning in 1985, 59 years after it was commissioned, though it much earlier been superseded by interstate highways (see www.historic66.com for a wealth of info on "The Main Street of America"). Route 666, "christened [sic] as the sixth tributary off Route 66" (Times article), outlived its parent by 18 years, dying at the hands of busybodies far less entertaining but far more officious than Tod and Buzz, the latter replaced by Link in the Stingray years of the television program.
It is interesting to note that this is not the first time a Route 666 has had its number changed: New Jersey officials changed five mile long State Route 666 two years ago, according to an Ananova (www.ananova.com) article published March 30, 2001. The article states that "the decision to change to another number [was] prompted by the thefts [of the road signs bearing the number] and has nothing to do with superstitious fears." Not surprising in a state that has an ice hockey team named the "Devils."
What is surprising is that a web search turns up little with respect to the present change, a change that according to the legislators involved had everything to do with fears ("fear that the Devil controls events along 666"), though the word superstitious wasn't used. Perhaps the passive taxpayer fears the government even more than the devil.
Or perhaps people have begun to recognize that they're one and the same.
"If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of saints" (Revelation 13: 9,10).
And as for the road to Hell? Perhaps C.S. Lewis said it best: "The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."
Here is Wisdom.
June 17, 2003
Timothy J. Cullen (send him mail), a former equities trader, lives in Seville, Spain.
