AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org

For more information, please contact:
Ellen Johnson, President (908) 276-7300
Dave Silverman, Communications Director (732) 648-9333

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 5, 2006


         HAPPY 06/06/06 -- DEVILS AND APOCALYPSE AND
      HEXAKOSIOIHEXIKOTAHEXAPHOBIA, OH MY! FOR ATHEISTS
          AND SKEPTICS, TUESDAY JUST ANOTHER DAY!


Some religious believers are fearful that this Tuesday, June 6, 2006 --
06/06/06 -- is a sign of an impending apocalypse.  After all, isn't
"666" the "Number of the Beast," foretold in the Book of Revelation
13:18?  It will be a bad day for those suffering from the psychological
malady known as HEXAKOSIOIHEXIKOTAHEXAPHOBIA, the fear of the number 666.

Even for those who do not believe that the Anti-Christ will be arriving
on Tuesday, the re-make of the 1970s thriller, "The Omen" is rolling out
to theaters.  Is it coincidence, too, that conservative pundit Ann
Coulter's book "Godless" is also being released? Hmmmm...

"It's just another day on a calendar that is arbitrary," says Frank
Zindler, Editor at American Atheist Press and an expert on Biblical
history and languages.  "It's also quite possible that the reference to
'666' is really a form of code that referred to the despotic emperor Nero."

Zindler adds that "616" appears in some early manuscripts instead of "666"

"Whoops, looks like June 1, 2006 came and went, and the devil isn't
here," jokes Zindler.

Still, shocking number of Americans, many of them Christian
evangelicals, believe that the apocalypse is just around the corner.

"Many of these people believe that they have to 'Christianize' the world
in anticipation for the second coming," says Ellen Johnson, President of
American Atheists.  "They frame politics in theological terms, and
interpret differences of opinion as a cosmic struggle between absolute
good and evil.  That threatens civil liberties, diversity, and it turns
politics into a religious litmus test."

Johnson cautioned against seeing national and world events as signs of
an impending apocalypse.

Referring to the popular "Left Behind" series authored by Rev. Tim
LaHaye, she added, "Millions of Americans believe they'll be flying off
to heaven soon. Humanity faces a lot of problems, everything from
'failed states' to hunger, ecological collapse and economic development,
and we need solutions, not fantasy."

For an Atheist perspective on "Apocalypse Tuesday," contact American
Atheists spokespersons:

FRANK ZINDLER, Editor, AA Press   (614) 299-1036
ELLEN JOHNSON, President, American Atheists (908) 276-7300
DAVE SILVERMAN, Communications Director (732) 648-9333

AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for
Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and
addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.

American Atheists, Inc.
P. O. Box 5733
Parsippany, NJ 07054-6733
Tel.: (908) 276-7300
Fax: (908) 276-7402