666 and Silence (#148, Topic A)

When I turned on to NPR yesterday, there was a spirited discussion on pregnant women's inducing premature births to avoid having to give births on June 6, 2006, which is today. I could not figure out what was going on. Now I know, as there is a front-page article in today's Washington Post (Style section)headlined "Date With the Devil" on this topic. "According to the King James version of the Book of Revelation, 666 [the 6th day of the 6th month of the millennium's 6th year] is 'the number of the beast.' Some interpret Chapter 13, Verse 18 as referring to the coming of the Antichrist, who will receive his power directly from Satan to establish a kingdom on Earth that will be the beginning of Armageddon." Interesting. Today's WP, in its op-ed page, there is also an essay by Richard Cohen, , on Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Auschwitz last month. At the memorial on the site where 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, were put to death during WWII, the pope said: "In a place like this, words fail. In the end, there can only be a dread silence -- a silence which is itself a heartfelt cry to God. Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?" After interpreting what the pope meant, somewhat sarcastically, which I fully understand, Cohen continued -- and I could do no better than simply quoting him (longer than I should, for fear of misrepresenting him) -- "I know Holocaust survivors who are religious. I don't understand it. I know others who feel that Auschwitz is proof that there is no God. I understand that." Profound.