Christian runner drops out of race rather than wear Satan’s number

November 7, 2013 • 6:24 am

Codie Thacker, a high-school athlete in Kentucky, dropped out of a regional championship race because she was assigned The Number of the Beast.  When she opened her race envelope, this is what she got (screenshot from the video mentioned below):

Picture 2

According to Yahoo News (where you should watch the video about this), Thacker wouldn’t accept the number because it was Satan’s number and running while wearing it would jeopardize her relationship with God:

“I didn’t want to risk my relationship with God and try to take that number,” Thacker told LEX18. “I told them to mark out my name because it makes me sick just thinking that my name is associated with that number.”

The result was a third straight season when the cross country runner has fallen just short of the state meet, even though she had aggressively trained for the regional championship race since June. Thacker had hoped to earn headlines for her performance on the trails. Now she’s getting attention for something else entirely.

Perhaps the only person who wasn’t stunned by Thacker’s exit from the regional meet was her coach, Gina Croley, who was the first person to see the number assigned to the runner.

“I saw it and I was like, ‘whoa,'” she said. “I don’t think she will wear that number.”

. . . As reported in depth by Lexington NBC affiliate LEX18, Whitley County High (Whitley County, Ky.) cross country runner Codie Thacker voluntarily forfeited her spot in a regional championship race after her coach drew bib No. 666 for the runner. Thacker and her coach argued that she should be allowed to switch her number, but race officials refused the request.

Thacker has insisted that she made it clear to race officials that wearing “666” violated her religion, but the race officials say otherwise—that she just asked for a new number.  If you believe them, then their denial was fine.  But if you believe Thacker, I’m not sure why they just didn’t give her another number and let her run.

Granted, she is delusional, and it’s almost laughable to see her claim that God would frown on her if she ran with that number. On the other hand, what’s the harm in catering to her delusion? I see no First Amendment violations here, and I feel sorry that she couldn’t run.  I do hope she gets over her literalism, but it seems unlikely. I’ve spoken in Kentucky twice before (and will do so again in two weeks, at Murray State), and I know what a hotbed of religious fervor it is. (That is, by the way, why I want to speak there.)

But readers, do weigh in. If Thacker did have a religious objection to wearing the number, and the officials knew it, did they have any reason to deny her request?

Here’s Thacker (center) praying before a race:

Prayer

By the way, although the number 666 appears in Revelation, there is a scholarly controversy about whether the number might really be 616, which appears in some of the earliest versions of that text. See Wikipedia for further discussion.

I want to mention one more thing. To all those Sophisticated Theologians™  or Faitheists like Frances Spufford, R. Joseph “Look at Me” Hoffmann, Karen Armstrong, and so on, who claim that a. nobody takes most of the Bible literally, and b. atheists like Richard Dawkins are attacking a strawman when going after religion as literalism—you people need to get out more. Spend some time in the American South, where you’d get big horselaughs trying to explain Sophisticated Theology, God as a Ground of Being, or Apophatic theology.  There many people take the Bible with a strong draught of literalism rather than a grain of salt.

Or you could spend some time in the Middle East.  In many Muslim countries it is impermissible to even think of the Qur’an as metaphorical.  If Karen Armstrong preached apophatism on the steps of the Great Mosque of Isfahan, she wouldn’t last long.

h/t: Todd, Chris

233 thoughts on “Christian runner drops out of race rather than wear Satan’s number”

  2. Why not just wear the number upside down? Would she have had a problem with 999?

    Unless there was some specific reason why granting her a new number would have been difficult I don’t see why the organisers didn’t do so. It doesn’t really matter whether the objection is religious, superstitious or whatever – there is no harm in trying to accommodate someone’s (irrational) wishes in a simple case like this.

    2. I agree. I suspect the officials have a ‘slippery slope’ mindset that envisions the problem of each of the competitors wanting a different number for each event. Alas.

      If the officials remain adamant in their refusal, the student will play the victim for the rest of her life and theists will continue shouting that there’s a war against Christians.

      I’m generally not an accomodationist but this case is over such a trifling matter that I’m willing to cave in.

      1. Maybe she needs to start learning the natural costs/consequences of holding irrational beliefs.

        1. And what is that consequence here? I suspect she will learn about the consequences, and those consequences here are that she will be a hero among her peers and that she can get more fame making a silly fuss than by competing in a race. After all, even if she’d won this and the next dozen races, none of us would have ever heard of her, but now she’s on CNN. What a huge boost this is likely to be for someone with the religious penchant for narcissism. I expect her to learn the lesson very well.

          2. I suppose it has the potential for allowing her to believe in easy ways to gain notoriety, but what if running the race, something in which she had heavily invested, was of greater importance to her than notoriety for notoriety’s sake? Then she likely will experience a substantial dollop of regret, which I hope helps her establish a better means of dealing with trivial adversity in the future. If she has a so called relationship with god why does she not feel she could have talked it over with him so he would understand that in order to run she had to wear it and that it would not have any impact on her beliefs whatsoever? I guess delusional is delusional, but how ironic that the all seeing, all knowing, all powerful god of her beliefs would, first, have given her the number, causing her to experience painful regret, and, second, not have understood it was out of her control and that wearing it would not constitute membership into satan’s army, or whatever. Wait, I know, he tested her by giving her the number. Did she pass or fail? Sheesh. The longer I look at this matter the more I think it’s not quite as trivial as it at first would seem. Her silly, misguided beliefs caused her to waste her training and miss an opportunity to compete at a sanctioned high school event, of which there are but a few in a young person’s life. There was no critical thinking on her part whatsoever, just blind following of her fear of a nonexistent entity. While it’s not quite tragic it is deeply regrettable. Now I, too, feel regret. Misery loves company, I suppose, just as does blind faith.

          3. “If she has a so called relationship with god why does she not feel she could have talked it over with him so he would understand”

            Christians often have a relationship with god like the battered wife has a relationship with the abusive husband. He’s just not really all that understanding. I mean, Hell, duh. This is one of the fundamental mental contortions of orthodox Christianity, loving a tyrant and calling the abuse you get back love.

      2. XC race officials in my region of the country (NE and specifically, Maine) are insanely rule-oriented so the decision isn’t surprising to me. Runners are dq’d for not wearing team gear (say different colored lycra shorts under race shorts) or wearing the yellow Lance Armstrong band (that’s jewelry) or holding hands while crossing the finish line (that’s interference and/or aiding), etc, etc.

    3. I suspect she would have known it was really 666 & so would her god so she didn’t see that as an option.

    4. My reaction exactly. Or why not hang it sideways (like the toiler paper roll dilemma :), in case there is a 999 contestant. Or are there strict rules for pinning on the number sheet?

      This silliness makes me want to tear out my hair, but it just goes to show how powerful and potentially dangerous delusions and superstitions can be.

    5. If they wouldn’t let her run with a different number then they wouldn’t have let her run with a different number (999). Certainly they wouldn’t have let her run with her number upside down.

  3. Obviously G-d marked her with the Number of the Beast and told the race officials not to change her number. Not sure why she wants to bring His Wrathiness down on her head by delaying the End Times but whatevs.

    1. Definitely. G*d made it she got the number to test her faith, then so harden the official’s heart to guarantee his/her ticket to hell, and subsequently tickled Jerry’s heart to post this entertaining bit of news here in his (Jerry’s!) bl*g, so that G*d could simultaneously tickled 20 thousand or so of today’s readers’ heathenly hearts …

      (whee .. lots of ticklings! )

    2. Exactly my thoughts! Why does she want to defy god’s wish to give her the special number?

      Did she do anything to piss off her very own god?

  4. Real life can be funnier than fiction. I’m sure this girl will accomplish so much in her life.

    1. I need to see the opticians. Or use a bigger font on screen. I read that as “Life can be furrier than friction.”
      Which might be a much more interesting way to think about things.

  5. A lot of people have a phobia about the number 13 and they are often humored. In some buildings there is no 13th floor. I would think this is a similar case, and the girl should just be given another number. If the number 666 is such an issue, it could be omitted, like the 13th floor.

    1. I agree.

      Perhaps if there were a recurring problem of too many people demanding particular numbers as to overburden the organizers they could put a limit on it. Everyone gets one “re-draw” and they could just keep going up in numbers, or something.

      In the end the numbers are just a way to track people, so the actual values are not all that important. It is not like they could reasonably attempt to treat numerology delusions in that context anyway. There is no good reason in the context of running the event not to be accommodating, be the number 13, 666, or any other.

    2. I agree too. If it’s not too hard I’d be willing to accommodate such people, and those from cultures where the number four, seven or eight, or whatever is considered inauspicious. It could be taken to ridiculous lengths, but it wouldn’t be hard to write a program that avoids undesirable numbers, perhaps for a small additional fee.

    3. Our house number is 13. They are done on the basis of how far down the road you are from the corner.

      When we first moved here, we went into Rural Addressing, and we were told that we had enough frontage that our number could be 15 if we didn’t want 13. The Rural Addressing officer said that most people didn’t want 13.

      I just laughed and told him to leave it as it was. L

      1. Our house settlement date happened to fall on 13th (60 days after the auction). The estate agent in all seriousness offered to change the date.

      2. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. I wonder if could have petitioned some branch of government – using “The Tall Building Argument” – to allow me to skip age 13 altogether. One day I’d be 12, the next 14.

        At the time I think I decided that 13 would be lucky number. As an adult I’ll choose the number (if, say, I could choose a specific room number in a hotel) just to point out the silliness of the superstition.

    4. I object to using the number “1729” because it is the first self-contradictory number.
      Slippery slope – have some lubricant!
      It’s all very ‘Chariots of Fire’. And insufferably silly.

      1. I’ll bite. What is a self-contradictory number? Wikipedia says 1729 is the first ‘taxicab number’ but doesn’t mention your term.

        1. A while ago – possibly while I was “waiting for the man/ $26 dollars in ma hand” (in tribute to the Transformer) – I was reading a book of “interesting numbers”. Zero, pi, e, 2, that sort of thing. It got as far as 1729 before finding an integer that the first edition couldn’t find anything interesting to say about it. So it was the first “uninteresting number”. Which is, in itself, interesting. Which make it a contradictory number.
          For the second edition of that book (or the second time I got to reading it ; I don’t remember exactly), someone had dug up the taxicab and lonely Indian mathematical genius story, which revealed to to be a genuinly intersting number (sum of two natural cubes by two different routes?), but implies that a different (larger) number is the first “uninteresting” number, and therefore also the first contradictory number.

          1. Now I’ve got that song stuck in my head (not that it’s such a bad song to have that happen with).

          3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan#Ramanujan.E2.80.93Hardy_number_1729

            “I remember once going to see him when he was ill at Putney. I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one, and that I hoped it was not an unfavorable omen. “No,” he replied, “it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.””

            I once read that this anecdote is unlikely, as Hardy was a famous number theorist and was very unlikely to be unaware of this property of the number 1729.

          4. Yeah I know of this anecdote too.

            Is it possible that Hardy introduced the anecdote “in honour of” Ramanujan? (i.e. to make Ramanujan look good).

    5. I wonder if you could weasel out of answering every 13th question on exams because of your superstition?

    6. Actually all buildings with 13 or more floors have a 13th floor. Some Owners choose to number the 13th floor as 14. This does not make the 13th floor disappear, it is still there just named something different. As an architect I always find the request to number the 13th floor as 14 little odd.

    7. In some buildings there is no 13th floor.

      I wonder how that could technically work unless the building is only 12 floors high. Would there be a gap?

      Yes, of course I am playing obtuse here. The point is that these buildings do have a 13th floor, and people are kidding themselves if they believe otherwise.

      1. I suppose one could have an uninhabited third floor, and the elevators could speed up as they pass through the terrifying bad luck zone.

          1. Well in British buildings, which have a ‘Ground’ floor, the ’12th’ floor is actually the 13th (by US reckoning), while the ’13th’ floor would be the 14th. So USanians in Britain should actually avoid the 12th floor, I guess. Not sure if it works that way though, can the Forces of Evil and bad luck see through the deceptive labelling? – do they read numbers or just count the floors for themselves…?

    9. No, there is still a 13th floor. Some people just try to delude themselves into thinking there isn’t by calling it something else. If I call my neighbour’s dog a cat, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have a dog.

      1. Strangely, I call all dogs pussy-cats, though I don’t exactly know why. Perhaps because we’ve always has cat sized dogs. And I always refer to them with the male pronoun regardless of their sex. Again, not sure why.

  6. They should let her run with the number 666.1.

    That, or tell her she’s been allocated the number 999 but they accidentally printed it upside down.

      1. Or base 5 ; someone that dumb^H^H^H^H Godly wouldn’t understand their chain being yanked that hard.

  8. If I were her, I’d be much more concerned about running under the colors of National Socialism and sporting that vaguely swastika-like logo. We are awash in evil symbols; if you’re going to let superstitions rule your world, you’ve got a LOT of work to do eliminating them all from your life.

    1. It’s probably just general policy to prevent people wasting their time. It’s not as simple as you might expect to print off a new number, change records, &c. Especially if other people start doing the same thing. “My lucky number is 5, can you give me a 5 please?”

      Why would they have a system set up to change people’s numbers on request? It takes a complete idiot to request a new race number.

      1. my last race number was 1030367.
        There weren’t that many in the race. The numbers started with the number 1 many years ago and kept getting larger. I imagine if a christian was allocated a number with a 666 sequence in there and asked for a different number they would likely tell that runner to go jump in the lake.

  10. H’it’s a clear sign frum Gawd that she’s ta give up on that sinful runnin’ (where they don’ wear nuff clothes) and join the ministry- prayze Jeebus!

  11. I live in an apartment building whose street address is 666.

    So that explains my atheism. Huh.

  12. What about the two poor people with numbers either side of hers? 665 and 667.

    The Neighbours of the Beast…

    Won’t somebody please think of the neighbours!

    2. The two policemen who apprehend Alex in A Clockwork Orangebhave badge numbers 665 & 667.

      1. I will have to rememeber that. And check the next time (yes, really!) I watch it.

  15. “What’s the harm in catering to her delusion?”

    The film “Lars and the Real Girl” raises the same question. In the movie, a somewhat mentally unstable individual reaps a great benefit, through a process of emotional maturation, when an entire town caters to his belief that he has a relationship with an inflatable sex doll. In the movie, without spoiling the ending too much, he eventually learns to let “her” go.

    The difference between Lars’ case and the 666-runner is that, to everyone watching the film it is clear that Lars is delusional. But the 666-runner has 1/2 an entire wacky nation to bolster her belief that god will frown on her for wearing the number of the beast. I doubt she will gain the benefit of obtaining the kind of personal growth that Lars did. But of course she is free to be so deluded.

    There’s a great Bible Study she may benefit from: The Origin of Satan, by Elaine Pagels.

  16. Honestly, if she didn’t tell the organizers WHY she wanted a new number, then I don’t think they did anything wrong. Events like that are hectic enough without allowing everyone to re-do their numbers willy-nilly, as it is guaranteed that a policy that allowed runners to change numbers at will would be dreadfully abused. (Example: seventeen runners demand the number 1, twelve runners just can’t bear to have a high number, etc, etc, etc.)

    If, on the other hand, she DID tell them why she wanted a new number, then they definitely should have allowed her to re-draw.

    Honestly, having 666 (and likely 13, too) in the pool was a bad idea in the first place. Enough people have objections to each number that it’s easiest in the long run to just not include them. They’re only used to ID runners for that one race, anyway.

    1. The race organizers may have been as naive as I am, and not known that 666 is somehow special. I think they should be applauded for their sports-mindedness and service to community.

    2. Honestly, having 666 (and likely 13, too) in the pool was a bad idea in the first place. Enough people have objections to each number that it’s easiest in the long run to just not include them.

      Sadly, the DVLA (UK’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) agrees with you, and for some years has not issued vehicle registrations with the numbers 666. So, any that you do see on new-ish cars ARE vanity plates.
      They’ve only just finished 6 months of issuing every newly registered car with a ’13’ plate though. The madness didn’t stretch that far.

      1. I love your understated takedown of frothingslosh (how appropriate is that!) with your “sadly”. 😀

    3. This seems like needless pandering to one religion to me (666 obviously, not 13). I don’t know if other religions have “bad numbers,” but if they do they would have to be accommodated as well. Removing them so that no one will end up with those numbers merely reinforces the ridiculous superstitions about these numbers. That said, if a runner does not want a particular number for religious reasons they should be accommodated for this only effects than one individual. Removing the numbers completely sends the message that these are special numbers. Allowing one person to change their number doesn’t send that same message.

      Or maybe I’m making too big a deal of this.

  17. I don’t see a problem with issuing a different number. I don’t organize races, granted, so there could be some overriding principle or practical consideration. But in a country where entire buildings are without a thirteenth floor, it doesn’t sound like an onerous request.

  20. I’ve seen sensible accommodation of religious beliefs – for instance catering for people who won’t eat or drink particular foods because it is part of their beliefs. But in this case I don’t see that the race organizers have any obligation to cater for peoples’ superstitions. Entry into the race is voluntary. If you don’t like the route, or the business sponsors, or your race number, don’t run.

    We can only push back against religious privilege if we don’t pander to ‘religious’ expectations.

    1. Its not privelege if the organizers accept any reasonable request for a number change. Which, as long as its not too disruptive, they should (IMO). Some runner doesn’t want number 501 because her mom had a heart attack while racing in number 501? I’m okay with that.

      People have foibles (both religious and non-). They have history. As long as it only takes a trivial effort to make them more comfortable, it seems a bit nasty and Scroogy not to do so.

    2. How is it more sensible to accomodate food but not a simple number? Different food means a whole separate catering menu, and that costs real money. Giving a runner a different number is almost trivially easy.

  21. When I used to work as a bank teller in college, there was a regular customer that would withdrawn hundreds of dollars to, as she would proudly announce, go gambling. However, when I would give her the money she would check through the serial numbers on each bill to make sure there weren’t three 6’s (didn’t have to be sequential). If there were, she would ask for a different bill. I was baffled every time.

    As a Kentucky resident, I wish Jerry was coming to Lexington, Louisville, or the Cinncinnati area of Northern KY (or somewhere within a reasonable distance). Unfortunatly, Murray is in the middle of nowhere on the other end of the state. But I guess the places I wish he’d come are the places that need him the least.

    1. Yeah, Murray is a bit of a drive away (though we do have a few people coming in from Louisville to see him speak), the reason he’s coming to Murray State is because our two secular organizations (MSU Student Organization for Reason and Science and MSU Freethinkers) invited him to speak. Our faculty adviser Dr. Zingrone (who spoke at Louisville, Kentucky Freethought Convention) has been getting some serious heat from Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis for his editorials (a few of which attacked creationism) as well as from the local religious community. So having Coyne come and speak now is perfect and as you mentioned above is much needed for an area like this haha.

  23. The runner should live where I do, in San Marcos, TX 78666

    When I order something by phone, I often get a comment on our zip code from the person taking the order.

    1. I had a similar problem a while back. My Visa security code was 666, and I got a few comments. Fortunately, I live in England so switched to saying “treble 6” which is common usage here, which solved the problem!

    1. Oh yes, that would certainly cause a mindless ruction of moral hysteria in the” solid south.”

  25. I’m sure if the organizers had announced that the number 666 was up for grabs they would have had a large number of takers. They probably could even have sold it.

    1. Now there is an idea. Auction off numbers for the race. Sounds like a good way to raise money.

  26. I would refuse to run unless they gave me the number 007.

    My license to kill should be recognized and respected by the organizers… or else…

  27. These people really need to read their Bible more. The Mark of the Beast will go across the head or the hand.

    There’s no problem with wearing it on your chest. Seriously, these people have no faith in God…

  28. Once I worked a job where I sold internet accounts at a community college (the students had to buy a plan…long story). The accounts came with a preset ID that was a series of numbers. 666 appeared in one of them & a girl told me she didn’t want that because it was “against my religion”. I thought this was an inaccurate statement because I really didn’t think that there was a doctrine that said, “thou shalt avoid 666 or you will go to hell”. I couldn’t actually change the ID (can’t remember why – some technical reason) but I explained to her that it was temporary & she could change it to whatever she wanted. She was okay with that once I explained it.

    As someone with compulsions (you may have heard of my toilet paper zealotry), I try to accommodate people and it would have been nice if they had found a way to let her run. At the same time, I would have wanted to ask her why she felt it was “against her religion”.

    1. Whatever your toilet paper zealotry is, I doubt it competes with that of super-Orthodox Jews.

        1. On high holy days when they’re not allowed to work, tearing toilet paper is considered work, so they tear it in advance.

          1. It has to take a whole heap of pretzel logic to arrive at that conclusion. The Tanakh was scribbled down long before rolls of perforated tissue, or paper, for that matter, were invented, so there can’t be any specific mention of it. If it’s down to the effort involved, what do they do about raising and lowering the seat, or do they keep separate facilities for male and female? Come to think of it, what about changing nappies, or do the roolz (to Coyne a phrase 🙂 ) not apply to the women folk?

          2. There is a whole industry built up on making devices that can do stuff for you on the sabbath. As if the god could be tricked with loopholes.

          5. What’s wrong with me? All that is necessary to avoid working a handle or pushing a button is to buy a motion sensor equipped piece of equipment, or hire a plumber to wire up that venerable old thunder bucket that was in the place when you bought it, and the bidet/crapper is always ready when you are.

            Then one just plucks his tissue from the handy pre-pulled pile, and wipes clean … er, swipes … swabs …

            Wait a minute. Wipe, swipe, swab — shit! No matter what you call it, it’s work!

            Back to square one.

          7. I presume no ultra-orthodox could possibly be a physicist, then, since the physics definition of ‘work’ (= force x distance) would preclude them even lifting a finger on the Sabbath. Or even breathing. The _only_ way to get through the day without doing any work would be to spend it fully anaesthetised and hooked up to one of those blood-pump machines they use for heart ops.

    2. (you may have heard of my toilet paper zealotry)

      “Hello, is that Bob’s Industrial-scale Popcorn Delivery Emporium? Yep, me again. Make it a double this time, please.”
      OK, that’s the essentials on the way. Do continue.

  29. Some of the most rational among us have irrational preferences for or against certain arrangements of numerals. What would it hurt the race officials to switch the number? What would it have hurt her to just run the race? The number had already been assigned to her, so any malign influence already existed, etc. etc.

    If I were a race official, I would have told her to wear the number and go out and triumph over Beelzebub. In other words, run like hell.

  30. I don’t like the idea of singling out religion for special allowances or treatment. If christianity is to be allowed an exemption so should an exemption be allowed for any other good or bad reason. It’s her life if she wants to install barriers fine enough. She could as well have brayed about it and learned that her god gave her that number as a mission to tame the beast. Its her god she can do with it as she will but she shouldn’t foist Its responsibilities on others.

    I don’t think there is a difference between this case and any other christian special privileges case, such as, prayer in schools or public meetings.

  31. As likable as I find non-literal believers to be, I am utterly baffled by claims they are the real deal. I have lived on the 4 coasts, 10 years each in Texas and Ohio, 9 in Pennsylvania, 26 in California and a few outside the Us. In the Midwest and the South, it’s literalism and bigotry on every block! Here in the Bay area, most churches are gay-friendly, promoters of social welfare, etc. but I am under no illusion this is demographically normative in the USA.

        1. Hmmm, I know the Great Lakes – some interesting geology there, from native copper to the Gunflint biota. Puget Sound is the one by Vancouver and Seattle, isn’t it? (Googles … yeah ; next magnitude 8+ country?) But I fail to see how “four coasts” would apply. Lake-of-the-Woods, I’ve never even heard of hearing of.
          Nope. I’m baffled by the significance you see in those scattered bits of geography. I might as well refer to the Seven Coasts of Britain (English Channel ; St Georges Ch ; Irish Sea ; Clydemouth ; Minches ; North Coast and East coast), to invent a grouping with no obvious meaning.

  32. Here’s a thing: Why didn’t the officials anticipate that the number “666” could be problematic and just have the number sequence of the bibs printed without it?

    There’s plenty of stupid to go around in this story–between the intransigence of the officials to accommodate the runner’s preference and their bad planning of the officials in creating the number to begin with.

    The runner’s refusal to participate because of the number she was assigned is the least dumb part.

  33. I’d argue that since this was a regional school athletic competition, the organizers were correct in not catering to this girl’s religious superstitions.

    Pardon the redundancy.

  34. When my wife got a new phone a few years ago they asked if exchane 666 was OK. Her answer was yes I want it!! Especially since her family is deeply Baptist.

    1. My weight is about 66kg. When I get on the scales and it reads 66.6kg I feel strangely elevated.

  35. Granted, it probably would have been easy enough to assign a new number given enough time before the race. But who put that superstition in her head in the first place? They should feel shame for flushing all her hard work down the toilet. I’m guessing they feel pride instead.

  36. “Spend some time in the American South, where you’d get big horselaughs trying to explain Sophisticated Theology, God as a Ground of Being, or Apophatic theology.”

    You are right on the money. I live in South Georgia and these people take this shit very seriously. I worked with a guy who made the Georgia DMV give him a different licence tag because it had 666 on it.

  38. How obnoxious, I always hope to get that number when I run 5Ks!
    I once had a cashier who didn’t want to say how much change I was getting back because it was $6.66. I don’t remember being that crazy when I was growing up being told I was Catholic.

    1. This change business of $6.66 also happened to me in my native East Tennessee, every bit Western Kentucky’s equal in such matters. The convenience mart cashier saw it, indulged in the conceit of a wide-eyed gasp, and changed the amount to $6.65, as opposed to changing it to $6.67. He was the one with the alleged problem, but compelled me to provide the solution. Not worth it to him to take a penny out of his own pocket.

      I very temporarily contemplated engaging him in a protracted discussion and analysis of the matter (“I’ll contact your corporate office if you don’t give me that penny you shorted me!”), but decided to play the accommodationist and be silent and keep the peace, as I was on company time and miles to go before I slept.

      Would the young lady in question accept a gift of $666 toward college costs from a benign benefactor? On a high school service club food drive would she take charge of a total donation of 666 cans or boxes or pounds of food? (Would it be a double whammy if it were 666 cans and 666 pounds?!?) What if she took charge of them in two quantities totalling 666, but they were separated from each other by e.g., ten feet? How about five feet? 10^-4 feet? Would the diameter of the universe be a sufficient distance of separation?

      What if she were distributing bibles (King James Version of course) and someone requested a quantity of 666?

  39. Clearly the girl hasn’t considered one further possibility: being assigned this number is an unmistakeable sign from the Almighty that SHE IS THE ANTICHRIST!!!!!

    Quick, who’s got the seven Holy Daggers of Megiddo?? There’s no time to lose!!

  41. My knee-jerk reaction was to give her a different number, what’s the big deal. On reflection I think giving in to her personal delusion would make matters worse all around. Why should anyone have to cater to her because of her religious beliefs? If she wants to compete in a track meet or any activity, she is going to have to learn that there are times she will have to make a choice between her religious convictions and her goals. This is no different than applying for a job that requires you to work on Sundays, but your religion prohibits it. It is not the employer’s responsibility to accommodate you, either you can meet the requirements of the job or you can’t.
    Special rules for special people, I don’t think so.

  42. Was the number 616 issued to anyone? Perhaps they could have exchanged that one with the 666 and wait until after the race to tell her she accepted the number of the Beast. It’s What I would have done.

  43. Associating a number with the devil and thinking God would hold it against her shouldnt even be called religion. Its the basest form of superstition.

  44. Given where the race is run, they should just retire the number 666. It is a problem to superstitious racers like the young woman in this article. Others who accept the number without problems will be interpreted as evil by the abundant superstitious Kentuckians who observe them.

    Atheist though I am, I’d hesitate to accept a 666 car license plate, for example, in an area like that. If I must be a target, I’d rather be one for valid reasons.

  45. If she had kept the number I’m sure President Obama would have flown out to watch her and probably congratulated her personally afterwards

    1. Obama is too far right for my tastes, so don’t take me for a defender. But re your comment …

      ?

      1. I guess you were unaware that Obama is the antichrist. Haven’t you seen the ‘documentary’ on the Bible where the actor playing the antichrist looks remarkably like Obama?

    2. Don’t be silly, Obama is a Muslim, not a Satanist. Can’t people get even simple facts straight?

    3. Does the fear of 666 only encompass the digits, or does it include actual collections of 666 items. If you have 666 boxes of detergent in the grocery store, does religion compel you to destroy one of the boxes to rid the world of the offensive quantity? Do you have clerks standing on the ready so that the moment you sell the 667th box you can destroy the 666th? I’ve always wondered this about the 13 superstition. If you don’t put 13 on the elevator or door numbers, what does that accomplish? There is still a 13th floor, you’ve just mis-labeled it the 14th floor.

      2. That leads me to a great business idea: Sell toilet paper where each 666th piece is labled so people don’t accidently use it to wipe their a** with it.

  47. from today’s ( Paul McFedries’ ) Word Spy:

    hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia

    (hek.suh.KOH.see.oy.hek.see.KON.tuh.hek.suh.FOH.bee.uh)

    n. The fear of the number 666.

    —hexakosioihexekontahexaphobe n.
    —hexakosioihexekontahexaphobic adj.

    Example Citations:

    A high school cross country runner in Kentucky didn’t run in the regional meet on Saturday because she was assigned the number 666, which some Christians associate with evil….

    Interpretation of the [Book of Revelations] has broadened to 666 being associated with the Anti-Christ or Satan. The association has become so common that a word “hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia” has been coined to describe cases such as Thacker‘s in which people seek to avoid the number 666.
    —Scott Douglas, “Teen Skips Meet After Getting Race Number 666,” Runner’s World, November 6, 2013

    The hotel henceforth provided a flunkey to eat with guests when they numbered 13, should they be haunted by triskaidekaphobia; but the guests didn’t like a flunkey, which was too like a chicken that spoke. (Didn’t the Savoy know that hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is by far the smarter anxiety?)

    —Tanya Gold, “Restaurant: Kaspar’s at the Savoy,” The Spectator, June 15, 2013

      1. Or in another way of saying it:

        hex kai hexakonta kai hexakosioiophobia

        ἔξ και ἔξήκοντα και ἔξακόσιοιοΦοβια

  48. Test case, for the commenters who think it would be wrong to accommodate the girl’s religious beliefs by assigning a new number.

    How about a runner who had some sort of non-religious numerical obsession? Nikolai Tesla’s reported insistence on having everything divisible by three, for example, is at least as irrational as the religious dread of 666. Should the race organizers hold firm because the the assigned number just gave the runner a case of the willies or whatever?

    (Of course it’s a shame Tesla wasn’t running in the race; they could just swap numbers.)

    1. An obsession like that is mere grandstanding and egotistical self-gratification. That Tesla was that way doesn’t justify pandering to childish superstitions like that girl’s.

  49. It looks like I disagree with most of the comments here – and I feel very strongly about this. Frankly, I am surprized at the accommodationist position expressed by Jerry and others.

    Superstitions need to be fought, or at best ignored, not catered to. The runner needs to grow up if she wants to take part in grown-up activities.

    I believe the slippery slope argument is well founded and it applies to the society as a whole. There is a real danger in indulging the delusional mind. This is the same frame of mind that causes people to kill black cats. Or makes them look forward to 72 virgins.

    2. Sorry, I don’t see any danger here. And since I think slippery slope arguments are fallacious when I disagree with their conclusion, I accept that they are equally fallacious when they lead to a conclusion I favor.

      1. Your statement boils down to: “I’m right and you are wrong”. That may well be the case :-), but you did not present any arguments.

        As far as the dangers of accommodationism, this website is largely devoted to them and numerous arguments have been put forward here over the years (including the “slippery slope” type). That’s why I’m surprised by Jerry’s position in this particular case, which is a perfect example of religion demanding special treatment.

        Normally, runners in a race cannot pick and choose which numbers they like or which they consider lucky etc. Accommodating this particular runner’s wishes would send the message: “your concerns are worthy of exceptional respect, so we will grant you this special treatment”. It is a wrong message to send (I’m not stipulating that was the organizers’ exact reasoning, that’s just my take on the subject).

        “Slippery slope” arguments usually have to do with the proposition that a principle should be upheld, even if, in a particular situation, making an exception wouldn’t (apparently) do any harm. This type of argument may be wrong or it may be right, depending on the particular issue. In my opinion, a gesture like the one Jerry is calling for (granting the runner her wish), while nice, would allow religion to put its foot in the door. The demand for prayer time before the run could follow. Why not grant it?

        1. Zackly!

          Putting “In dogs we trust” on the money in the US would seem silly and without harm initially but, now we have it being used as justification for “a christian nation” and as support for other christian intrusion into public areas.

          2. I never thought of that repugnant addition to national scrip, nor the equally repugnant shoe-horning of it onto the pledge of allegiance — itself unnecessary nationalist fervor inducement (as is d*G bless America, the nativist hymn that ruins the 7th inning stretch every friggin’ game it’s sung)– in terms of slippery-slope enabling propaganda until just now. Suddenly it’s all so clear.

          3. You can see/hear it used a lot. “Obviously we’re a Christian nation. It says so right on our money!”

            Little things do matter.

            I so agree about the 7th inning stretch!

        2. I agree with Eric. I think ‘slippery slope’ arguments are almost invariably fallacious and usually pernicious in that they lead to unjust and quite unnecessary ill-effects in entirely innocuous situations.

          And if we permit ‘slippery slope’ arguments to prevail in one case, even an apparently justifiable one, then they will invariably extend to be used in circumstances where they will result in injustice and unnecessary hardship and waste.

    3. Absolutely. The problem with accommodating people who are being idiots is that you encourage them to be idiots. I think the organizers would have had a stronger case for refusing her request had they known it was for religious reasons, not a weaker one.

      Their giving in to her would have pissed me off, because it’s exactly that mindset that leads to religious exemptions for vaccinations, for women’s health services, and for ENDA. Fight the religion-inspired lunacy on the small stuff and it gives you more of a fighting chance on the big stuff.

      1. Years ago I took a CPR course here in NYC. One of the other participants was a Hasidic Jew. I went out of my way to work with him as I figured he would probably feel uncomfortable working so intimately with a woman. Maybe I shouldn’t have made him confront this real-world problem.

  50. We can hope that she’s losing her faith. I think dropping out of a race because of an assigned number would be an indicator that her faith is on very shakey ground. Wouldn’t it be a better indicator of a strong faith to wear 666 proudly?

    1. That’d be too radical, and might lead to raised eyebrows.
      On the other hand, adding a pair of raised evebrows to that would make it 10314424798490535546171949056, which ought to fit the bill for uniqueness, at least.
      Spoiler space.
      6^6^6.

        1. OH, clever little WordPress. I guess I’ll have to install that add-in to this computer as well.

  52. I organize and officiate lots of races and from experience, it can be a real inconvenience to change numbers after they’ve been assigned.

    The first thing to realize in this case is that the numbers came from an envelope, presumably containing all numbers for the entire team. This means that the numbers were pre-assigned, which usually has major implications – typically, all of the teams’ information along with the assigned numbers are already entered into a computer and lists of the teams, riders and numbers have already been printed for distribution to the teams. Plus, numbers are usually assigned in an organized way such that all riders on a team are in sequential order to make identification easier. You do all this in advance to cut down on chaos on race day.

    Normally it wouldn’t simply be up to the officials to allow the number to be changed – they would have to ensure all arrangements are approved by the results staff and modified on their computers. The new number, if they can find one, would still have to work with the number scheme they’re using. Then, all new lists of riders would have to be printed. Then, they’d have to deal with any possible screw-ups later on if there was a glitch in the process of changing the number. They’re using computers – what could possibly go wrong?

    So, please stop piling on the officials or the organization. I’m sure if the team had notified them in advance, which they should have considering the seriousness of the matter, there wouldn’t have been a problem. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect organizers to automatically anticipate problems like this – I’ve found that kids tend to have more fun when they get numbers like 666, 911, 13, 7-11, etc.

    1. typically, all of the teams’ information along with the assigned numbers are already entered into a computer and lists of the teams, riders and numbers have already been printed for distribution to the teams.

      This doesn’t appear to be a team event; it appears to be a regional (individual) championship race that decides who can qualify to run in the state champtionship.

      The coach was obviously aware of the runner’s strong religious beliefs; she even mentioned thinking it was going to be a problem when she saw the number. So I have to believe that if the organizers had simply handed out a stack of numbers to the school’s coach, she wouldn’t have given that number to that individual. This solution is so simple and obvious that if they aren’t bringing it up, I have to think it’s because it wasn’t an available option. Which leads me back to thinking these were individually assigned, not team-assigned.

      1. From the video and report, it looks like school teams. They would have both individual and team awards.

        In that case, they would start by assigning a block of contiguous numbers to a team. Having all members on a team wear similar, contiguous numbers helps with determining results. On the video, you can see the coach pull out another number from the envelope, number 665.

        Then, from this block of numbers, each individual team member would be assigned a unique number. As you pointed out, this assignment must have been done in advance since, otherwise, the coach could have just swapped numbers with someone else.

      2. Interestingly, the envelope says “252-670” on it, so maybe it also contains numbers for different categories as well. But, regardless, the point is the same.

  54. Hmmm, I don’t think giving her another number is a big deal. In Orange County, California they are building a hospital in an area with a high Chinese population and they are building it without a 3rd floor, because the number 3 is close to the Chinese word for death (I think I have that right).

    And I was surprised to see someone in a YouTube refer to the “white, bearded God” as a strawman, because that’s the God I worshiped and prayed to until my de-conversion about 5 years ago. And my church absolutely believed Adam and Eve were real, Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, etc. The talking donkey no one was sure about, and that one was of the questions that led me on my path out of faith.

    1. Strange. Presumably believing in the literal truth of the Adam & Eve story requires acceptance of a talking snake, so why should a loquacious donkey be a dealbreaker?

      1. Talking snake = vociferous vermin (sorry snakes for calling you that but it made nice alliteration).

  57. It was obviously a sign from god to tell us all what a wicked woman she really is. She probably cheated to qualify for the meet.

  59. I don’t understand why so many here, including Jerry, are happy to pander to superstition. She wears the allocated number, or she is out. I have no problem with that.

    Before you know it, contestants will be demanding to wear their favourite number.

    Disclaimers:
    I have 666 in my phone number.
    My weight is 66.6 kg
    Our house settlement was on the 13th

    1. On what grounds could the coaches refuse if she requested a new number on religious grounds? If they can safely do so under the first amendment, more power to them. But since a case like this hasn’t been adjudicated, it seems to me a matter of simple human decency to let the girl run. “Not pandering to superstition” hurts her, and the damage done to atheism is trivial.

      There’s freedom of religion in this country; is that “pandering to superstition”? I don’t believe in government entanglement with religion, tax breaks for churches, or the like, but this doesn’t seem like it falls in those categories.

      1. “coaches refuse” –> “officials refuse”

        Officials are the referees. They have the authority to allow the number to be changed on race day.

        “…to let the girl run.”

        They did. She chose not to.

        If it’s not a safety or fairness issue, then the officials aren’t obligated to take action.

        But I think you’re right in one sense – when something is easily accommodated, think about whether it’s a battle worth picking. Like changing the road course of the New York City marathon because someone’s religion forbids them from crossing bridges.

      2. I was objecting more to superstition.
        I don’t think any religion forbids you to run with the number 666 stuck to your chest. Or, having the number 666 removed from your phone number. Or area code.
        And what about 3, 13, or any number containing these numbers, or any other number anyone feels superstitious about?
        Officials shouldn’t have to pander to this nonsense. If you want to run, then run. Please don’t complain about the rules.
        It’s bad enough that the 3rd and 13th floors are falsely labelled the 4th and 14th floors.
        Would she have been happy with the next number 667 or is that too close to 666.

      3. A contestant not wearing her pre-assigned number is against the formal rules of the USA Track & Field association and the sanctioning body for state-wide high school athletic events, NFHS.

        There never was a possibility of her getting her pre-assigned number changed. There’s nothing in the national rules that indicates race officials have the power to change numbers, and if one of them fool-heartedly tried to accommodate the girl, her “altered” result almost certainly would have been thrown out by officials before the state championship, so she would not have benefitted from being able to run in the race anyways.

        It’s a question of race officials being able to verify who the competitors are supposed to be (that the runners are all legitimate high school students, not ringers, etc) and that no one who was not preregistered by the school coach is on the track or in the event area when they don’t belong there. It’s easy to see why that mandates no last-minute swapping of numbers/names, which like the change-for-a-20 con, could be an attempt to cheat.

        If she’s a good-enough athlete to be in state semi-finals, then she’s already been in enough meets to know that you have to abide by the rules and that no one gets special favors, lane changes, exemptions to their uniforms, or other unfair advantage over their competitors.

  60. I just opened my Bible and noticed that the page numbers of the Old Testament went from 1 to 593, but then the New Testament started from 1 again. Can’t help but wondering whether this was done to avoid having a page 666 in the Bible.

  61. I agree that it should have been trivial to issue the contestant a different number – just take the highest number already issued and add “1”. On the other hand, if rules are rules a Biblical literalist – of all people – should be able to respect that. Right?

    That aside, what the girl really should have been asking was “Why has God given me this number?” If she’s such a literalist that Satan’s area code is enough to give her the heebs (and that she thought praying to God beforehand would help her in the race), why isn’t she pondering which part of God’s Plan requires her to have that number? Could it not be a test? Could it not be an opportunity to show the strength of her faith?

    Why not just take the number and race with it and say “I’m God’s child, this mere number cannot harm me”?

    For people allegedly on the Winning Team, some Christians sure can show astounding, crippling weakness.

  62. I’ll go one further and say that, as an official, I would have positively insisted she get a different number. Not to cater to her faith — on the contrary, maybe I’m too cynical for my own good, but I’ve seen things like this too many times — my guess is that she saw the number, felt a massive surge of glee at her potential martyrdom, and said “YES! Now I can be a drama queen and rub my faith in everyone’s face! And maybe even get a lawsuit out of this, if the Discovery Institute will send their hired lawyers! This is WAY better than running!” If all that can be circumvented by simply giving her another number, with a minimum of fanfare, think of how deflated she would have been? I hope I’m wrong about all that, but, like I said, I’ve seen people do things like that before.

  63. If she has such a good relationship with God why she didn´t ask him what he thought ? maybe he wouldn´t mind. As a matter of fact why didn´t she asked why He let so many people died on Boston marathon ? Maybe he doesnt like runners to start form

  64. Come to think of it, where was her sense of Christian charity? For if *she* refused the mark of Satan, wouldn’t some other poor schmuck be stuck with it???? And following the thinking and self-righteousness of the religiously deluded, even if the other schmuck had no superstitions or fears about this number, shouldn’t she see that she’s inflicting a great sin or curse upon her fellow contestant? Groan. It all defies logic!

  65. The number of the beast is very early evidence of the disciples’ ability to speak in tongues (Acts). Why? Because 666 demonstrates the mathematical proof of God. It’s all gematria, you see, the assigning of numerical values to letters. For example, the Hebrew letter ‘resh’ was given a value of 200.

    What name, in Hebrew, adds up to 666? Why, no-one but Neron Caesar. But only in its Hebrew form. Did Jesus speak Hebrew? Of course he didn’t. BUT, we know, as westerners raised in the culture of Christianity, that Jesus really spoke English; hence the facility with which his followers spoke in tongues (which was actually English 1600 years before its time).

    So what is the REAL number of the beast? Back to proper ENGLISH gematria. Assign 14 to the ‘N’ of Neron, 5 to the ‘E’ of the same name, and so on. What number do you get for Neron Caesar? 113 – the ACTUAL number of the beast, IN PROPER ENGLISH; or, if you choose to delete the final ‘n’ from Neron, 99. Both numbers, I think you’ll agree, fairly significant, iconoclastic, even. No batsman wants to be on those numbers; bad luck. No God-fearing, proper jogger-for-Jesus wants those numbers on their backs. Sheesh!

    And if Alvin Plantinga can spot one flaw in my logic, then he could estimate the likelihood of a first century carpenter’s son being able to read the Hebrew scriptures (Luke).

    Slaínte.

  66. Codie Thacker may have asked herself: “What would Tim Tebow do if he was assigned number 666? I know!”

    And Bob’s your uncle.

  67. i had a student send me an e-mail asking why the total number of points in my course was 666.
    In my reply I explained that in the previous year it was 670 points, but I changed from ten quizzes worth 10 pts each to 8 quizzes worth 12 pts each and the total therefore decreased by 4 pts to give the number of the beast. I assured the student that if he was worried about it, I’d be open to dropping a point from his total at the outset so he didn’t have to be concerned. I also asked whether it might be a good thing since no one has ever gotten all the possible points in my classes and if a student did get every point, it might be tell us something useful!

    In closing, I asked him not avoid any future correspondence on the subject unless he offered suggestions as to how I should refer to the integer that is 1 greater than 665 and 1 less than 667.

  68. In most U.S. states one can get a personalized license plate for one’s car for a small fee. My friend bought a badass american muscle car and wanted tag plates that kept up. He put in his request to the local DMV for a tag plate number that included 666. He was given a cold stare down and then declined. The state was Mississippi.

  69. I have to say that I’m disappointed with most of the responses to this thread. I would’ve thought we mostly all be praising the officials for not pandering to superstition. But, no, here we are making excuses for why they should have done so. My mind boggles sometimes at the inconsistency in peoples’ responses.

    1. Hey, I object to my post being allocated that embarrassing number 69 sexual position.
      Could you please change it for me, Jerry.

    2. Well, I’m not surprised that there is a divergence of responses, for this reflects a conflict between our atheism and our humanity (at least in my case). We don’t all march in lock step. Also, the officials were NOT “not pandering to superstition” if they didn’t know the reason for the request!

      Most of us are philosphically in line with atheism, but we may differ in how we treat cases like this. There is no reason to be disappointed or have your “mind boggled.” This incident is NOTHING compared to the Supreme Court about Greece, NY, and there we all agree.

      1. Fair enough, Jerry, I think we can all remain friends over this one. I hope everyone’s response would be the same if this was an ugly male dude with an attitude. I know mine would be.

    3. I have a friend that out of tradition eats kosher. I’d try to accommodate him too. I don’t think that makes me inconsistent. I think it makes me polite.

  70. 1. Illiterate Christian. The “666” number is a mistranslation. It’s really ‘616’.
    2. This kind of superstition gives all religion a bad name. There’s no magic to this number.
    3. This is stupid, and designed to get her attention – Pharisee!
    4. Christ and his murdered god story is a freaking myth.

  72. British Olympic athlete, now retired, Johnathan Edwards was well-known for being devoutly Christian. He probably had little choice in the matter, as his dad was a vicar. The depth of his beliefs led him to miss a number of events, including the 1991 World Athletics Championships, as he refused to compete on Sundays. This was a great shame, as he has been Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European triple-jump champion, and has held the world record in the event since 1995.

    He did, however, relent in 1993 after much ‘soul searching’ and discussion with his father.

    He also use to present religious programs for the BBC until he fully renounced his faith on 2007. The Daily Fail reported that Edwards was “man deeply troubled by the collapse of his Christian faith”, but in a 2007 interview with The Times, he stated “When you think about it rationally, it does seem incredibly improbable that there is a God.” In the same interview he also said “I feel internally happier than at any time of my life.”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(athlete)

      1. “Hard thing to admit after you’ve invested so much in it.”

        Have just started reading Hitchens’s “Arguably.” Pg. 169, in his review of a biography of Samuel Johnson, Hitch quotes Macauly on Johnson: “He begain to be credulous precisely at the point where the most credulous people begin to be skeptical.”

  73. The whole “666” number has been completely pulled out of context by “christian tradition” and a lot of scifi comic book rubbish that has made headway in more recent years by a lot of biblically illiterate yoyos who can’t read the original language -it’s HEBREW and Aramaic.

    Christianity is an assumed faith!

    There was NO Xty BEFORE 135 C.E.

    As detailed at the website I posted are over 40 yrs of historical,biblical and linguistic documentation showing that the real Rabbi From Natzrat(Greek: Nazareth)taught Torah,NOT “Displacement Theology”,which is what Christianity is.

    He was a pharisee and part of an offshoot called “Netzarim(hellenized to “Nazarenes”).In 34 CE,the helenized Jews fled to Pella,now in Jordan,from persecution in Jerusalem.This was about the same time that the apostate Greek speaking Jew “Saul of Tarsus” popped up his head.

    Taking some of the local news with them and away from Orthodoxy,they got assimilated into Greek culture and mythology.

    Christianity and it’s post 135 CE[the start of it] Hellenist-Roman counterfeit man-g_d image J-E-S-U-S,was Rome’s method of suppressing Judaism;create a counterfeit,prove the your opponent false by demonizing him/her,cover up the truth,pretty soon people will think you have the truth.

    Whoever the writers of Revelation whoever they were,used a magic square,which the Romans wouldn’t understand to identify the rising counterfeit religion: 6(Sun g_d),6(idolatry)6(man)..

    Read about it in the history section at the above wesbite;click “666.’

    Mystery solved!

  74. This happened to me in high school (for a track meet no less), but I took the number proudly. Representing my school was more important than indulging superstition; too bad there are kids being taught it’s okay to shirk their responsibilities this way.

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