Opening your form W-2 can be traumatic for many folks but for one Tennessee man, it was enough to make him quit his job.
Walter Slonopas, a maintenance worker at Contech Casting LLC in Clarksville, Tennessee wasn’t upset with the dollar figures on the form but rather the control numbers. The Form W-2 he received was stamped by the payroll company with the number 666. To the payroll company, it represented the order in which the forms were mailed out to taxpayers. But for Slonopas, it was much more sinister: it was the “number of the beast.”
According to Slonopas, who considers himself a born again Christian, the number is often used as a symbol of the devil. That, he figured, left him two options after the receipt of the W-2: quit his job or go to hell. He chose the former, saying, “If you accept that number, you sell your soul to the devil.”
Slonopas bases his beliefs on the Scriptures. The number 666 first appears at Revelation 13:18, which says (King James Version):
Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred three score and six.
The verse is part of a vision outlined in Revelation. In the vision, thought to represent the end of times, one beast is required to ensure that all are marked with the mark of the first beast, the number 666. Those that are not marked will be unable to buy or sell anything. Nonetheless, the mark will be considered a voluntary sign of those who have chosen to follow the Antichrist.
That’s enough for Slonopas to want nothing to do with it. He quit his job and is asking for a new Form W-2 without the number “666.” If he doesn’t get it, he says, he cannot file his taxes.
Unfortunately for Slonopas, that argument wouldn’t fly with the IRS. The Supreme Court has previously held that “not all burdens on religion are unconstitutional” – especially when it comes to taxes. In the matter of United States V. Lee, the court found that “every person cannot be shielded from all the burdens incident to exercising every aspect of the right to practice religious beliefs” especially since “[t]o maintain an organized society that guarantees religious freedom to a great variety of faiths requires that some religious practices yield to the common good.”
Fortunately for Slonopas, he won’t have to test that ruling. A spokesman for Contech has said that a new W-2 is on the way. The company has also offered Slonopas his job back but Slonopas won’t agree to come back, saying that a return would be a sell-out.
“God is worth more than money,” he said.
