Wednesday, September 16, 2009

IF I GET IT A 1000 TIMES, I'LL FORWARD IT A 1000 TIMES

The internet is full of e-mails containing patently false information. Mischief is behind some of these messages, but most of them are malicious. The lies are designed to discredit some ideas, groups, politicians, or whatever. Well meaning folks are taken in by the liars who flood the internet with this crap and, by forwarding these malicious messages to their friends and others in their address books, end up spreading those lies even further.
 
Today, I received the below message from a very good friend. Because he obviously didn’t know that most of the message consisted of lies about the ACLU, he forwarded it to a whole bunch of other people. And I’m sure those folks forwarded the message to many more people as well.
 
What made this message so appealing was that it was accompanied by a number of heart wrenching photos and it ended with a very nice prayer for our soldiers. Except for the prayer, here is the messaage as I received it and my response to all those who, like me, received if from my friend:

Please keep this going.
 
I AM HONORED TO DO THIS!!

Did you know that the ACLU has filed a suit to have all military cross-shaped headstones removed and another suit to end prayer from the military completely. They're making great progress. The Navy Chaplains can no longer mention Jesus' name in prayer thanks to the wretched ACLU and our new administration.

I'm not breaking this one. If I get it a 1000 times, I'll forward it a 1000 times!
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And here is my response:
 
Sorry folks

According to Snopes.com the allegations against the ACLU are "FALSE." The ACLU has NEVER filed a lawsluit against cross-shaped headstones. Furthermore, Navy chaplains are NOT barred from mentioning Jesus' name in prayer.
 
Variations of this e-mail have been around for several years.
 
I don't have much use for the ACLU but I will not spread lies about that organization. So, I will not forward this e-mail, even though the prayer for our soldiers is a damn good one.
 
Why do some people have to screw up a good thing by mixing it up with lies because of some hatred, be it for the ACLU, Obama or whatever?

Every day I get e-mails with alarming information which turns out to be false. The internet is full of this shit. When e-mails are forwarded with phony information, it just discredits the well intentioned senders who have been taken in by some liars.
 
Feel free to answer me if I've pissed you off! 

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