Helen Martin’s Blog

Maybe I just got one email too many about marzipan baby art (eeew) or petitions against problems that don’t exist and never have. But I sent this to a relative in another state and asked her to pass it on to everyone she knows, without my email address on it. (Golly I hope she takes my email address off.)

>The Wolves are Laughing

>Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

>I have never before asked anyone to “forward this to everyone you know.” I’ve never even wanted to. But I have finally snapped.

>There are probably thousands of internet hoaxes going around. They run the gamut from the serious (complete fabrications about missing children) to the silly (world’s largest woman) but none are true.

>I guess the missing kid ones infuriate me most, but second to that are the ones that tend to be of particular interest to Christians; so many of whom are kind and thoughtful and are simply interested in current events and “doing what they can.”

>Hitting “forward” is so easy, so why not? Because the vast and overwhelming majority of forwarded email that I receive are complete lies, that’s why! As I type this, I can’t think of one that’s withstood investigation; none that have had any more than a little bit of truth to them.

>Many believers are really good at the “innocent as doves” part of Matthew 10:16. They just don’t expect to be lied to. But we all need very much to become better at the “shrewd as serpents” part of the verse.

>Most “forwards” come from friends, so the rumor’s life depends on these established relationships of trust. The friend’s not lying, they’re just passing along something that they believe is of importance or interest. But so often it is neither.

>The Touched by an Angel/Petition 2493/Dr. Dobson story is an example of a complete rumor that just won’t die. Dr. Dobson has even talked about it on his radio program, but seemingly to no avail.

>I would add a link here, but you should never click on a link in an email from someone you don’t know, and I am hoping this email goes nation wide.

>Just type www.family.org into your web browser and when you get to the Focus on the Family website, find the search box. All you have to do is type the word: “rumor” and you will get more true information on this irrelevant petition than you will ever need. (You can even listen there to a portion of the radio broadcast in which Dr. Dobson comments on the rumor.)

>There’s the huge potential to damage the credibility and reputation of someone if we aren’t careful in email and on the internet. And it’s not always someone “else”. Nearly 2000 names appear on this meaningless petition because they either didn’t know there was a way to check it out, or didn’t think of checking. (Sadly, some just didn’t bother to check.)

>I suggest www.truthorfiction.com or www.snopes.com as great places to verify if something on the internet or in an email is true, false, or somewhere in the middle. You can also go “straight to the horse”. The individuals and corporations targeted in these false emails are more than happy to provide the real story; sometimes there is a notice right on the home page of their websites.

>No one should ever forward anything they receive without first checking it out. NEVER.

>It is so ridiculously quick and easy to confirm (or prove false) stories and forwards that there is really no reason - no excuse - for anyone reading this to ever be fooled again.

>Thanks for letting me get on my soap-box. Hope it wasn’t too annoying.

>Helen Martin
>www.helenmartin.com