This morning, I opened an email entitled “FWD: [Fw:] Fwd: FW: Fw: [FWD:] (maybe a couple more) HB 1388 Passed.”
That was the best part of the email. The rest of the email was a stereotypical urban legend, “conservative” watchdog alarmist message. It nearly frightened me into buying a gun (or several!) and joining militia (fergit that! I’ll start ma’ own!). Apparently, President Obama recently signed an executive order to spend $20 million to help terrorists immigrate to America. The email chronicled all his other woeful failures and deliberate attempts to destroy America and warned the reader to “LOCK AND LOAD MY FRIENDS!!!!!!” (sorry to all the original sender’s friends – I need to find you and “lock and load” you before our country is destroyed) and to “PLEASE PASS THIS ON” (I really do care, but stop shouting at me).
All most tongue-in-cheek mockery of that email aside, here’s why it really bothered me.
- It’s factually bogus from the get-go. “HB 1388” has nothing to do with terrorists or immigration or terrorists who immigrate. In fact, “HB” is not how people refer to legislation anyway. Conservatives got all riled up about “HR” 1388 (it allegedly forced students into a mandatory volunteer group to be brainwashed by the President just like the Hitler Youth – only with more capital letters and “FWD:” notations). Moving along, the alleged $20 million for Hamas terrorists issued is a presidential order, not a bill from the House (which would be noted with “HR”). Frankly, the email is so factually confused in the subject line that I have very little hope for the body…
- The allegation that the President is sending $20 million of hard-earned American taxpayer dollars to move terrorist to US soil is also a load of malarkey. That money is not earmarked for plane tickets and box-cutters for Hamas extremists. It is, according to the US Dept. of State, intended for “distributing emergency food assistance, providing medical assistance and temporary shelter, creating temporary employment, and restoring access to electricity and potable water to the people of Gaza.” To put things in perspective, President Bush signed for nearly $30 million for refugee relief in Somalia, Sudan and Chad in 2007 and nobody started a militia.
- This is no urgent matter that we must do something about now. It was signed in January. Seven months ago. What a shame: we are incapable of keeping track of current news; only old stuff is capable of angering us!
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not writing in favor of that presidential directive. In fact, I’m not offering any opinion about it all. I am making a point about honesty, factuality and integrity. That watchdog (more like watch-chihuahua) email lacked honesty, factuality and integrity.
Christian, why would you forward that email? “Because people need to know what those sneaky liberals are up to!” Stop. When the “information” is emotionally manipulative _mis_information, people do not (repeat: do not) need to know it. That email was (for lack of a better term) a “false witness.” And if I recall rightly, God placed a prohibition on bearing false witness.
Don’t succumb to the temptation to get all riled up at every allegation made against your “political enemies.” Don’t forward malarkey email either. (Hint: if it’s been forwarded more than 5 times, it’s either a joke or an urban legend.) If we are children of light, our interaction with our world must be marked by truth (Eph. 5.6-8). I cannot see how a Christian can “pray for kings and for all who are in high positions” (I Tim. 2.1-2) at the same time that he forwards inaccurate and deceptive emails about those leaders. “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt” (Col. 4.6) – including your email!
Read this and this for some helpful exegesis / theology regarding American conservative activism.