Hoaxes

Email hoaxes are really starting to grind my butt. There are so many of you are propogating lies with the touch of your "forward" button, and you don't even know it!
Okay first of all I do not understand the whole "forward" thing anyways, I don't even bother reading them and if it happens often enough I kindly ask to be removed from the persons email list. If something is worth reading it usually will not start with "Fw:"
My favorite example is "Fw: You are my best friend". Wow!!! I sure felt valued when you took that whole 2 seconds to send me your deep and personal feelings about our friendship and it was written by somebody you have never even met! Anyways, thats a whole nother rant.
Email hoaxes are also sometimes called email viruses, because just like a virus these emails replicate themselves and proliferate the email system, though not becuase of malicious code. Rather because of that darn "forward" button. Just do the math, if one person sends it to 15 people on their email list, and those 15 send it to another 15 the result is exponential.

The email that has gotten me going today is this one:

Fw: Dr. Dobson & CBS Response/ KT PLEASE SIGN AND SEND ON

This email was forwarded to me by a friend, a friend with a very good heart and I know their intentions behind forwarding this so please, if you read this do not be offended, just be educated and learn your lesson.

This email states the following:

Apparently we are to be allowed to watch TV programs that use every foul word in the English Language, but not the word "God." It will only take a minute to read this and see if you think you should send it out

DR. DOBSON'S PLEA FOR ACTION

Dr. Dobson's only plea for action is that the truth about this hoax be discovered.

CBS discontinued "Touched by an Angel" for using the word God in every program. Madeline Murray O'Hare, an atheist, successfully managed to eliminate the use of Bible reading from public schools a few years ago. Now her organization has been granted a Federal Hearing on the same subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, DC.

Touched By An Angel ran its course and came to an end just like every other television series eventually does. It had nothing to do with the FCC or the mention of God just about ratings. The Hallmark channel is airing the entire 9 seasons as reruns for those of you who are interested.

Madeline Murray O'Hare was not originally part of the hoax but was added in the 90's. It may be important to add that she has been dead for 11 years. She and two of her adult children went missing in 1995, their killer was eventually caught and pled guilty to reduced charges and in January 2001 he led police to three bodies buried on a remote Texas ranch, which proved to be O'Hair and her children.

Her organization "American Atheists" is not pursuing any actions with the FCC regarding the word "God". K. Dane Snowden, who heads the FCC's consumer bureau wishes he could finally dispel the rumor."It is one of the most fascinating urban myths that continues to grow. The FCC has no authority to ban religious programming, it literally is a myth".

Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the gospel our Lord and Savior, on the airwaves of America.

RM-2493 was to ensure channels reserved for educational purposes not be taken up by religious groups looking to use them for a different purpose. Jeremy Lansman and Lorenzo Milam who were the real instigators asked the FCC to prevent religious organizations from obtaining licenses to operate broadcasting channels reserved for education. The author of the petition to stop Madalyn Murray O'Hair badly misrepresented RM-2493 as well as invoked a woman (crowned as the "most hated woman in America" in 1964 by Life magazine) who wasn't ever part of the deal.

They got 287,000 signatures to back their stand! If this attempt is successful, all Sunday worship services being broadcast on the radio or by television will be stopped. This group is also campaigning to remove all Christmas programs and Christmas carols from public schools!! You as a Christian (or any other religious background) can help!

The statement about Christmas programs and carols is a more recent addition to the hoax and did not exist in earlier versions. It is intended to make this claim that much more urgent and emotional.

We are praying for at least 1 million signatures.

Signatures are not possible via email, leaving your name and city does not have the same validation that a signature on a petition would. For more information click here.

This would defeat their effort and show that there are many Christians alive, well and concerned about our country. As Christians we must unite on this. Please don't take this lightly.

We ignored this lady once and lost prayer in our school and in offices across the nation.

Please stand up for your religious freedom and let your voice be heard. Together we can make a difference in our country while creating and for the
lost to know the Lord.

If the text seems aimed more at persuading than informing the reader, be suspicious. Like propagandists, hoaxers are more interested in pushing people's emotional buttons than communicating accurate information.

Please press "forward", and forward this to everyone that you think should read this.

Now, please sign your name at the bottom (you can only add your name after you have pressed the "Forward").

Look for the telltale phrase, 'Forward this to everyone you know!' The more urgent the plea, the more suspect the message.

Don't delete any other names, just go to the next Number and type your name and state . Please defeat this organization and keep the right of our freedom of religion.

When you get to 1500 please email back to: "Lisa Norman" mailto:electric_yello@hotmail.com

The email address electric_yello@hotmail.com does not exist and any emails being sent to it are returned.

REMEMBER: Our country was founded on freedom of religion and our Constitution is based on the 10 Commandments.

Wow, what a claim.

We need to be clear about jurisdictional lines. Anything petition that crosses state borders let alone international borders usually has little influence on law making. A petition is to represent the people that the law is going to directly influence. To think that any US congressman would care anything about what we here in Canada thought about a law that has no bearing on us is ridiculous.

Dr Dobson himself has been trying to defeat this lie with little success, there is a complete article here http://www.family.org/fofmag/cl/a0026166.cfm as well as an audio commentary by Dobson himself.

The FCC has been flooded with letters regarding this hoax for nearly 30 years as this lie first started with good old fashioned paper and envelopes. Between 1975 and 1995, more than 30 million pieces of mail decrying RM-2493 had been received by the FCC. The FCC's official statement regarding this claim is found here http://www.fcc.gov/mb/enf/forms/rm-2493.html

Hitler used propaganda to fuel his Nazi revolution, his propaganda brain washed many intelligent people. In agreement with Dobson I believe that this propaganda is an attempt by the enemy to create confusion amongst Christians. Divide and conquer. Please do not be part of the spreading of a lie, and make sure that before you hit the "Forward" button that you do your research. If you google the terms "Murray O'Hare" and "Dobson" you will get page after page of websites informing you about this lie, it is just that easy.