I don't know how many of you got the e-mail about the Dunkin Donuts in the past week or so. My copy arrived Tuesday night. As soon as I read it, I knew if for what it was. A crock! Come on folks, if some military personnel were denied service in a restaurant, they wouldn't be telling a secretary at a High School, they would be telling the newspapers and the police. The Northwest Indiana Times has really covered this story the last two days you can go and look the e-mail up there. www.nwitimes.com
But this whole affair poses an interesting question: Why are we so gullible? And it's not just urban legend stuff like the Dunkin Donut affair. We are gullible when it comes to religion, politics, you name it. As long as it is in print, somebody will believe it.
When I reflect on 2,000 years of Christian Church history, this story is played over and over again. Go to most churches on Sunday morning, and the mythology is taught as fact. (That should get some of you talking).
My favorites, however, are the e-mails that (sometimes) contain wonderful stories, but always end pretty much the same way: "send this to 10 friends in the next 1 hour and you will receive a great blessing in the next week, delete this and you will have 1 year of bad things happen." Does anybody really believe that garbage? The sad part is, when I see that at the end of a powerful story, it throws the whole story into question.
As we get to the politics of election 2008 it is amazing what we will receive from family and friends that tell us the truth about various politicians (like the one I received about Barack Obama and his ancestors). We need to look with a critical eye at all this "stuff" as we try to find the truth in it.
Ask questions, inquire, THINK --- the good news is God gave you a brain and the ability to seek out the truth --- wrestle with things people send you before you hastily send them off to someone else.
3 comments:
You can't believe everything you read - someone once told me that. Most email chains get automatically deleted. I consider them junk anyway. Once-in-a-while I'll get one that really gets me thinking that there may be a shred of truth to it so I send it off to you for your opinion before I delete it. I read the Times article and thought about the poor Dunkin Donuts location and how this silly article would affect their business. How could anyone believe it to be true? It must've been a slow news day.
I personally always try to check the validity of an email before forwarding it. Snopes.com is a good one to use. Your post is just another example of how "people" will believe just about anything when it is negative.
Snopes.com is bookmarked I my computer! I check it often. There are many other good sources to check up on stories as well.
Post a Comment