I also have the guts to hit "delete".

Most of the time, I don't even read these kind of forwarded emails.

Christ's peace - r

I have even gone so far as to reply to the sender that I don't want to receive anymore like this but it seems to fall on deaf ears.

I sing along to...

spam was given to the ordinary sort of men, whereby to communicate their mind; But to wise men, whereby to conceal it.

Great Spam Quotes in History

Greetings!

I don't even read them anymore, I just hit delete.  And it has less to do with the content of the message of the email (whether I agree with it or not), but rather with comments at the bottom of the email such as "If you don't stand for something you will fall for everything" or the suggestion that if I don't forward the email I am embarassed about God, that I don't love God, or that if I do send it on all my prayers will be answered, all those I love will be blessed, etc. etc.

Hope, peace, joy, love ...

I read them and then delete them.  Most recent was a petition to bring back the death penalty for child killers"".

Well, I for one hang on every word. After all, it does my middle-aged male ego good to know that hundreds of gorgeous Russian twenty-somethings want me ......

oh, wait, that ........ wasn't what this one was about ........

*sigh* - nm.

As a matter of principle I never pass on messages that come with a threat - pass this on and you will be rewarded - ignor it at your peril.  Hit delete.

It was shortly after 9/11 that I first heard this prayer.  And I heard it several times over the next few months.  And the people sending it to me, or using it as a prayer to open an interfaith meeting, or whatever, seemed to think it was a marvel of wisdom. 

Yes, I felt that we, individually and collectively, should take time to reexamine our values and our direction - but this was too simplistic, and too . . .

LOL @ GR

This one is quite the chestnut and has kicking around for almost 15 years.  I can't stand these emails particularly the ones with various health and safety scares.  I received a couple from parishoners over the past year - one informing me of the dangers of lipstick and the other purportedly put out by John's Hopkins about some common article which causes cancer.  I politely thanked them for their concern for my well being and sent them the link to snopes debunking the information.

My parents were getting them every day from a friend and took them very seriously until I explained what they were and read them the information from snopes.  Educate and hopefully people will stop sending the damn things. 

I initially compare them to the Bible these hypocrites pretend to follow. Strangely enough, this situation is covered.

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican."

I also check to make sure the fundies sending these kind of things areound are following their own edicts. Turns out the person who sent that one is committing the sin of false witness, by noit being completely truthfull about the story.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/prayernation.asp

Don't expect any repentance though. In my experience fundies not only revel in flaunting their God's commandments, they refuse to admit it even when pegged dead to rights.

I wonder what God thinks of a "prayer" used solely to advance a political agenda?

lol Goldenrule!

As for me I hit delete. 

TL

.

The real issue to me is somone sending me something by e-mail to tell me what I should believe and urging me to pass it on.  I'd hang up the phone if someone called to do that.  I'd shut the door if someone stood on my doorstep to do that.  I hit delete if someone does that by e-mail.

TL

I just usually hit the delete button.

Shalom

Mate

Between Dobson, the Creationists and this kind of nonsense if I didn't know better I would become a Buddhist.

Shalom

Mate

Ditto.

(Oops, I'm sorry I "told" you what to call your wee kitten.)

Lol Pilgrim's Progress.  I was glad to have the name.  But not too happy about paying you all of that money. 

TL

But what if the people who are sending it are not Fundies but the woman or man sitting next to us in church. Then - do you confront them or ignore the e-mail?

That's a good question Crazyheart.  Makes it complicated.

TL

maybe it would be a good Christian Education workshop.

Tell them your spam filter got it. She doesn't have to know it was the spam filter in your head

if there are items, which I feel are questionable, such as in this one, I will send them an email back, explaining why I don't agree with it, and won't be sending.

Sometimes, it leads to discussion.

If it is false information, I always send it back, and say "no -- please see the article on this which says it is a hoax..." and I include the url.  I also ask them to advice everyone they sent it to.

if it is just one of those feel goodies, i just delete..though there have been a couple that i have sent on...sans the "send to x friends" etc, on the bottom.

I love It, espically how the Pastor puts himself as part of a siners heart

Search  US, Oh, God, and know OUR hearts
today;  cleanse US from every sin and set US free.  
Amen!

I think donnyguitar's comment throws some light on this. It's not that the pastor is entirely wrong. It's just that there is no sign in t his of an consistent philosophy. I wouldn't agree with all the pastors condemnations, and even some that I might agree with are expressed simplistically, but I can certainly agree, for example, that lotteries are exploitation of the poor.

It's not that this pastor is always wrong. it's just that he appears to be kind of stupid, and without much understanding of what he is talking about.

You know, I've just had this happen with a close family member and a similar email. I just said thanks -- here's some information on this email from Snopes.com and then sent the link to the appropriate webpage at Snopes that addresses that particular issue. I'll see what the reply is.

I would send back a thanksgiving prayer that I am living in Canada and not the US and that the majority here still seems to have some brain left.

graeme took the time to read what the guy said.  Did anyone else?

It depends on who sends something like this to me. Sometimes I just ignore it and delete it. I have been known to find the appropriate snopes citation and send it with a note suggesting the person would be interested in it. I sometimes say I don't happen to agree with all of what this e-mail is saying. Sometimes I ask that I not get anymore of these sort of e-mails.

I never pass them on.

Well sure, but when I realized he wasn't talking about Russian women I lost interest

The thing is, even a fool is right sometimes, like a broken clock - twice a day it tells the right time, yes? But, would you continue to consult that clock? Would you even keep it in your house?

I've always found it wonderously ironic that the US, founded on, amongst other things, the idea of separation of church and state, has a huge percentage of people who are seemingly incapable of it. A country who bombs other countries into the Stone Age in order to eliminate their theocracies and establish "democracy" sees nothing absurd about praying to be "restored to one nation under God", or claiming in one breath that lotteries exploit the poor and in the next that people on welfare are lazy. Or in despising China's "communism" which, in point of fact, is the ultimate in getting religion out of politics - the ostensible American ideal.

You could tell them you appreciated the joke email they sent.  Then look nonplussed if they tell you they were serious.

Might work.

I get various forwards I agree and disagree with to different extents at different times; I'm a peacenik while my grandfather's a vet and my grandmother's in charge of the armory's lady's auxiliary; I am an anglophone Montrealaise who currently lives in Ontario, and have friends and relatives of both the "Vive le Quebec libre" and the "French are stupid Frogs" variety; I have friends who are extremely fundamentalist, who are atheist/agnostic, and who are Jewish; I can separate my Jewish friends and relatives into extremely Zionist and extremely progressive; Orthodox and more reform-ist. I read all; respond to some I find particularly pithy (or something that sounds like ... lol), forward some I like, delete others. Depends on the sender and the material, and whether either is worth engaging with.

donny...yup....and here is one of the points that i would counter: We have rewarded laziness and called it
welfare.

CH

I delete all emails without opening them if I don't know the author or sender. When you reply in any manner you are encouraging them to send more. They know they have reached you.

I didn't find this email offensive at all but I know I'm easy...lol. I've heard it   many times before. There really is a few things wrong with the society we live in. I wouldn't bother to pass it on because everyone  already knows. Its an old Len Cohen song!

Len Cohen's dark but I adore him

Pinga: your quote: donny...yup....and here is one of the points that i would counter: 

We have rewarded laziness and called it
welfare

I would also counter this one. Its a horrible thing to say and its ignorant.

How's this for a theory?

You can judge a person by the  "joke" emails they send you.

Some folks make you laugh, and some folks make you raise your eyebrows and hit delete.

Try to belong to the former and not the latter.

PP that is so true. I suppose I reply briefly when I believe the person is better than that and when I can reply with respect.

Crazy Heart:    Wouldn't it be great if the chain mail wasn't what it is but instead,  REALLY GREAT POETRY

not the feel good or even the best we make up or religious but REALLY GREAT POETRY.

If we had REALLY GREAT POETRY  as spam, crap like the email above would dry up and wither  in its vainglorius ignorance and we would be left only with sound of many many brilliant minds singing . . .  for us.  o there's something wrong, of course,   I detect a little Asimov thinking in that dream - they'll likely find that in all the REALLY GREAT POETRY  is evidence of some one saying over and over, "Kill Kill KIll"

Honestly, this stuff is so ridiculous!

I think it's a clear illustration of why we need to have a higher wall of seperation between church and state. Having a pastor lead a prayer to a legislative body is so inappropriate it borders on obscene.

 Interesting discussion Crazyheart. I usually let a number of these e-mails build up in my inbox. I never forward them because that would encourage my friends to think that I am a birdbrain. Actually Crazyheart this thread has helped me get a little more insight into the birdly parts of my brain which carries on from my genetic past. I am also too much of a pack rat to delete the the chain e-mails immediately but eventually I delete them in order to clean up my inbox.

I agree with stardust and pinga!

Blackbelt said:

I love It, espically how the Pastor puts himself as part of a siners heart

Search  US, Oh, God, and know OUR hearts
today;  cleanse US from every sin and set US free.  
Amen!

Part of my difficulty with this is that I don't believe the Pastor feels a part of the sin that he is naming in this prayer and he is very self-righteous.  I'm sure this pastor is anti-abortion, anti-lottery, anti-porn and profantity, holds to the values of his forefathers and spanks his children.  As for the points of the prayer I agree with what Graeme said. 

My father-in-law, recently sent something that I could have just deleted, knowing it was sexist and racist and the alleged author (Andy Rooney) even spoke out calling it such. Yet, I wanted him to know that even Mr. Rooney saw it as mean and hateful. So, I knew I would send along the snopes. com link. Included, among the numerous lines, was a line that read "Thinking homosexuality is wrong is not a phobia. It is an opinion." I happen to agree that it is sometimes just an opinion. Yet, the fact remains that he is sending it to his daughter's same-sex spouse. So, yes there was a response. I wanted to know "Why?" Not to change him or his opinion. Not to limit his expresson of his beliefs. I believe in giving what I want to get. I also know what I deserve based solely on what I have given. I have not judged him. I defended his decision not to walk his daughter down the aisle.

I wrote kindly and gently. I explained that I receive plenty that I do not pass along to him because I know it goes against what he believes. It is, on my part, about respect --- not always for his opinions or even occasionally his actions-- but out of respect for him... not as my wife's father even, but simply by virtue of being a human being who I believe has the right to believe freely.

I reminded him that he simply could have not sent it to me. He could have deleted one line. He could have also sent it to his daughter. I asked "Why?"

I asked if he read it and if it just went out without a thought.

I asked, "What did it mean to you to have that said to me, if not by you, by "some other guy"?"

I asked, "How funny is it really when we make fun of someone else, laugh at hurting someone, disrepecting them...?" 

I asked if it was hiding behind humour, like saying someone is fat or ugly and then saying "I was just joking".

What it meant? Well, he never explained or answered anything I asked.

He later said he was sorry if I was offended, not to me, but to his daughter. We have far too much experience with people hiding behind being sorry "for our choice to be offended". Her response was, "Thank you for that much." Followed by,  "Do you see, understand, why people in those groups, including __ and myself, would be offended ---with cause?"

Sometimes we are not sorry for what offended and sometimes people are too sensitive. Other times we say we are sorry when we are simply sorry for the fallout. It highlighted that he was not sorry. He was sorry we were offended and he was sorry he was called on it. It is not that he is sorry for what was said/typed. He is sorry for what happened because of it. He is not sorry for being gullible/insensitive/unthinking/unkind/rude/impolite/pushy... whatever it was (he refuses to say what it was)  He is sorry that we did not accept it.

I would, based on my personal beliefs tell the sender not to send along such material. I had to with a great freind based on he dislike of Obama.

As to, did I read it and What would I have trouble with in this prayer?

I too have trouble with welfare being called a "reward for laziness".

I have no trouble with the fact that Kansas is a state that allows abortion and that the Senate and House enact laws that may be seen as anti-choice or very restrictive on abortion. That is the way the system of checks and balances works. I would, however, have trouble when in an opening prayer for a governmental body if anyone, on either side of an issue, took an approach that rightly or wrongly hints or highlights that discussion or negotiation within that body on that issue will be a waste of time.

I do not like "cloaking in prayer". For me, swallowing "I was just joking" is far less likely to make me gag than "I was just praying".

I delete email messages (jokes, rants, sickly sweet sentimental junk).  I rarely comment on them to the person who sent them.  A couple of times I have written to the sender (a minister sent me something that I found very offensive).   I sometimes return them with the appropriate link to snopes hoping that next time they will check before forwarding (hasn't helped with some people, others aren't sending as many!). 

The ones that really annoy me are those filled with simplistic 'theology' - as in forward this prayer six times and God will send you a lovely surprise ...or protect you from the flu, or grant your deepest wish, or cash or...or.... 

Hi DonnyGuitar,

I read it several years ago and probably a couple of times in between.  I don't know if the content is so much a problem as the practice.

I have to wonder if e-mail was not such a ready technology if any would be so keen as to write the content out by hand and send it off without something personal added to it.

So there is a communication lag.

My personal practice is to delete most forwarded e-mail unless it is expected.

If the correspondant sending has put no personal time into thinking about what the piece may or may not say to me I will not invest any time in doing that work for them.

So the practice just doesn't work for me.  It isn't communication it is propaganda.

As far as the content goes I disagree with many of the points that the pastor made.  I don't disagree with all of them.  I live in a different context than does the pastor so it is no surprise that I might think differently about those things.

Since there was no invitation to discuss the merits of the prayer in the bulk forward it is not a piece of communication that has any meaning for me.

Grace and peace to you.

John

I think you just nailed it on the head, I believe our values have changed, and not for the better , we just learned to give them politically correct words, but the intent of the heart is the same. I believe this pastor is not self righteous, his cry is “search our hearts o God” every heart has spiritual darkness, including this pastors , mine and yours.

I applaud him

I recently got an objection to 'gays in church' email from someone I (otherwise) respect very much.  It was a 'chain' email. I replied that "this is not the sort of email I appreciate.  Please don't send me this sort of information any more." She hasn't, and hasn't remarked at my response. 

And she's still very happy with our friendly relationship (we aren't particularly close).

Sometimes you just have to say it.  It's easier to say in an email than live; an email for an email seems fair to me.

I must confess to being uneasy about letting others know that I didn't approve of an email they sent.

Partly, it's a general uneasiness about taking the moral high ground. I feel like I'm judging someone adversely for their adverse judgements.

Also, there are times when we all act or say inappropriate things. I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt and think they're acting out of fear or ignorance, rather than being nasty.

Just delete the bloody things, and don't send them  yourself.

gimme a D!!!

gimme an E!!!!

gimme an L!!!!!

Whadda ya got???

Same here TL : ) also, nice new avatar!

Some people view their prejudice as being a sacred duty, which overrides your rights.... for your own good.