[For those of you who are still holding your breath on the big church issue, I haven't finished. It's not really a topic you can just look up in your Strongs and get an answer; it's more one of those where you have to survey the New Testament to get the big picture. More to come!]
Do you ever get emails like this?
Please sign the petition below to [reinstate prayer/ protect the flag/ get our troops returned/ reinstate the Pledge of Allegiance/ send a welcome message to aliens]. If you delete this message, all the names will be lost. Please sign it and forward it on. When you get to #456,789, please forward to this address: powerlessperson@government.gov.
C'mon. I know you've gotten at least one. I get them all the time. I have a few problems with them (but not with the people who forward them-- so if you've sent one to me, I still love ya!).
Don't guilt-trip me. If I get an email that says "If you don't do this, you're a terrible, immoral person," I delete it immediately. I have enough issues with guilt over things that God's already resolved. I don't need my impersonal electronic media playing Holy Spirit in its off-time.
Don't promise me rewards. I also chuck the emails that promise me my next wish, ten million dollars, or world peace. When God wants me to have any of those things, He'll arrange it all on His own. I really doubt my email can do anything He can't (or doesn't).
Petitions have to have one name/ signature for the petition. If it is forwarded, the names go on to multiple people, in effect making your name (potentially) signed hundreds and thousands of times. Yes, moms are great at multi-tasking, but that's not exactly the same thing as being multiple people.
Why in the world are you sending it to this person? A lot of these petitions are set-up to go the Presidential email. Okay, yeah, I think the President wants to know what we all think, but he doesn't really have the authority to make the changes most of these petitions are asking for. If you send a petition to your congressman or senator, you'd better be sure that it has only people in his/ her district signing the petition, otherwise it's generally considered invalid. You'd do better spending your time making up a paper petition and circulating it in person. Yes, it actually requires a little more effort than hitting the "forward" button and annoying all your buddies, but it's a lot more effective-- and might even contribute to world peace.
Is it a hoax? I would guess that 90% of what comes into my email box is actually just one big hoax. The worst thing about forwarding hoaxes is that cynical people like me tend to start regarding everything with a jaded eye. Read books to end world hunger? Obviously a hoax! Whoops... no, it's not. (See www.readtofeed.com). On the other hand, reinstating the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools (unless you're in a Sacramento, California school district) is a hoax. Not sure? Check www.snopes.com to be sure. Or ask me-- but Snopes is faster.
So the next time you get an email that begs, pleads, cajoles, threatens, or entices you to forward it on, stop and think. Is it a guilt-trip or reward-promiser? Does it claim to be a petition? Who's getting the petition at the end? Could it possibly be a hoax?
Once you've taken these steps and deleted 90% of your emails, go ahead and forward anything else to me. You might just send me a gem.
Yep! I often wonder what my mom is thinking when she sends me this kind of e-mail on a daily basis. She must really think she's changing the world! LOL!
Thank you for sharing with me! I would consider it an honor to pray for you and your husband. I'll also keep praying for your church decision.
I have more addresses on my block senders list than I have mulch in my garden!
On another note....Would you join me in ministering to new homeschoolers looking for web resources to jumpstart their home education journey? Do you have a Top 10 list of web resources to share?
