DO NOT DELETE!!! FW FW FW SCARE SCARE SCARE!!!

Ever get email like that?

You no doubt know someone, likely a relative, who thinks it is their duty to forward any email that either:

1. Gets their blood boiling
2. Startles them nearly to the point of soiling themselves
3. Instructs them to forward the email to everyone on their email list, or
4. Is the cutest, funniest, sweetest, or most tender collection of photos that will delight you to see, too.

Email of this variety, which we tend to call “spam,” is easy to manage by setting up a few email rules that route email with terms like “Fwd: FW:” to your trash folder.  Unfortunately, many folks do not take the few requisite minutes to learn how to set filters and rules to manage their email.  So, once in a while, politically motivated email messages do their magic by casting just enough doubt or suggesting just enough fear in the mind of the well-intended citizen email recipient that compels them to open and read the forwarded message.

These politi-spam messages are easy to spot.  Authors of scary email like to use ALL CAPS in the “subject” line, and the email almost always includes “FWD: FW: FW: FW:” or similar leading abbreviation for “forward” in the subject, which indicates the message has traveled like the Gulf oil leak and has soiled the inbox of nearly everyone who ever shared their email account with a neighbor, coworker, or their family reunion email list.

Open the email message and you see all the other email victims getting cousin Clem’s alarming discovery.  I have never received email spam that indicates who the original author was, although some spam forwarders thoughtlessly preserved multiple generations of forwarding, as evidenced by hundreds of email addresses littering the first five pages of the spam.

Below the email addresses of the other victims are generally random indented assortments of photographs that are embedded as “proof” and no fewer than four font types with at least as many font colors (bright red is often one of them) and several larger-than-normal text sizes to apparently dazzle tired eyes.  This technique is no accident.  Emotional arousal reduces our ability to be rational.  Spam artists know how to write email that gets forwarded.  It must evoke emotion, or it will die on the first round.

Emotional arousal easily takes control of decision-making, sometimes becoming the only thing that matters to us.  Facts become merely obstacles on our mission to do something – anything- about what we feel.  Hopefully, you and I resist such detours from sensibility, although I admit to a few side trips myself over the years.  But I digress.

The other day my Mother forwarded email she received from a cousin of mine.  The spam begins, “THIS MAKES ME SICK!” and rambled on about how our new President refuses to have American flags in the White House and nonsense about redecorating the Oval Office in Asian wallpaper and included a photo of Obama in front of a gold curtain and photos of the previous four Presidents in front of a bunch of American flags.  My Mother asked if this email was true?  She probably wondered if the President really is getting rid of all that American decor and Flags – essentially desecrating the White House.

Of course this email was nonsense, but I cannot just say that to my Mom, who was not sure.  I encourage my Mom to send me email that causes her to doubt or fear or question because she really is interested in what is true.  Yet, it sometimes takes time to find the proof to dispel the myths.  Fortunately there are places to go that offer help to the fact-checking citizen.

One of the places I search is over on Snopes.com, a site that researches scary rumors, astonishing “facts,” amazing experiences, etc, that are spread often by email.  Sure enough, they knew of that scary email, and showed an example and explained the facts. Other sites for fact-checking can be found on the Resources page on our website (about half way down the page).

My reply to my rather religious Mom referencing the email spam from the rather religious and libertarian relative:

Mom,

ANSWER:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/photos/ovaloffice.asp (Snopes displays a similar email as an example then Snopes.com editors dispel the myth propagated by the usual fear mongerers, false witness bearers, tea party fanatics, and those numb to fact but who become excited by rumor.)

To vote for the politicians US voters think will best represent their interests is American.  However, it is completely unAmerican to undermine the government of the United States of America by inciting rumors about and questioning the patriotism of its rightfully elected officials starting with the township clerk all the way up to the President of the United States. Persons who spread filth such as the example below should be ashamed of themselves and ought to beg forgiveness of God for boldly ignoring His 9th commandment, and repent for their sin.  Yet, in their blind self-righteousness, these persons seem to appoint themselves judge and jury and act as if they have a God-ordained mission to publicly lynch anyone who doesn’t look like or act like them.  THAT makes ME sick.

Feel free to forward this back to (name of relative redacted).

Brian

How do you respond to scary myth?  Should we call out our friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors when they forward this sort of nonsense?  Do you think people are affected by rumors and fear mongering about our elected officials?  Are we harmed if people spread lies about us?

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