Forwarding negative emails — a form of Lying?

Posted on July 20, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Michelangelo's statue of Moses

Good Morning, God!

Yes, I have done it, God. I’ve gotten an email that upset me and quick as a flash forwarded it to others.

Only to get an email back from a more clear thinking friend, who checked the facts in Snopes.com, then explained that the email I sent was misleading — or just plain WRONG.

Sigh. I felt foolish, God. But, not once did I think I was breaking the 9th commandment:

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (Exodus 20:16)

However, yesterday You “rapped my knuckles” and convicted me that if I forward a scare-e-mail or hate-e-mail without first checking it out — then I am, indeed, guilty of lying.

Yes, I am pretty sure You said LYING. I know that when we translate the 9th commandment as “not bearing false witness” it makes it sound like this only applies to a Court of Law. But, that definition would mean we could lie as long as we weren’t on the witness stand. And that is just plain foolish.

We NEED high standards of Truth Telling, God! We need them NOW more than ever. I fear that the omnipresent “lies” of advertising have dulled our senses. But, that is only part of it. We WANT to believe ill of those we disagree with. In fact, we want to believe whatever will buttress our beliefs.

Oh my. I’m like that, too. And I am feeling very “Called to Account” about it. I promise You I won’t forward scare or hate emails without checking them against Snopes.com. And maybe, God, I will become responsible enough that I can send an email back to the sender — citing Snopes.com.