Nothing frustrates me more than smart people buying and forwarding internet rumors. Snopes.com should be the place we all run to find out if indeed we’ve been left $10,000,000 in Nigeria or if really atheists are getting the FCC to ban all religious broadcasting. (Would that be a bad thing?)
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but this interview with Snopes’ founder is a fascinating insight to human nature, the power of the internet, and why we believe what we believe.
Plus it’s just plain interesting. This is just a husband and wife in their house? Yep. And someone who is gracious when he could be caustic.
His observations are worth pondering:
“…for a good many people, it’s not important whether things are true or not. It reflects what people want to believe. It reflects a worldview….
“A lot of people are unwilling to acknowledge anything that contradicts their worldview. So telling them that it’s false doesn’t necessarily slow them down.”
I still believe that some woman tried to dry her poodle in the microwave.
Mary
I, too, get frustrated with forwarded e-mails you describe. I also feel very frustrated when I receive forwards from many “sisters in Christ,” (friends) which say I must pass on to 10 others while the clock ticks away, so that I may receive a surprise “blessing” by a certain time tomorrow. Why are pastors not telling their people to knock off this type of forwarding and that it is not Biblical? Please include, too, the ones that say if you forward, it will show you are not ashamed of Christ! Aarrrgggghhh!!