When the Right Are Wrong
If you’re anything like me, you take a lot of the emails that are forwarded to your inbox with a grain of salt. Most email aficionados know to always verify “factual emails” with Snopes or any other Urban Legend Email website. However, one group of emails that has been going around to millions of people has literally persuaded America into thinking something that is absolutely false.
Did you know Barack Obama has admitted that he is NOT a Muslim? Did you know that Obama also believes in Christ as his Lord and Savior? And did you also know that Obama has nothing against putting his hand over the Bible? Well, if you don’t believe those last few statements, then you’re probably a believer in an email that went around, started by a Jason “Molotov” Mitchell. Wired Magazine just wrote an article recently on how they figured out who was behind the smear campaign of Obama being a Muslim and hating the Bible. They also uncovered some disturbing emails and websites that include false facts about Senator Obama and there was even encouragement to “forward these emails to as many people as possible.” Little does it surprise me, it came from the right side of the political spectrum.
What makes this a bit scarier to me, though, is how many people STILL believe that Obama is a Muslim because of some false email or video that has circulated around the globe. Yet, even when he’s asked, people will still refuse what he says to be his truth. When did America become this type of non-believing society? Granted, I must give everyone the benefit of the doubt because there are a lot of emails and photoshopped pictures out on the web. And yes, people aren’t always truthful, especially in politics. But how can people believe in a smear campaign and at the same time they won’t believe the words out of the accused’s mouth? As a Christian, what upsets me even more is the majority of these attacks seem to be coming from churches all across the country. It really saddens me. And yes, let me make sure I say that not ALL churches or Christians believe this filth. Thank Jesus for that!
So what are your thoughts? Do you generally do your civil duty and check every email that’s forwarded to you on its integrity? Do you mindlessly forward emails to “countless others” without thinking it may make a difference in the way people perceive a certain subject? I know I’ve been guilty of it. But I realize the power of the web and I realize the power of social media, so I’ve made a pledge to myself to really be a fact checker before spewing out mindless drama or untrue “facts.”
* let it also be known, this is not my way of publicly endorsing Obama for President. I am a Democrat, yes, but my mind has not been made up.
Tags: Church, Democrats, Lies, Obama, Politics, republicans
May 14th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
[...] des.fullofthink.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt If you’re anything like me, you take a lot of the emails that are forwarded to your inbox with a grain of salt. Most email aficionados know to always verify “factual emails” with Snopes or any other Urban Legend Email website. However, one group of emails that has been going around to millions of people has literally persuaded America into thinking something that is absolutely false. Did you know Barack Obama has admitted that he is NOT a Muslim? Did you know that Obama also believes in Chri [...]
May 14th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
"He's a Muslim","He's less patriotic than you and me," and the lot is all really code for… "He *looks* different."
May 14th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
I totally agree.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWired Magazine just wrote an article recently on how they figured out who was behind the smear campaign of Obama being a Muslim and hating the Bible. They also uncovered some disturbing emails and websites that include false facts about … [...]
May 14th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
[...] the Right Are Wrong unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWired Magazine just wrote an article [...]
May 14th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I would have to say my parents are from the right side of the political spectrum and they have been bored by the story for awhile now. My father who on regular practice yells at the Democrats on TV is not so stupid and knows this Muslim thing is not true plus he doesn't really care if Obama was or is a Muslim my father just disagrees with some of his policies on our government. My mother who is less inclined to yell at the TV because she knows they can't hear her is a conservative and is angry at the Republicans that are pissed at McCain because he is not "right wing" enough. She is more mainstream independent conservative and nowhere near the crazies that send out these self published theories and state them as fact. She knew about the inaccurate dimensions in the stories about Obama's past without ever referring to places like Snopes or the internet. Its really about critical thinking and while Americans should have been practicing this for a long time now especially against the old media, that writes itself as the "Trustworthy" source when talking about people who have a blog, people are instead are still acting the way they did when they watched the evening news. Gloss eyed believers as long as they have a shinny logo spinning in the corner of the screen. While your example is not a news media group telling us the fairy tale story of Obama's past, it represents the behavior the everyday person has brought with them from the age before the internet. The Internet only magnified what Americans need to learn again Critical Thinking skills.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Great post. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of others. The Right is freaked and will do anything to retain control of our government. Most right-wing news and blogs seem more like gossip tabloids these days than factual news sources. They infuse violent rhetoric into the debate and are poisoning democracy.