Fear Not: What does virtual rumor-mongering say about Christians?
By Robert Marus & Ken Camp
Monday, October 19, 2009
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Thanks to the Internet, some gullible American Christians can engage in one of their favorite hobbies -- digging up the metaphorical corpse of Madalyn Murray OâHair and rhetorically flogging it -- more easily than ever before.
Even though the famous atheistâs body was discovered in 1998 and positively identified in Texas -- and even though she apparently has been dead since she disappeared in 1995 -- patently false rumors about her alleged anti-Christian campaigns continue to spread. Credulous Christians who once forwarded these kinds of rumors in mimeographed chain letters or spread them on talk radio now can broadcast them around the world with the mere click of a mouse.
And, of course, OâHair is not alone in the annals of perceived enemies of Christ about whom some Christians will spread the most ridiculous stories, not bothering to do the merest hint of fact-checking on them.
From the old Procter & Gamble Satanism libel to tales of more recent vintage about President Obamaâs faith and citizenship, Internet-fueled rumors seem to run rampant. And, frighteningly, Christians seem at the very least to be as susceptible as the population at large to the habit of spreading false stories.
So, why are Christians so willing to believe unsubstantiated rumors? And more troubling, why are Christians, who should hold the highest standards of truth-telling, so eager to spread such rumors -- and even downright libels?
http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53
By Robert Marus & Ken Camp
Monday, October 19, 2009
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Thanks to the Internet, some gullible American Christians can engage in one of their favorite hobbies -- digging up the metaphorical corpse of Madalyn Murray OâHair and rhetorically flogging it -- more easily than ever before.
Even though the famous atheistâs body was discovered in 1998 and positively identified in Texas -- and even though she apparently has been dead since she disappeared in 1995 -- patently false rumors about her alleged anti-Christian campaigns continue to spread. Credulous Christians who once forwarded these kinds of rumors in mimeographed chain letters or spread them on talk radio now can broadcast them around the world with the mere click of a mouse.
And, of course, OâHair is not alone in the annals of perceived enemies of Christ about whom some Christians will spread the most ridiculous stories, not bothering to do the merest hint of fact-checking on them.
From the old Procter & Gamble Satanism libel to tales of more recent vintage about President Obamaâs faith and citizenship, Internet-fueled rumors seem to run rampant. And, frighteningly, Christians seem at the very least to be as susceptible as the population at large to the habit of spreading false stories.
So, why are Christians so willing to believe unsubstantiated rumors? And more troubling, why are Christians, who should hold the highest standards of truth-telling, so eager to spread such rumors -- and even downright libels?
http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53
