We've all gotten them: chain emails telling us that the world is ending as we know it because <insert atrocity here> is about to happen unless we get <insert a large, yet reasonable sounding number here> signatures on a petition by <insert a date that is about 2 weeks away>.
I recently (about 30 minutes ago) received an urgent email. Telling me to circulate this email to as many friends as I could, because we needed to stop the production of a movie that would portray Jesus Christ as a homosexual man. Of course, I was outraged. I am a Fundamental, Conservative, Right-Wing Baptist. "How dare they make a movie that portrays my God as something that He considers an abomination?"
*Disclaimer: I in no way am implying that I hate gay people. However, I disagree with their actions, and desire that they would change their ways. I believe they are wrong in what they are doing, but I do not hate the person in any way.
So, being the astute blind follower of what other people say, I instantly forwarded the email to all my address book, and then posted in on Facebook, right? Wrong. I decided to check it out.
The email said that there was a movie entitled "Corpus Christi" (Latin for Body of Christ) that was in production based on a Broadway play by the same title that would portray Jesus Christ as a homosexual, and that the movie had already been banned in several European countries. I decided to check it out, using the famous websites www.truthorfiction.com and www.snopes.com. Turns out, it was a good thing I did before sending out emails and posting my disdain on Facebook. Here are the links to what I found:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/gayjesus.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/gayjesusmovie.htm
As you can plainly read for yourself, there was a movie back in the '80s that was started along these lines, but the project never got off the ground. There is indeed a play by the name "Corpus Christi", which portrays Christ as homosexual. There also will be a documentary about the play coming to film. But, as of right now (and not for 25 years) there is not a film being made about a homosexual Jesus.
Seems like this "Urgent" email was a little misplaced, huh?
Again, don't get me wrong. I am a conservative right-wing. I believe that there are causes we should fight for, beliefs that we can't let fall to the wayside. However, I don't believe that we should discredit our voice by allowing ourselves to be made fools of by propagating idiocy via unchecked "facts".
Another set of emails that I received several months ago were saying that Obama had refused to stand in honor of <insert event here>, or another one that said he had refused to salute the flag at <insert memorial>. When I checked them out, they were all fakes. Pictures were inconsistent with what Obama was wearing at the ceremony, (one emails pictures, even contradicted each other, one with him wearing a blue tie, and another picture with him wearing a red tie), their time lines didn't hold up, etc.
Again, if these things were real, they would be cause for outrage. However, they were not, and I would estimate that thousands if not millions of Americans were outraged because they believed a lie without checking it out.
America, (or, as Stephen Colbert would say, "Nation,") check things out before you forward/post/tweet them. You will lose credibility by crying "wolf" too many times unless you do.
And that is "What Gets Me".
- Sapper Woody
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