Dear Genesis,
From time-to-time, I receive forwarded emails decrying the efforts of some to eliminate “god” from our national story.
Over the years, I’ve read a dozen of similar notes, long before email was available – remember those days?
Now, with the internet, these stories, slightly updated, flow fast and furious, but, in fact, are false.
Recently, a note about the World War 2 Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the alleged misquoting of Roosevelt’s speech before Congress after Pearl Harbor.
Maybe you’ve seen the note.
If the author of the note were Pinocchio, the nose would be a mile long, and sadly, a lot of decent people unthinkingly forward these notes to their friends and family members, furthering the lie.
If you’d like to check this one out, click HERE to visit Snopes.
And to actually read all the monument inscriptions, click HERE.
As you will see, the email notice is patently false.
As Christians, we have a duty to know the truth, for Jesus is The Truth. We cannot and must not play loose with such things.
And as Paul Tillich noted in his famous “Protestant Principle,” we put a question mark over everything until we have tested it and found it either wanting or true.
It’s terribly important that we not be gullible. Remember – test everything you receive in email, especially “angry notes” that decry the decline of the nation, or some such nonsense.
And if you’re not sure, check with me. I’ve been working on these things for years.
And, please, if you’re not sure of something, trash it; don’t send it on to family members and friends.
Tom
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. I receive these emails too, and after a momentary twinge of guilt, I delete them. These are not noble pleas for a better world but a hostile means to further fan the flames of division. The next challenge is confronting the senders in a loving way. I don't always succeed at that.... ugh.
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