| A Foundational Election...A Newsletter Article from June of 2008 |
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I received an email two days ago informing me that a bank account in Nigeria has $1.7 million in it, and if I’
m willing to help with some logistical transfers, the money is mine. Wow! Seems simple enough...all they
want is my social security number, my checking account number, and one credit card. Do you think it is a
scam? Do you think someone has actually lied to take advantage of some people’s naïve approach to the
internet?
The answer to those questions is a resounding , “Yes!” and for the most part, people are no longer taken
by these internet scams. The word is out. The people are cautious. With that said, there is another scam
on the internet, and this one is potentially more dangerous. It preys on people’s fears and insecurities. It
is the political emails that attempt to sway you with malicious lies.
What prompted this article was a recent group of emails about different political candidates. No one was
left out—Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama. Even Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and John
Edwards were included among some of the emails. These emails attempted to associate a certain
candidate with some evil, highlight a flaw in the character of the individual, or question his/her patriotism.
The two most egregious were about Barack Obama and John McCain...no surprise since it appears they
will be the two major party candidates. The emails were so over the top that they were almost laughable. I
say, “almost,” only because I know that many people believe these emails. Barack Obama is not a Muslim,
and John McCain is not an atheist. Yet, even if these statements regarding Obama and McCain were
true, should that be a deal breaker within a country that is built on religious freedom?
What troubles me the most is not the horrific deceit and deception of these emails, but who is forwarding
them. I went back to count the number of such emails I have received (I was able to find 19, but I’m sure I
deleted numerous others), and all of them were sent to me by good Christian people who received them
from good Christian people who had received them from good Christian people. I think you get my point.
Despite its flaws, I love our democracy. I celebrate the freedom we have to express our own opinions...
even when someone else’s opinion goes against everything I believe. At the same time, do we not
undermine the very foundation of our nation if someone is elected president only because the lies against
his/her opponent frightened the public more. If you will remember, Jesus taught about the importance of a
good foundation—a foundation built on a rock vs. a foundation built on sand. If someone is elected to any
position of authority only because s/he was able to get others to participate in online falsehoods about the
other candidate, I believe that individual’s foundation is built on the shaky soil of untruth and will eventually
bring us all down.
In the end, I would rather my candidate (I do have an opinion, but it is never the place of a pastor to
express those opinions to his/her congregation) lose in a healthy and spirited debate on the issues that
face our country than to see my candidate win by building the foundation of his/her candidacy on the
unstable ground of deception. I believe all the candidates from our recent primaries (even 3rd party
candidates) are generally good people who want nothing but the best for our country. Any email that
attempts to say something different falls into the category of a political scam. Are there differences
between the candidates? Of course! And that is where our conversations should be.
I am not simply inviting you as Christian people, but pleading with you to be the force that brings these
emails to an end. If a hate-filled email might actually help your candidate, you have an even greater
responsibility to be the agent of obstruction that says, “NO MORE!” You need to “Reply to All,” and invite
people to engage in a real conversation that will help our nation get out of the shallow end of the political
pool. To do so is more difficult! It requires more thinking and reading and listening. The process might
be a bit more demanding upon us as individuals, but the final outcome will be those things we all desire in
a nation—truth, honesty, respect and tolerance.
m willing to help with some logistical transfers, the money is mine. Wow! Seems simple enough...all they
want is my social security number, my checking account number, and one credit card. Do you think it is a
scam? Do you think someone has actually lied to take advantage of some people’s naïve approach to the
internet?
The answer to those questions is a resounding , “Yes!” and for the most part, people are no longer taken
by these internet scams. The word is out. The people are cautious. With that said, there is another scam
on the internet, and this one is potentially more dangerous. It preys on people’s fears and insecurities. It
is the political emails that attempt to sway you with malicious lies.
What prompted this article was a recent group of emails about different political candidates. No one was
left out—Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama. Even Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and John
Edwards were included among some of the emails. These emails attempted to associate a certain
candidate with some evil, highlight a flaw in the character of the individual, or question his/her patriotism.
The two most egregious were about Barack Obama and John McCain...no surprise since it appears they
will be the two major party candidates. The emails were so over the top that they were almost laughable. I
say, “almost,” only because I know that many people believe these emails. Barack Obama is not a Muslim,
and John McCain is not an atheist. Yet, even if these statements regarding Obama and McCain were
true, should that be a deal breaker within a country that is built on religious freedom?
What troubles me the most is not the horrific deceit and deception of these emails, but who is forwarding
them. I went back to count the number of such emails I have received (I was able to find 19, but I’m sure I
deleted numerous others), and all of them were sent to me by good Christian people who received them
from good Christian people who had received them from good Christian people. I think you get my point.
Despite its flaws, I love our democracy. I celebrate the freedom we have to express our own opinions...
even when someone else’s opinion goes against everything I believe. At the same time, do we not
undermine the very foundation of our nation if someone is elected president only because the lies against
his/her opponent frightened the public more. If you will remember, Jesus taught about the importance of a
good foundation—a foundation built on a rock vs. a foundation built on sand. If someone is elected to any
position of authority only because s/he was able to get others to participate in online falsehoods about the
other candidate, I believe that individual’s foundation is built on the shaky soil of untruth and will eventually
bring us all down.
In the end, I would rather my candidate (I do have an opinion, but it is never the place of a pastor to
express those opinions to his/her congregation) lose in a healthy and spirited debate on the issues that
face our country than to see my candidate win by building the foundation of his/her candidacy on the
unstable ground of deception. I believe all the candidates from our recent primaries (even 3rd party
candidates) are generally good people who want nothing but the best for our country. Any email that
attempts to say something different falls into the category of a political scam. Are there differences
between the candidates? Of course! And that is where our conversations should be.
I am not simply inviting you as Christian people, but pleading with you to be the force that brings these
emails to an end. If a hate-filled email might actually help your candidate, you have an even greater
responsibility to be the agent of obstruction that says, “NO MORE!” You need to “Reply to All,” and invite
people to engage in a real conversation that will help our nation get out of the shallow end of the political
pool. To do so is more difficult! It requires more thinking and reading and listening. The process might
be a bit more demanding upon us as individuals, but the final outcome will be those things we all desire in
a nation—truth, honesty, respect and tolerance.