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Using email is like driving a car: It’s a familiar
necessity for many of us, but you still have to keep your eye on the
road.
My computer has the usual assortment of spam filters,
firewalls, and anti-virus software, the electronic equivalents of
seat belts, air bags, and steel-beam sidebars. They make online
life safer but are no substitute for good sense, as I have painfully
learned.
I get a flood of forwarded emails, everything from the
latest joke to compromising – and usually fake – photos of
politicians. While some folks send these gems to everyone in their
address book, I prefer the delete key. I open very few and send on
even less, perhaps one every year or so, and only to folks I think
might appreciate the message.
For most forwards that’s a pretty small list, but this
one came from a good friend of solid judgment, which she has
demonstrated by rarely sending me forwards. I clicked it open.
“Dear all,” it read. “A disgusting film is set to
appear in America later this year which depicts Jesus and his
disciples as homosexuals! As a play, this has already been in
theaters for a while. It’s called ‘Corpus Christi’ which means ‘The
Christ Body.’ It’s a revolting mockery of our Lord. But we can
make a difference … Remember, Jesus said, ‘Deny me on earth and I’ll
deny you before my Father.’” It ended with a plea to add my name to
a petition and send it on.
I didn’t, not at first. I didn’t delete it either, but
let it sit in my inbox for a couple of weeks. I’d see it there
every day, get a quick pang of conscience, then go on with my
routine.
It has been a rough few years for those of us inclined
to defend the faith. Mocking Christianity and Christ himself has
become something of a sport, and a fairly lucrative one for some.
Dan Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code,” based on academically
discredited theories that Jesus’ secret marriage and descendents
have been protected by a mysterious secret society for millennia,
made the author millions. Millions more are sure to follow from the
movie being produced by Imagine Entertainment.
We just came through an election in which the mangling
of scripture reached new lows. Macy’s department store is facing a
boycott for removing “Christmas” from its Christmas sales, while
Arnold Schwarzenegger stirred up a fuss in California by calling the
state’s Christmas tree a Christmas tree, which recalled governor
Gray Davis had dubbed a “holiday tree.”
Meanwhile in Denver, a church group was bounced from
December’s annual “Parade of Lights” for planning to sing Christmas
carols. The Rocky Mountain News reports that while the church is
banned, the Native American “Two Spirit Society” will take part and
a Chinese group will dance to ward off evil spirits.
Maybe I let it all cloud my judgment. Maybe, in a small
way, I snapped. What I know for sure is that I finally forwarded
the email to a small circle of friends and acquaintances, none of
whom are in the news business.
If you haven’t guessed, the “Corpus Christi” rumor is a
hoax. There is indeed a play of that name portraying Jesus as
homosexual, but respected Internet debunker Snopes.com confirms
there is no plan for a film.
About half my time on an average column is spent
checking facts, yet it didn’t occur to me to verify the forwarded
email until someone asked if I had. (Another graciously promised
not to compare me to Dan Rather). I’m not going to pull a CBS and
say the story is true even if the facts are false, but there are
good reasons I found it believable. And though I’m embarrassed by
my error, that is the sad part.
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