| Do you Remember The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest? On April Fool’s Day, 1957. Richard Dimbleby, a name not easily forgotten around the water coolers of the BBC, convinced a great many audience members not only that Spaghetti grew on trees, but with a straight face concocted an entire lore of Spaghetti farming, including the threat of the aptly named Spaghetti Weevil, a small creature that always posed a threat to a promising
harvest1.
From a Joke to a Myth:
What in 1957 was a clever April Fool’s joke is these days known as an urban myth or legend, no longer confined to one day in April. With the explosive popularity of Internet traffic, the daily attacks of such lore-filled e-mails on our inboxes is par for the course. Yet, whereas the Spaghetti Harvest was an honest to goodness joke, today’s hoaxes are oftentimes party of a much more sinister agenda. Today’s stories expound in minute detail about something awful happening to a person, usually a child, or an animal. Very often they contain a heartbreaking plea for help, usually monetary, and almost always end with the phrase “forward this to everyone you know”.
From a Myth to an Offense:
Would You Believe That The FCC Will Impose A Ban On Religious Broadcasting?
While most everyone would agree that this would be an outrage, demanding a swift and decisive action on the part of elected officials, not everyone knows that the above is a hoax. Notwithstanding the intricacies of the judicial system, the Communications Acts very clearly states that the FCC does not have the authority to censor religious broadcasts, yet not everyone knows that. It is therefore understandable that a great many citizens took to filling out and sending in the readily attached petition to the FCC to do away with the proposed ban, and to persuade as many friends as would listen, to do the same; it is at this fork in the information super highway that a joke becomes and offense: it cost money. The FCC had to allocated valuable resources to deal with the flood of petitions. The U.S. Postal System had to deal with the increase in mailings to the FCC, too, because the hoaxsters all but insisted on using snail
mail.
How Can You Recognize A Myth?
The first sign that a seemingly outrageous or heart-gripping story is a work of fiction can be seen in the amount of detail that is given, despite an amazing scarcity of verifiable sources and facts. Secondly, no credible agency will rely on word of mouth or e-mail chains to get out the word about a potentially serious issue. If you receive an e-mail with a lot of official sounding language which ends with the plea to send this to everyone you know, don’t. Last, but not least, if you are unsure, check out Internet sites that are known for debunking even the most compelling tales of woe2; however, regardless of whether you choose to believe the story or recognize it for a flight of fancy, please, don’t forward it!
So...What does God Have To Do With This?
As Christians, we are held to a high standard of living, being called ambassador and admonished to closely watch the words that exit our mouths. Words, by extension, also refer to our inboxes, where every thoughtless e-mail, gossipy morsel, and downright slanderous hoax is judged on its merits. Paul once wrote to the disciples to “slander no one”3. If we, as disciples of Christ, choose not to research a rumor or verify the veracity of a plea of any kind prior to sending it to everyone we know, we are guilty of the sin of slander. Let's not go there. This is a sin easily avoided.
[1] For a fascinating tour of historical hoaxes and deceptions, please visit the Museum of Hoaxes, online at
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com.
[2] A great starting point for such research is http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org
[3] Titus 3:2a
This article was first published at http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/practical_christianity/102819
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