If It's in an E-mail Forward, It Must Be True...Right?

I get a number of mass e-mail forwards every week that are designed to spread awareness of a number of social and political ideas. Some even spread celebrity gossip occasionally, and those I barely even read. However, the socially and politically-oriented e-mails I do read, but I'm really shocked at some of the content of these forwards.

One of these recent mass e-mail forwards dealt with Obama cancelling the National Day of Prayer (or in some claims, declaring it unconstitutional). The National Day of Prayer happens to be this coming Thursday, and rumors spread in e-mails (and on Facebook) that Obama declared it unconstitutional on the grounds of the day being Christian in nature. The e-mail claimed that Obama felt a National Day of Prayer only centers around one religious sect of this country, and therefore should be banned. The e-mail also is known for including a picture of Obama attending a mosque prayer session on White House grounds, implying that Obama is a Muslim and wants to distance the entire country from Christian principles.

I've never liked Obama or his policies, but the allegations in this e-mail are just ludicrous. First of all, Obama never "cancelled" the National Day of Prayer. All he did was opt to have a private service in the White House among himself and his family, as opposed to having a public service on the estate. That's his right to do so. Christians across the country are hardly going to be publicly flogged and/or arrested should they choose to pray in public.

As for the infamous picture in the e-mail, Obama didn't have any "Islamic Prayer Day" at the White House. The picture that's typically found in the e-mail wasn't even taken at the White House as it claimed. The picture wasn't even taken in the United States! It was taken at a mosque...in Istanbul. Obama was in Turkey when the photo was taken, and it's customary to remove one's shoes before entering the mosque.

One of my other personal favorite forwards or scams is common on Facebook. Many of my friends have joined groups on there dedicated to deleting their profiles should Facebook start charging monthly membership fees to keep profiles up, almost like a dating website. The story goes that a mysterious someone is looking to buy out Facebook and start charging its millions of members as a result. The latest "deadline" that I recall seeing is July 7, 2010.

First of all, do people not know how much Facebook is worth? The founder of the website - who's all of about 25 years old (which makes me feel woefully inadequate in comparison) - is worth BILLIONS. Considering Facebook has only been around a few short years, that's pretty darn impressive. So why would a company that's as radically successful as Facebook be looking to find a buyer? Companies are only on the open market for sale if they're struggling to make money (see Dreamworks, GM, numerous banks across the country, etc).

I'm also amused that all the crazy claims that "someone" is looking to buy Facebook doesn't even bother who that buyer is. Major mergers and acquisitions are reported on the news constantly (And interestingly enough, I haven't seen anything on CNN about Facebook for sale. Hmm...), and the potential buyer is identified publicly pretty early on. So why isn't that information known?

Now I'm not about to make any claims that I'm great at reading between the lines or being better at smelling b.s. than most other people. I'm no more well-read than the average American citizen. I just use one amazing tool that I'm shocked and rather disgusted that most friends and family don't see to think about or remember. That tool is Google.

I do simple Google searches to look up information about these mass e-mails, and I typically find something pretty quickly that completely debunks message. I often think about e-mailing my friends and family who send these notes off, but I feel like I'm going to come off as a snotty ass for proving them wrong. Plus, all I have to do in the end is hit the delete button on these e-mails and they're gone for good.

I suppose my point here is to open people's eyes and know when to smell the bullsh. Please, dear reader. If you get any crazy e-mail forwarded with some absurd claim in it, Google the information. Should you feel like sharing the information you find with the original sender, go ahead and do so.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to clean out my inbox.