Yesterday morning, a forwarded email arrived in my emailbox. It came from a close friend. Below is an extract of the email:
"Subject: Recent miracle in Egypt!
Broadcasted in CBS...
A Muslim man in Egypt killed his wife because she was reading the Bible and then buried her with their infant baby and an 8-year old daughter.The girls were buried alive!
He then reported to the police that an uncle killed the kids. 15 days later, another family member died. When they went to bury him, they found the 2 little girls under the sand - ALIVE!
The country is outraged over the incident, and the man will be executed at the end of July.
The older girl was asked how she had survived and she says:- 'A man wearing shiny white clothes, with bleeding wounds in his hands, came every day to feed us. He woke up my mom so she could nurse my sister,'she said. She was interviewed on Egyptian national TV, by a veiled Muslim woman news anchor. She said on public TV, 'This was none other than Jesus, because nobody else does things like this!
'Muslims believe Isa (Jesus) would do this, but the wounds mean He really was crucified, and it's clear also that He is alive! But, it's also clear that the child could not make up a story like this, and there is no way these children could have survived without a true miracle. Muslim leaders are going to have a hard time to figure out what to do with this, and the popularity of the Passion movie doesn't help! With Egypt at the centre of the media and education in the Middle East, you can be sure this story will spread. Christ is still controlling and turning the world. Please let this story be shared.
The Lord says, 'I will bless the person who puts his trust in me. (Jeremiah 17)
Please forward to all on your list and God will reward you abundantly.. ..spread the Good News!"
A very interesting email, and I have some comments on it. But I will only post further later outside office hours. In the mean time, I'll let you dwell on this story for a bit.
Later...
______________________________________________
Now where was I? Ah! yes, on the miracle!
The first thing, of course, is that this story is a bunch of craps. If Jesus wanted to prove his existence to the world, he'd probably do something more profound—perhaps saving some of those kids in Gaza is a good start.
I have posted something about chain mails not too long ago. Some people are just not quite right up there. Maybe it has a lot to do with craving for attention. Or some people get their kicks by spreading falsehood or scaring others. I dare say it's some kind of mental disorder, although I must hasten to qualify that I am not professionally trained to make such an assessment. Therefore, this is just my personal opinion.
The "miracle", as far as this particular email is concerned, is that so many people actually believe the story! Looking at the history of email addresses, forwarded from one to another, is just amazing.
Just looking at the email from an unbiased point of view, one is quickly able to tell that it's plain rubbish.
"Broadcasted in CBS"
If there is any truth in this story at all, it would have been broadcasted all over the world by now, not just CBS.
No names have been provided, neither the man, nor his wife nor his children—zilch! We are therefore unable to trace the story. No specific location was given. "Egypt" is an extremely large area. No dates were given so we are unable to trace when exactly did this event occur.
But the most compelling "evidence" that this was a hoax was that appeal:
"Please let this story be shared.
The Lord says, 'I will bless the person who puts his trust in me.(Jeremiah 17)
Please forward to all on your list and God will reward you abundantly.. ..spread the Good News!"
Always remember, folks, whenever you receive forwarded emails appealing you to forward to others, chances are you are being taken for a ride. These are sickos out there trying very hard to make fools out of you, I don't know why. Like I said, I strongly suspect it's some kind of mental disorder. So please resist to automatically forward these kind of rubbish the next time they arrive in your emailbox. Be curious and raise some common sense questions; and then you will know that someone is making fools out of you!
"Subject: Recent miracle in Egypt!
Broadcasted in CBS...
A Muslim man in Egypt killed his wife because she was reading the Bible and then buried her with their infant baby and an 8-year old daughter.The girls were buried alive!
He then reported to the police that an uncle killed the kids. 15 days later, another family member died. When they went to bury him, they found the 2 little girls under the sand - ALIVE!
The country is outraged over the incident, and the man will be executed at the end of July.
The older girl was asked how she had survived and she says:- 'A man wearing shiny white clothes, with bleeding wounds in his hands, came every day to feed us. He woke up my mom so she could nurse my sister,'she said. She was interviewed on Egyptian national TV, by a veiled Muslim woman news anchor. She said on public TV, 'This was none other than Jesus, because nobody else does things like this!
'Muslims believe Isa (Jesus) would do this, but the wounds mean He really was crucified, and it's clear also that He is alive! But, it's also clear that the child could not make up a story like this, and there is no way these children could have survived without a true miracle. Muslim leaders are going to have a hard time to figure out what to do with this, and the popularity of the Passion movie doesn't help! With Egypt at the centre of the media and education in the Middle East, you can be sure this story will spread. Christ is still controlling and turning the world. Please let this story be shared.
The Lord says, 'I will bless the person who puts his trust in me. (Jeremiah 17)
Please forward to all on your list and God will reward you abundantly.. ..spread the Good News!"
A very interesting email, and I have some comments on it. But I will only post further later outside office hours. In the mean time, I'll let you dwell on this story for a bit.
Later...
______________________________________________
Now where was I? Ah! yes, on the miracle!
The first thing, of course, is that this story is a bunch of craps. If Jesus wanted to prove his existence to the world, he'd probably do something more profound—perhaps saving some of those kids in Gaza is a good start.
I have posted something about chain mails not too long ago. Some people are just not quite right up there. Maybe it has a lot to do with craving for attention. Or some people get their kicks by spreading falsehood or scaring others. I dare say it's some kind of mental disorder, although I must hasten to qualify that I am not professionally trained to make such an assessment. Therefore, this is just my personal opinion.
The "miracle", as far as this particular email is concerned, is that so many people actually believe the story! Looking at the history of email addresses, forwarded from one to another, is just amazing.
Just looking at the email from an unbiased point of view, one is quickly able to tell that it's plain rubbish.
"Broadcasted in CBS"
If there is any truth in this story at all, it would have been broadcasted all over the world by now, not just CBS.
No names have been provided, neither the man, nor his wife nor his children—zilch! We are therefore unable to trace the story. No specific location was given. "Egypt" is an extremely large area. No dates were given so we are unable to trace when exactly did this event occur.
But the most compelling "evidence" that this was a hoax was that appeal:
"Please let this story be shared.
The Lord says, 'I will bless the person who puts his trust in me.(Jeremiah 17)
Please forward to all on your list and God will reward you abundantly.. ..spread the Good News!"
Always remember, folks, whenever you receive forwarded emails appealing you to forward to others, chances are you are being taken for a ride. These are sickos out there trying very hard to make fools out of you, I don't know why. Like I said, I strongly suspect it's some kind of mental disorder. So please resist to automatically forward these kind of rubbish the next time they arrive in your emailbox. Be curious and raise some common sense questions; and then you will know that someone is making fools out of you!
16 comments:
Ah! it seems that an anonymous friend is of the opinion that I'm too sure of myself. He/she feels that I waived the possibility of this "miracle" way too quickly without doing background investigations.
He/she said:
"... you don't know for sure if this story is true. have you spend time to research on it? i tot your very careful person?..."Yes, I usually take the trouble to investigate to get my facts right. But in this particular case there is simply no need - it would be an obvious waste of time!
Apart from the reasons given in the above post, I also have other justifications why I'm convinced that this story is mere nonsense.
For example, over the last 3 years, I have received this email at least 4 times. It could have been more times than that, but I can remember for certain only 4 times.
If the anonymous friend is still not convinced, try to search the net for any news on this miracle on CBS. I did not even bother to check myself, so if you found any, please let me know.
Oh! yes, perhaps this can also help to convince you why I think I am right in this case.
The story might not be real but the power of God is real. Hopefully one day you will realised it.
"The power of God" is a separate issue. Perhaps one of these days we can start a forum to discuss about it. But I doubt it, because I can see no end to the discussion. Hard evidence! there is just none! If you're facing hardship, that's God testing you. If you're enjoying good things, that's because God has rewarded you with his blessings. God always wins; we always lose. And of course many of us lose very much more - like those children and infants who died in Gaza.
But God, if he does exist, is indeed powerful. I never said otherwise! He could flood the entire world! Just that I can't accept an all-knowing, almighty being who, with all that power, can allow so much sufferings in this world.
But anyway, this post is not about God and his powers. It's about the psychos out there composing emails and "forcing" fools to keep forwarding those emails to everyone else.
Put it this way....God wouldn't be spreading his teaching & love thru emails! It's purely up to any individual whether they believe in Him or otherwise. Religion is a way of life. It teaches you about moral, how to be a better person, doing things right. We are who we are, who we want to be. How we deal with life is entirely up to us.
Therefore, forwarding these kind of emails is entirely up to us too. May it be just for fun or probably we just need these kind of prayers especially when we feel we have no where or no one to turn to in times of need.....
Thank you, MCC, for your comment.
Of course that's one way of looking at it. I suppose there is no harm to have some fun. The only trouble is that some people don't really know that it's meant to be fun. They believe this story whole-heartedly. And what's more, they try to convince others to believe it too. It is one thing to have fun; it's quite another thing to spread lies.
I don't condone people spreading lies, especially when it comes to religions. There is already enough confusions from the holy books.
So yes, it's totally up to individuals to believe in God if they want to. But we don't use lies - and especially silly ones like this - to influence them.
And by the way, religions are not only about "way of life". I happen to know a little bit (but just a bit!) about most religions. Yes, it's about moral and doing the right thing, but that's not the number one requirement.
Religions are about an all-knowing, almighty, powerful being who imposes upon His subjects to worship him. That is His first priority.
You can do all the good things and be kind throughout your life, but if you don't accept Him, your good deeds will go to waste. So love Him, accept Him, worship Him, and then complement that with your good deeds. Only then you'll be entitled to enter into His kingdom. It's not really true to say "how we deal with life is entirely up to us."
Anyway, as I said earlier, this post is not about religions - it's about psychos "forcing" others to forward their lies. And you'd be surprised how many people accept stories like these on blind faith.
Like i've said....God don't send emails or sms(es). Only humans...
HAHAHA!
Where did that come from?
Nobody's saying God's sending emails, my friend! I'm against people who compose emails to spread lies. I don't know who these people are, but I suspect some sort of mental disorder.
And especially this kind of emails - talking about a miracle which never happened. I know many, many people will believe it on blind faith. But imagine what will happen when you get a stubborn person like me who'd raise some common sense questions, and then finds out that it's just a lie. You know, logical question like why people would believe Jesus' mother was a virgin, when no medical examination was actually carried out to confirm the claim. You see, people believe based on faith - nothing to do with evidence!
So do you think it would give a good impression on the religion if people take this email seriously and then later on finds out that it's a hoax?
It's not only for "fun" as you put it. Things like this may be damaging to the religion - it may even push the fence-sitters to the wrong side.
Cornelius,
This post is not about religion. There are so much rubbish in the internet, including emails. This type of emails are not confine to religion.
However, it is to my surprise that someone like you who does not believe in God and therefore His Word, the Bible, can come out with a riddle like "the murderer from America indeed".
lateral line,
I'm glad that you realise this post is not about religion. I've repeated several times that this is about people who compose rubbish and then "forcing" others to spread them through the net. They don't just stop with any kind of lie - they even use religion to do their psycho activities. I am against those people - not the religions. If you believe in religion, that is good for you. I will respect your belief. But I'd expect you to respect my belief too. I think that is fair enough. We can all debate, but in the end we will still respect each other's beliefs.
Now regarding the riddle, one must understand that when it comes to "general knowledge", there is almost no limit to the extent of knowledge that is required - even fictional characters like Disney's cartoons and comic heroes etc. And therefore, even characters and stories from the Bible. The only basic requirement is that many people know about them. For example, "the first man" has been used in cryptic clues - it refers to ADAM; and "the first lady" has been used to refer to EVE. Whether or not they were indeed the first humans had never been proven, but this is the general knowledge that is widely accepted.
Cornelius,
When you regard such forwarded email as rubbish, you discard it. You knew it was a lie. The content is no longer valid. When you regard the Bible as "rubbish", you should discard it as the content is no longer "valid". But while you do not believe in the Bible, you acknowledged that people like the answer to the riddle existed and even what they did!
You would not believe Mickey Mouse existed if you have not seen the character and does not believe that Disney is a real entity. Would you believe me if I told you that there is this character called Tikus Bodoh created by Bodohland?
Someone introduced Adam and Eve to you. You do not believe it is true but accepted it and you used it. Someone forwarded you an email on the power of God, you do not believe it is true but you do not accept it.
lateral line,
It must be the heavy lunch I just had - I'm having trouble to figure out if your last comment is a statement or a question.
Let's see... I can only find one question mark in the second paragraph, so I think I can take that paragraph as a question.
As to the first and last paragraphs, I can only guess that they're either your observation or suggestions. Let me try to address them one by one.
Regarding the first paragraph, my response is, yes, I acknowledge that, while I do not believe in the Bible, there are people who do. In fact, I've been saying that several times here. And I also respect their beliefs. It is their rights what they want to believe. So it is a non-issue. Again, this post is not about religious beliefs. It's about chain mails.
Regarding the second paragraph, I can't say I've heard of a Tikus Bodoh created by Bodohland before. If there is such a character ever created in the story books, I'll take your word for it. But I will try to check on it later. I will believe it when I can find evidence of it. I'll also ask some of my friends, and if they have heard of it before, then I can always report of its existence here. Is that fair enough to you?
Regarding Adam and Eve, you are right, someone introduced that story to me; and I read a bit from the Bible too. But I must hasten to correct your statement. I never said that "I accepted that story"! Knowing that story is not the same as accepting or believing it! I just know that many people believe that story. And as I said, I respect their belief.
Likewise, I now know this story about Jesus going under the sand on a daily basis for about 15 days to feed the kids, though for the life of me I can't understand why couldn't he have just simply brought them up to the surface. I can't accept this story as true, but I acknowledge that many people believe it. I respect their belief. It's their right what they want to believe.
Have I made my position clear so far; or have I confused my readers even more?
Cornelius,
Other people use it because they believe it. If you do not believe such existence of that character, why do you use it? you cannot stop people from believing something which to them might be real but to you it is rubbish. everyone is entitled to their thought. we accept that point.
But my point is if you do not believe in the Bible, why do you, Cornelius, choose to set a question based on the Bible? It is not about what other people believe. It is you now. The riddle was set by you. You know of the "murderer" from the Bible, but did you check if it was true? (Refer to your comment on Tikus Bodoh.)
If you do not believe in the Bible, then you are not any different from the person who started the email. Setting something based on fantasy. If the writer of the email wrote something which is not true, you also created a riddle with an answer which (to you) is not true. If that "murderer" is not real, how can your riddle be correct? There might be some who believe that the "murderer" is real but you as the setter of the riddle is not convinced that he existed. So how can the answer be right and yet wrong?
Ah! lateral line, I see your point now!
Let me try to make you see my point in return.
When I set a riddle, I can set it based on an answer which is a fact or fantasy as you put it - fictional characters etc. There is no requirement that it must be real. I can ask about ARIEL, referring to the mermaid which does not exist except in the Disney's animation. I can ask about Jabba The Hutt, Master Yoda or Luke Skywalker even though they are not real people or creatures. And yes, I can ask about Adam and Eve too, even if I have not proven their existence. And I have also asked about Dr Bruce BANNER, which was a fictional character. The only requirement is that these are knowledge that many people know of - not just something I created myself (and hence only I know) from thin air. There is no need for me to ascertain if the murderer from the Bible was actually a murderer or if he existed at all. All I needed was that many people know about that story. That is the requirement of my riddles. We're interested in general knowledge, but we're not saying whether that knowledge is factual or fictional. It's like asking you if you have heard the story about Adam and Eve, but not trying to convince you to believe that story. Do you follow so far?
Now, when it comes to the emails containing lies, we have a different scenario. What these people are doing is to compose a fictional story and then claim it to be the truth. They then send the email to several people and plead to them to forward to as many other people as possible in the hope to influence them all to believe the story, knowing all the while that the story is a hoax.
I have not done anything to convince you that Luke Skywalker or Master Yoda ever existed; and I have not done anything to convince you that Adam and Eve were the first humans. I am merely asking you if you knew these people/characters. Whether they are real or not is a different matter all together.
Do you really think I am doing the same thing as these sick people spreading lies through the emails?
The email started when someone created it and wanted others to believe it. But the whole subject was on the power of God which I think that person is aware of. Your discontent is on the person who started it and subsequently those that believed it and passed it on. But when it got to you, you stopped it because you don't believe in it.
The riddle you posed was created by you. Yes, Mickey Mouse is accepted because that character existed. It is not a real talking mouse that stands on two legs but the character existed. You seen it, you believe it existed. Likewise, when I told you about Tikus Bodoh, you won't believe me because you haven't seen it or heard about it. In other words, you don't believe me, so you don't create a riddle based on Tikus Bodoh.
But you chose Cain, as told in the Bible that he killed his brother. You don't believe it. You don't even know who is the author. And this author is passing the information in the Bible from one person to another, sharing it in churches worldwide. What makes this different from the email? The story in the Bible was passed to you, you accepted it and you used it. The person who sent you the email, accepted it and forwarded it to you.
My question to you is why do you want to create a riddle based on a story you didn't believe. It was suppose to be a real story unlike a movie when you knew it was fiction. In a movie, the character was acted by someone real, directed by a real person with a name and identity, written by someone that was or is still alive.
Is the Bible real? Was it written by someone real? Are those people mentioned in the Bible real? Did you check the source like you did on the story in Egypt?
lateral line,
I can see this debate is not progressing any further. You are obviously confused, my friend. I don't know if I have contributed or caused that confusion. And if I did, I am truly sorry.
"Likewise, when I told you about Tikus Bodoh, you won't believe me because you haven't seen it or heard about it. In other words, you don't believe me, so you don't create a riddle based on Tikus Bodoh."No, my friend, I did not create a riddle on "Tikus Bodoh" not because I don't believe you. This is where you are confused! I would create a riddle on "Tikus Bodoh" even if I don't believe you, provided that I am convinced there are others who know about it, hence satisfying the requirement of general knowledge. If many people (but not necessarily everyone) have that knowledge, then it is general knowledge, and I can ask you a question about that knowledge. I am merely testing you on your knowledge, i.e. if you know about it. But I'm neither attempting to convince you to believe it, nor am I trying to prevent you from believing it.
"But you chose Cain, as told in the Bible that he killed his brother. You don't believe it. You don't even know who is the author. And this author is passing the information in the Bible from one person to another, sharing it in churches worldwide. What makes this different from the email? The story in the Bible was passed to you, you accepted it and you used it. The person who sent you the email, accepted it and forwarded it to you."That story about Cain the murderer is known by many, many people. It is therefore a general knowledge. I can therefore ask you if you knew about that story, full stop. I am not making a statement that I believe it or not. In fact, it doesn't really matter what I believe, because of course it has nothing to do with the question!
I don't believe there is such a thing as a mermaid too, but I can still make a riddle about Ariel based on the story many, many people know about. Why? Because since so many people know about that story, it is therefore a general knowledge.
I don't have to believe in a story for me to ask you if you knew about that story. I don't have to believe in a Star Wars in a galaxy far, far away for me to ask you if you knew about that story. I don't have to believe in the Bible for me to ask you if you knew about the Bible. It is not about what I believe; it is about what you know.
Read my post again. My complaint is not against those who forwarded me the emails. I am merely advising them not to fall prey to those sick people who think it's fun to spread lies. My complaint is against those who originated the emails; in fact those who originated the lies.
Is the Bible real?
Yes, the Bible is real, because I have seen it. And I have one on my shelf at home.
Was it written by someone real?Yes, the Bible was written by someone. That is the only explanation I can think of for it to come into existence.
Are those people mentioned in the Bible real?
I don't know for sure. But if anyone can show me evidence to support the existence of those people, then I am willing to accept that they're real.
Did you check the source like you did on the story in Egypt?I tried, but came to a dead end. Even numerous clergymen have failed to supply me with hard evidence to satisfy my requirement of "proof".
I hope I have answered your questions satisfactorily.
I'm late for my run! Later, folks!
Supposed to go for my short run, but after running some errands, am now at home, back to my blog again!
Anyway, I just realised that in my haste to post my last comment above, I have missed out some more of your questions. So let me try to answer them.
"My question to you is why do you want to create a riddle based on a story you didn't believe. It was suppose to be a real story unlike a movie when you knew it was fiction.
Says who? Where did you get that rule that says I must make a riddle based only on a real story? Give me the source of your information, and I will see if I can explain it to you.
"In a movie, the character was acted by someone real, directed by a real person with a name and identity, written by someone that was or is still alive."
Yes, I saw a movie of Jesus years ago. His character was acted by someone real, with a name and identity too. The storyline was supposed to have been extracted from the Bible.
And that funny little dragon in Mulan was not acted by a real person. But they used the voice of a real person. And they got the story from who knows where.
So do you have a point to all this?
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