SHEEP (why don't people THINK about things?)

[indstr]

Working in a corporate office environment, I get a lot of forwarded emails from coworkers. Many of them are these urban legends. I treat all of such emails I get with a heavy amount of skepticism, and try to do a couple of minutes of research about them. Very few have turned out to be true. Usually, I just pop an email back to whoever forwarded it to me along with a snopes link saying something like "this is incorrect information.. read more here {insert snopes link}".

But a couple of times, I have gotten riled up and written my own response in an attempt to inform the misinformed.

Why do I even bother fighting against it? What's the point? Everyone is sheep anyway, and most, apparently, will believe everything they read, even if it's from a dodgy email forward.

I don't know why I fight it. I guess it's because there is something so mind-numbingly irritating about receiving an email full of lies and BS, and knowing that there are dozens of other people in the same room as me who actually BELIEVE this junk.

Today, I received the most aggrivating one I've ever gotten. I fired back, hard, at the person who forwarded it to me (whose cubicle is right behind mine), and the other people in the list before her who had been ones to forward it on. Here it is:

this was sent to me and thought I would send your way.............after reading this, well..........it makes ya wonder?????????

I have felt for sometime now that Obama is the one person that 'Frightens Me'. I believe the Bible has warned us that 'A man will come from the East that will be charismatic in nature and have proposed solutions
for all our problems and his rhetoric will attract will many supporters!'

When will our pathetic Nation quit turning their back on God and understand that this man is 'A Muslim'....First, Last and always....and we are AT WAR with the Muslim Nation, whether our bleeding-heart, secular,
Liberal friends believe it or not. This man fits every description from the Bible of the 'Anti-Christ'!

I'm just glad to know that there are others that are frightened by this man!

Semper Fidelis, Chuck


Who is Barack Obama?

Very interesting and something that should be considered in your choice.

If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to all your contacts...this is very scary to think of what lies ahead of us here in our own United States...better heed this and pray about it and share it.

snopes.com <http://snopes.com>' confirms this is factual. Check for yourself.

Who is Barack Obama?

Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita , Kansas.

Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii.

When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia.

When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocate to Indonesia. Obama attended
a MUSLIM school in Jakarta. He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, 'He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school.'

Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that that he is not a radical.

Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's
education.

Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta.

Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists
who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically
expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.

Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the flag and slouches. Do you want someone like this as your PRESIDENT?
(has anyone really seen this?)
Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential candidacy.

The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level - through the President of the United States, one of their own!

Please forward to everyone you know. Would you want this man leading our country?...... NOT ME!!!

And here is my response:

This is racist and bigoted. “We are at war with the muslim nation”? What is that supposed to mean? I’m not at war with anybody just because of what their religion is. They are not all terrorists and suicide bombers like W wants us to believe. It’s not very “Christian” to read this, agree with it, and then send it on “because we are at war with the muslim nation”. Anybody who forwards this on is just propogating more hatred.

If anybody would even take 10 seconds and bother to check their facts, they would clearly see that snopes does NOT corroborate their story, it proves it wrong: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

But… I don’t even need to read that to know that this blatant misinformation was written by a republican with his own ill-intended agenda who has no respect for the voters he is trying to sway.

Please do not send me anymore political propoganda

Maybe I went overboard? I don't know.
I'm not even Christian (I'm agnostic), but I find it shameful that other people who do call themselves Christian, would read this, and not only not get offended by it, but rally with it and forward it on, trying to get their comrades to join the bandwagon too.


What I hope, is that every time I respond to these kinds of emails, maybe someone will feel embarassed about the fact that they sent this on and propogated lies further.

Maybe somebody will realize that maybe they should stop to THINK for a minute before they believe everything they read.

If I convince even one person, I think all my heated replies at the office will have been worth it.

[PaCrappa]

SEMPER FIDELIS CHUCK

[JoshF]

Forwarded.

[Rumblecat]

Maybe I went overboard? I don't know.

Nah, you didn't go overboard at all. What's the problem with the woman who sent it to you- does she actually believe that kind of crap?

[Zebra Airforce]

Here's one I got in my mail a few days ago

WARNING. America is officially under ATTACK.
It seems a QUAKER DEVIL has entered into our midst, yet no one has taken steps to protect us from this white MENACE.

John McCain...
He appears to most a disfigured old man, but BEWARE. He was raised by RADICAL hippies in NORTH DAKOTA. Undescribably SAVAGE, McCain is only satisfied with the red flesh of his brothers. Each night he feasts on the testicles of CHILDREN that he has captured in a NET outside his home.

He advocates CHANGE, but the only change he will bring is COMMY REDFACE and his friend DARKSKIN MCJUNGLE. McCain tries to conceal his love for overweight pitbulls, but many reputable sites, such as CNN and Wikipedia tell the real story: McCain is the living embodiment of LUCIFER. Several eyewitnesses testify to McBane hiding his red horns under a wig and wearing thigh high BOOTS to conceal his CLOVEN HOOF!

Many say he follows the teachings of George Washington, one of the most DANGERous TERRORists in the history of the United States. Is this the kind of man you want leading Jesus' PEOPLE????!!!

its clear from this mail that mccain is really unfit to be in office

liberty and justice for all

-gramma

[jpj]

you made that up

[JoshF]

[indstr]

a bunch of really funny stuff

that had me laughing for sure

[indstr]

what the ... we posted a bunch of smileys at the same time !

[indstr]

Nah, you didn't go overboard at all. What's the problem with the woman who sent it to you- does she actually believe that kind of crap?

i don't know. i actually appologized to her a little later, just so she knew it wasn't directed at her. she appologized back, meekly, with "i'm sorry to make you so upset! i was just forwarding an email!"

[Ruldra]

Some people are willing to send TONS of those crappy e-mails. When someone asks for mine, I actually give them another one, so they can spam my mailbox as much as they want without bothering me.

[Michaelm]

Because

i was just forwarding an email!

[Ed Oscuro]

Something Awful response: I've been fakeposted :(

What I find funny is when my dad tells me what gets forwarded around their office. They wouldn't post something completely off the wall politically nuts, but one of his coworkers found somebody's cache of fukung / 4chan /b/ style pics and was like "LOL U GUYZ CHECK THESE OUT" (except without the "lol" because these people are very much from a previous generation).

[indstr]

Some people are willing to send TONS of those crappy e-mails. When someone asks for mine, I actually give them another one, so they can spam my mailbox as much as they want without bothering me.

yeah... i have seperate spam accounts too. unfortunately at work, everybody communicates through outlook and they can just type my name in to forward it to my work mail

[Udderdude]

Pretty sure most of them don't even bother reading it. They see it and forward it.

[it290]

I used to get these all the time @ my old job, they annoyed me so much that I actually set up an autoresponder describing how unsolicited email is considered spam and is illegal under federal law, etc.

It is kind of strange how, aside from the randomly stupid ones, they all seem to be jingoistic right-wing fundamentalist bullshit. Then again.. maybe it isn't all that strange.

[grovsnus]

So yall be votin wahabama. I see.

[BulletMagnet]

Maybe somebody will realize that maybe they should stop to THINK for a minute before they believe everything they read.

I dunno, Rush calls his listeners "dittoheads" to their faces on the air, and he's got the highest radio ratings in the country...for whatever reason, "his type of people" (ie - nutjobs) seem to take a sort of sick pride in the fact that they've been trained to simply react to stuff vis their basest instincts, without bothering to analyze or otherwise "test out" the stuff they're fed...after all, doing that would make them "liberal intellectual elites" (and yet somehow, despite their wholesale and brazen shunning of "wonkishness" and "eggheaded-ness" and "wordiness," and unwillingness to look below the surface of almost any issue, their opponents are the ones who have no clue what they're talking about).

"i'm sorry to make you so upset! i was just forwarding an email!"

This reminds me of another Rush-ism...whenever someone bothers to call him or one of his likenesses out when they say something blatantly offensive or untrue, they always defend themselves by saying "It was just a joke/my opinion/something I'm passing on!" And this, of course, is supposed to completely absolve them of having put something so poisonous out on the public airwaves...apparently they have no personal responsibility (wait, I thought only liberals were supposed to be like that) for anything they say, or whatever reaction there might be to it, because it's "just (insert excuse here)". Just try invoking The Clinton Rule here and treasure the responses you get.

[Ed Oscuro]

Speaking of Rush, he recently was credited by at least one news outlet with sending McCain supporters to Clinton in order to keep the Democratic race split. Apparently thousands did this (confirmed by exit polls), but it seems just wrong to give him all the credit. Or does it? Makes me think of a Discworld god that loses all his power when people stop believing in him...

[indstr]

Pretty sure most of them don't even bother reading it. They see it and forward it.

i can't even understand that mentality. but my girlfriend confirmed that as well. i told her about it when i got home last night and she was like "oh, maybe she just didn't read the forward. i never read those things, i just send them on"

i don't get it. why would you send something on without reading it? it could say "the person who sent this to you is a rapist" and you would never know. and then everybody would think you were a rapist! wtf!!!

[indstr]

so ... just... WOW

here is the email i had in my inbox this morning

this is from one of the people higher up in the forwarding chain, i.e. she is not the one who forwarded it to me

First of all I did not send this to you and what I choose to believe is of no concern to you! I sent this to close friends and family which again is no concern of yours. Just as you are entitled to your opinion I am also entitled to mine so if I do send you information you do not wish to recieve then and only then do I expect a response.

(note her awesome grammatical skills and talent for making amazingly well structured run-on sentences and her tactful ignoring of punctuation entirely)

she sent that reply to me, the person who forwarded it to me, and the other people above her in the chain i had sent my response to. after that, i got (from the person who forwarded me the mail in the first place) this:

I was the one to forward this to him and I apologize that you were in the middle of this .....
I agree we all have our opinions ....

WHAT!!
instead of THANKING me for correcting the error of their ways and showing them the light, they call believing lies "being entitled to their opinion".

I was considering doing a direct email response but I figured an interoffice flame war isn't really a good idea. I was torn between that and responding to the email by "appologizing for overreacting" just to try to smooth it over since I will have to work with these people in the future. But I'm NOT sorry for what I said.

I settled for talking to the coworker behind me who is the one who sent it to me originally. First I said "I hope I didn't make coworker #2 and all them mad at you".
I was expecting a "oh, no biggie", but I could tell she was visibly irritated at me. She didn't even turn around in her chair to look at me. She said something to the effect of "I'm going to stop forwarding emails from now on!" and "You think you know something about someone, but then it turns out they are a different way".
My response was "I'm sorry if I maybe overreacted, but I was just offended by the email". (Not the vague terminology that I "maybe" overreacted)

It was an attempt to smooth things over because I really don't want to sever good relations with a coworker, especially one who sits right behind me and that I have to work with every day.

We'll see how it goes, hopefully it will pass over time.

This is why politics should stay out of the office.

I'd like to say I'll keep my mouth shut next time, but I know I will still have a hard time doing so.

[D]

Good to respond to that the way you did.
More people should stand up and educate the sheep.
I call those sheep, tv-zombies.
It is a sad time where media and government are both benefiting from striking fear and making people racist.
I try to convince my friends, but they say I am the one who is mad.
I have already a long time ago accepted that humans are just as egocentrical as other animals. I have come to peace with that and now, nothing surprises me anymore. It is very easy to manipulate people, so anything is possible.

[Ozymandiaz1260]

Just start e-mailing Islamic chain letters to everybody, I'm sure that will fix everything

[moozooh]

You know, this whole story made me believe that you are surrounded by morons. I don't think it makes sense to bother trying to argue with them; "I never read those things, I just send them on" type of behaviour pretty much automatically ensures the fruitlessness of trying to present them with rational arguments. Whether they will be instantly swayed by them or get pissed off like in your case won't make any difference in the long run as long as they don't start thinking for themselves, which is something you will not be able to do by typing an email response. I think it requires more than that.

[indstr]

Just start e-mailing Islamic chain letters to everybody, I'm sure that will fix everything

or... an idea i had this morning:

starting a new chain letter with "facts" about how other chain letters are actually used by islamic terrorists to communicate secret messages to each other. i can make up some plausible sounding information about how they use the spacing and capitalization to communicate terrorist bomb dates, and that this is the last chain email you should ever forward.

who's with me !!!!

or, i could have just replied to the original email with:
"why do you think i have a long beard!?? JIHADDDDDD!!!!" and then got up from my cubicle screaming JIHADDDD, running around doing karate chops in the air

[indstr]

You know, this whole story made me believe that you are surrounded by morons. I don't think it makes sense to bother trying to argue with them; "I never read those things, I just send them on" type of behaviour pretty much automatically ensures the fruitlessness of trying to present them with rational arguments. Whether they will be instantly swayed by them or get pissed off like in your case won't make any difference in the long run as long as they don't start thinking for themselves, which is something you will not be able to do by typing an email response. I think it requires more than that.

yep. a lot of them are pretty much back country rednecks, very set in their ways, and i guess they think that all of us liberal hippie commies go around aborting babies for fun

i think you are right though, it's useless to even try to argue. i should use my effort for something productive, like environmental activism

[Ruldra]

"why do you think i have a long beard!?? JIHADDDDDD!!!!" and then got up from my cubicle screaming JIHADDDD, running around doing karate chops in the air

Yeah, you'd confirm the e-mail theory that muslims are infiltrating the USA.

And your story would be added in said e-mail for additional proof

[Neon]

LOL, this is what fair and balanced means - holding both 'sides of the story' up as equally credible, despite one being total bullshit (see: evolution v. 'intelligent design'). I forget who originally said this, but if you want to know the temperature in a room, you don't have one guy who says 70 degrees and one guy who says 80 degrees scream at each other on national TV - you send for a thermometer.

Anyway, indstr, you're working with a pack of douchebags, and you were right to tell 'em what's what.

[Udderdude]

so ... just... WOW

- snip -

Wow. Your co-workers are fucking retards.

[szycag]

I got a similar letter from my grandma, I set her straight on it. There's something about old people and forwarding chain letters in their e-mail. Like, they think that's some kind of e-mail tradition or something. It's just one big trail of ignorant.