I found this email you sent did indeed get me thinking but in different ways than the email intended perhaps.
First of all, it is really important to never be a sucker to a chain letter. As soon as I saw the email, it reeked like a chain letter so I just tried Google and found the following links which expose the hoax. (These are just the top two).
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/annegraham.html
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wheregod.htm
You will notice that what Anne Graham Lotz said is actually a very small portion of the email. The rest of it was someone deliberately trying to mislead by writing it in a way that attributes the rest of the email to her.
If you read the contents of the email and start trying to cross check the facts you will realize that real spelling is Madalyn Murray O'Hair. She first started trying to get prayer out of schools in 1960 (yes nineteen sixty). Since Americans started sending troops to Vietnam before that, terrorism hasn't occurred starting with her action. And certainly it occurred before Vietnam. The reference to her death seems very callous without the notion of any sadness about it. Please see Madalyn Murray O Hair to get details about her life and tragic death.
The email then goes on to mention Benjamin Spock and mentions the tragedy of his son taking his own life. Among the awful things that Benjamin Spock suggested was to be more affectionate to your children and pick them up and hold them when they cried. He was certainly against spanking and here is the reason from
RW Online
On Spanking: It teaches children that the larger, stronger person has the power to get his way, whether or not he is in the right.... Some spanked children feel quite justified in beating up on smaller ones.While I agree with the above statement, I do feel that having laws against spanking is a bit much because most often, it is the parent who has the child's welfare in mind more than anybody else. There are already laws to protect children from physical abuse (as distinct from spanking).
Even though the Bible says things like "Thou shalt not kill", we have had that wisdom well before the advent of a single god into our philosophies. The Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Greeks and Romans had these ideas long before the bible. It was good common sense and still is.
I do agree with one point that the email makes. While obscene and funny emails pass through too many mailboxes, the same can be said for emails pretending to be high and mighty and moral.
To answer the question the emails asks, I am not laughing, just saddened how people who believe in 'God' are unable to see all the bias in this email.
I sincerely hope that you send out a retraction to all your friends who were misinformed by this email. I do hope that you will still keep sending me emails from time to time as you do.
Take care,
n.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: AB
> [mailto:removed]
> Sent: October 17, 2005 1:22 PM
> Subject: Very Interesting......
>
> Hello friends,
>
> I got this from a friend, whom I believe is a very
> good person for being
> brave and sending this out to her friends. Weather
> or not you believe in
> God, you really have to ask yourself what is the
> world coming to.
>
> I know I believe and I'm trying to make a difference
> in this world. If I
> only help one person, I will still feel good that I
> made a difference.
>
> God bless you and I hope you find it in your heart
> to treat people the way
> you want to be treated...with respect and love.
>
> AB
> —--------------
> AND WE SAID OK
>
> In light of the many perversions and jokes we send
> to one another for a
> laugh, this is a little different: This is not
> intended to be a joke, it's
> not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
>
> Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early
> Show and Jane Clayson
> asked her "How could God let something like this
> happen?" (regarding the
> attacks on Sept. 11.
>
> Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and
> insightful response. She said, "I
> believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we
> are, but for years we've
> been telling God to get out of our schools, to get
> out of our government and
> to get out of our lives.
>
> And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has
> calmly backed out.
>
> How can we expect God to give us His blessing and
> His protection if we
> demand He leave us alone?"
>
> In light of recent events...terrorists attack,
> school shootings, etc. I
> think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she
> was murdered, her body
> found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in
> our schools, and we
> said OK.
>
> Then someone said you better not read the Bible in
> school . the Bible says
> thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love
> your neighbor as
> yourself. And we said OK.
> Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our
> children when they
> misbehave because their little personalities would
> be warped and we might
> damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed
> suicide).
>
> We said an expert should know what he's talking
> about. And we said OK.
>
> Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no
> conscience, why they
> don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't
> bother them to kill
> strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
> Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough,
> we can figure it out. I
> think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT
> WE SOW."
>
> Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and
> then wonder why the world's going to hell.
>
> Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but
> question what the Bible says.
>
> Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and
> they spread like wildfire
> but when you start sending messages regarding the
> Lord, people think twice
> about sharing.
>
> Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles
> pass freely through
> cyberspace, but public discussion of God is
> suppressed in the school and workplace.
>
> Are you laughing?
>
> Funny how when you forward this message, you will
> not send it to many on
> your address list because you're not sure what they
> believe, or what they
> WILL think of you for sending it.
>
> Funny how we can be more worried about what other
> people think of us than what God thinks of us.
>
> Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then
> just discard it... no one will know you did.
>
> But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit
> back and complain about what bad shape the world is in!!
>
