A Fallen Airman and a Fly-by-Night Ending
Why you can't believe everything you read in a patriotic chain email and why it matters--especially today, Veteran's Day.
When it comes to war and heroism, truth is usually stronger than fiction. Most made-up stories of what people do in risking their own lives--or their reputation-- to save another, usually don’t hold a candle to the real deal. So, why, I'd like to know, do people keep spreading stories-- stories that are either patently untrue, or are only partially true, in order to advance their cause of Truth, Justice and the American Way? Because ultimately, no matter how good or true the cause, nothing good ever comes from a lie that's used to "flavor" or enhance it.
The Venue: Chain email sent to thousands--perhaps millions of people today on Veteran's Day--to (allegedly) stir up feelings of patriotism and favorable feelings about Christianity.
The Story: Resident in Albuquerque, NM writes in to a local newspaper to complain--in a highly sarcastic letter-- about fly-by of jets from a local Air Force base (Luke Air Force Base) that were headed for a fallen serviceman's (Captain Jeremy Fresques) memorial service.
Fallen serviceman responds to said resident with moving and patriotic tribute to both his fallen serviceman and to the armed forces in general, ending the letter--allegedly--with the closing sentence: "Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you ... Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom."
The Problem: While most of the story is true, neither the real name of the Lt. Col. (Lt. Col. Scott Pleus) who wrote the response, or the evangelistic final closing sentences of the letter was. Somewhere along the line--I can only imagine it was the original sender of the chain version of the letter--added those sentences intended to make the Lt. Col a "God fearing man" when, in fact, he never indicated whether he was a man of faith or not. Also an important piece of information was conveniently left out: the man who issued the complaint about the fly-by later issued a sincere letter of apology and, on top of that, was a veteran himself.
The Damage:
• People who were told the email was "TRUE" (by "true" one usually assumes it's completely true) believed it was, and therefore sent it on to their family and friends. Once said family and friends find out it isn't they aren't likely to read the next really true one.
• By tacking on the "Christian" twist to the story it turned a man's words into an evangelistic message that was not intended to be one.
• By tacking on a Christian message that was patently false (not the truth of the message itself but the fact that the original writer of the letter never said it) it discredits Christianity and Christians who apparently are so insecure in their faith they have to lie in order to give it any validity.
• It tries to "enhance" the message of salvation by equating the sacrificial death of Christ with a fallen soldier. While there may be some valid parallelism to this idea, the fact that the person who actually wrote the letter did not himself make that correlation, it gives lends an air of fictitiousness about the Gospel message itself. For people who already believe that Christ rising from the dead to atone for our sins is a work of fiction, this kind of "stunt" merely reinforces that belief.
• It reinforces the concept that Christianity and patriotism are one and the same when in fact, they're not.
• It completely discredits all future chain emails--leading the recipient to believe that in all probability this story is also either entirely or partially untrue--causing people to be more cynical than they already are.
News Flash: Putting good words in a man's mouth is still bad
Let me clarify. I'm as patriotic and God-fearing as the next person--perhaps more so. I cry at God-Bless-America-style country music videos…and I don't even like country music. And when I see a solider in uniform I try and thank him for his or her service. Even in the films I watch, it's not chick flicks like Beaches or Moonstruck that move me to tears, or for that matter, even fictitious "guy cry" films like Bridge Over the River Kwai, Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down, though I do enjoy them.
No, what really moves me to deplete a tear-duct full of saline solution in a typical two-hour period are the true stories of heroism, i.e., historical war film documentaries like, for example, Ken Burns, The War (about World War II) and The Civil War
You see, when it comes to war and heroism, truth is generally stronger than fiction. Most made-up stories of what people do in risking their own lives--or their reputation-- to save another--usually don’t hold a candle to the real deal.
So, why do we keep getting subjected to these insidious chain emails--particularly around a patriotic holiday like today--that much of the time ARE BIG FAT LIES! And if they're not complete lies, they're partial lies (which is actually worse)--not because of the sin of omission, but rather commission.
Meaning someone took a true news story, changed a few "minor" facts and details and turned it into something designed to evoke a particular emotion; to push a particular agenda or persuade people to their point of view. Like I said earlier, I guess they felt their message--tacked on to somebody else's--couldn't stand on its own.
I can understand this kind of thing in politics; after all, politics by its very nature divides, not unites. So does religion for that matter--at least if we're staying true to the definition of the word. But Christianity at its very core is a message of reconciliation, not division.
So, I have to ask myself, what would motivate a person to tack on a Christian evangelistic message, and in so doing, discredit both the very faith they're trying to propagate and the venue-email--by which they are sending it?
Jesus Died to Save Us from Our Sins...and One of Those Sins is Lying
The problem is nothing good ever comes from a lie. And, I might add, Jesus doesn't need our help--and especially when we tell big fat fibs--to make him look favorable. In point of fact, it does the very opposite.
It is these kinds of things that, no doubt, that give patriotism a bad rap. These people who feel compelled to distort the truth in order to stick it to those "liberal flag-burning card-carrying, commies" are a very strange breed indeed. Now I realize I'm must speculating here. I don't really know either who does these kinds of things or why. I only know that no one has a right to lie and.or "embellish" (which is lying) a man's words in order to bring God into a conversation that He wasn't invited into in the first place.
Maybe they reason that if the cause is great--salvation of souls and the honor of country-- then the means justifies the end. I'd give a definite "No" to that line of reasoning for the simple reason that Jesus died to save us from our sins--and one of those sins is lying. So it's doubtful Jesus would inspire us to use a lie in order to get people to believe the truth.
Of course, this chain particular email is not the first to be either patently untrue or partly true. There have been numerous such emails including, among others, the mass chain email that alleged that George Washington the Father of our Country told of an angel that had given him a prophetic vision of America to him at Valley Forge; the famous photograph of God's hands in a cloud formation over Haiti--just a month before the earthquake that devastated that country; a local radio station that refused to play "In God We Still Trust" on their radio station, and then, of course, there was the "evil" corporation Starbucks that refused to give free product away to G.I's serving in Iraq because they didn't support either the war or anyone who took part in it.
Now I'm not saying that I endorse everything Starbucks does, but I certainly wouldn't minimize any real complaints I had about them by inventing fake ones.
True Hero, True Story: A Chain E-Mail Worth Sending
For every fictitious tale, or partly true one, there are those true stories of heroism, courage and faith--like, for example, the widely disseminated photograph that depicts a U.S. airman. John Gebhardt, comforting an Iraqi child whose entire family who had been executed (she herself had been s hot in the head but survived).
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| U.S. Airman John Gebhardt: Both story and hero are TRUE |
I've included that original photo here because I think it depicts the true spirit self sacrifice that the original writer--Christian or non--of that moving letter intended.
The problem is, as I see it, there are so many untrue chain emails--ones intended to inspire patriotic and godly feelings, that it makes one cynical enough not to (a) bother to even read the next one that comes along; (b) read it, but any emotional impact one might or should have (because it could inspire them to do something good) is lessened because you're doubting its very veracity.
Of course, anyone can check out the truth of most of these stories--separating truth from urban legend (I believe we used to call them "lies") by going to www.snopes.com
But the question remains, Why are people distorting (or completely making up) these specific kind of stories in the first place?
If anyone knows, feel free to let me know. Perhaps I'm missing something here. -jenni keast
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Read more: The original "buzz" the complainers complaint generated about the fly-by: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1438755/posts
Original letter: http://www.militarycorruption.com/pleus.htm
Urban Legend check-it-out site: www.snopes.com Tells you what's true...what's not. Or at least tries to.
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