Harmful Rumors

I have become very interested over the last few years in rumors and urban legends and how we sometimes base our opinions and actions on information that is totally false. It seems that the victims of Katrina may have been victims of not just storms, but bad information.

This story from The Washington Post has a lot to say on that issue:

News of Pandemonium May Have Slowed Aid
(notice - this link may be invalid 14 days after this post)

I have actually been pretty shocked by the Katrina rumor mill. My inbox has been flooded with e-mails related to Katrina relief. Most of them have been stories of hope and heroism or pleas for help and support. However, some have been pretty revolting (and totally untrue) tales of rude or criminal behavior of evacuees. Whenever I receive questionable e-mails, I check them out at a website called snopes.com. They are a clearing house of urban legends.

Here is an example at snopes:

Utah Evacuees

In case you don't have a chance to read it, it is a review of an e-mail reporting on absolutely horrible behavior of evacuees taken to Utah. It also alleges that most of these evacuees were criminals, gang members and drug users. What is interesting is that none of this checks out. None of it appears to be true.

Even if there are accounts of bad behavior or even criminal behavior among evacuees, why is that so interesting? There seems to be quite a bit of bad behavior among people who haven't lost everything. A look at recent headlines points me to quite a bit of bad and criminal behavior among the wealthy and powerful.

Barbara Mikkelson, a staffer at Snopes.com had this thought.

Such characterization tends to fit more neatly into what people need to believe if they are to feel good about scaling back on the relief efforts underway — by convincing themselves recipients of their largesse are both unworthy and ungrateful, they will find it less painful to disassociate themselves than if the victims of Katrina remained in their minds sweet-faced little children, befuddled but lovable grandfathers, and struggling families who lost it all and now have nothing. [1]

I guess the point of this, one of my longest posts ever is this: Read news and especially e-mails critically. Think of the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Had a reporter been walking down that road, would they have stopped to help or would they have written a story about how the man shouldn't have been there in the first place. I think most would stop to help. Watch out for the one who writes the story.

peace,

will

[1] Barbara Mikkelson, "Rest Stop", Snopes.com, http://www.snopes.com/katrina/personal/reststop.asp, accessed 11, October, 2005, internet;