April 28, 1999

Readers vote 2-1 that 'holy' e-mail agitates
___Maybe heaven should have separate sections for those who like to receive religious-themed e-mail and those who don't.
___Opinions on the subject are strongly held, according to an informal survey of readers of the Baptist Standard.
___A front-page story on religious e-mail and virus hoaxes in the Standard's April 14 issue prompted an unusually large number of readers to e-mail the Standard with thoughts on the subject. Responses ranged from thanks for the information about virus hoaxes to anger that people quoted in the story would dare to call unsolicited devotional e-mail "Jesus junk."
___A poll conducted on the Standard's website asked readers to say whether unsolicited "holy" e-mails are an agitation to them or an inspiration.
___Response ran 2-to-1 on the side of agitation, but those who get inspiration from the e-mails expressed the strongest agitation with the Standard's story.
___"I was appalled at the tone of the story," one reader wrote. "I love to get devotional e-mail. ... If someone is sharing a personal story about Jesus, what Christian would call it 'junk mail'? ... I hope that my friends do not refer to my stories about what Jesus has been doing in my life as 'Jesus junk.'"
___Another writer suggested the author of the article should seek employment elsewhere. "You are evidently a sick person," this reader wrote.
___"There may be other insensitive folks out there that feel the same way as you do about well-intended e-mail," he explained. "If so, they too do not deserve to receive any e-mail at all. I suspect that you wouldn't be inspired even if Jesus Christ himself sent you e-mail."
___Others said they personally enjoy receiving devotional e-mail but try to be discerning about what they forward.
___On the other hand, readers who are agitated by devotional stories about "angels and puppies" as one caller described them, expressed strong feelings.
___"I detest coming home and finding my e-mail box full of junk," one woman wrote. "I'm getting better about asking those who frequently send me inspirational junk to remove me from their mailing lists. Most handle the request well. How-ever, I have been accused of being un-Christian, a heathen and a few things I can't name here."
___Another writer admitted he had received the "It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus'" virus warning and, not realizing it was a hoax, forwarded it to others. "Then a friend of mine told me it was a hoax, and I was extremely embarrassed."
___And finally, this note: Apparently not all Texas Baptists read the Standard's April 14 issue. The very next week, someone forwarded the "It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus'" virus warning hoax to every employee of a certain Texas Baptist institution.
___A well-intentioned employee of that institution forwarded the warning to the Baptist Standard.

---

Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!