Peel back the layers of this e-mail story and you'll find a hoax
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___The Onion has taken a bite out of Harry Potter, and many Christians have unwittingly swallowed the satirical tale as truth.
___The Onion is an Internet publication that specializes in parody, satire and humor. In this vein, it published a piece titled "Harry Potter Books Spark Rise in Satanism Among Children."
___The article was thoroughly satirical and fictional, other than using the real names of characters and places found in the Harry Potter books written by J.K. Rowling. But somewhere in the mystical world of the Internet, the satirical article began to be circulated as a real news account.
___Soon, e-mails were flying across the na
tion warning Christian parents of the evils of Harry Potter revealed in this article.
___The e-mails picked up made-up quotes from the satirical article such as this one attributed to a 9-year-old girl named Ashley: "I used to believe in what they taught us at Sunday School. But the Harry Potter books showed me that magic is real, something I can learn and use right now, and that the Bible is nothing but boring lies."
___The e-mails also quoted Rowling as saying her books are intended "to guide children to an understanding that the weak, idiotic Son of God is a living hoax who will be humiliated when the rain of fire comes, ... while we, (the Dark Lord's) faithful servants, laugh and cavort in victory."
___According to the urban legends tracking website TruthorFiction.com, Rowling never said any such thing. The entire article is a farce, as evidenced in the disclaimer found on The Onion's website.
___"None of it is true," TruthorFiction.com warns. "Some people have read or been forwarded the original article and apparently not recognized the satire. Others have used quotes from the article to write what sound like legitimate e-mail alerts. None of the people, quotes or stats in the story are true."
___One version of the bogus e-mail carries a warning that "open applicants to Satan worship" have increased from 100,000 to 14 million since 1995. This, too, was taken from The Onion article and is not true.
___Cliff Vaughn, associate director of the Baptist Center for Ethics in Nashville, Tenn., urges Christians to be discerning in what they believe and to check for accuracy before believing everything that comes across the Internet.
___"It's important to make decisions based on credible information," he said. "Unfortunately, the phenomenon of Harry Potter is clouded by misinformation and urban legends."
___The Onion's satirical piece, for example, spread through one e-mail hoax signed, "In service to the Lord Jesus, his honor and glory, Roger Lynn."
___"In fact, there's a pastor named Roger Lynn at a United Methodist church in Minneapolis," Vaughn explained. "However, that Roger Lynn did not author the e-mail. Nevertheless, the confusion forced Lynn's church to add an "Our Roger Loves Harry Potter" link to its homepage. The link contains a special message disclaiming authorship."
___The bottom line for Christians, Vaughn urges, is this: "We must learn to evaluate our sources. Discernment never goes out of style."
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
|