\tMost urban legends are just funny, or perhaps give some sort of warning to inspire better behavior and so are harmless. But sometimes urban legends can be damaging. For instance, back during the 2000 election, many people were claiming that Al Gore\u2019s book, Earth in the Balance<\/em><\/a>, had the following quote on page 342: \u201cRefusing to accept the earth as our sacred mother, these Christians have become a dangerous threat to the survival of humanity. They are the blight on the environment and to believe in Bible prophecy is unforgivable.\u201d Of course in reality, Gore\u2019s book nowhere contains such a quotation, nor would he, as a Christian, be reasonably expected to ever write such nonsense. But since most people never bothered to actually pick up his book and turn to the cited page, the lie circulated widely. Similar lies were told about George W. Bush and are now being told about Barack Obama. <\/p>\n Likewise, during a photo opportunity at a 1988 grocers’ convention, the first President George Bush was supposedly \u201camazed\u201d at encountering supermarket scanners for the first time. This story was repeated numerous times by major news outlets to try to demonstrate how out of touch the now former president Bush was–and yet it wasn\u2019t true at all! Later retractions by the newspapers which started the gossip never got the same traction as the original tidbit.<\/p>\n Some urban legends are dire warnings: don’t flash your lights at an approaching car. Gang members are known to shoot people who do that. <\/p>\n Um, no.<\/p>\n Urban legends often take on a life of their own, just like other forms of gossip. And even when confronted that a certain tale isn\u2019t true, the gossiper will insist, \u201cwell, it\u2019s consistent with what I know of him and while in this instance maybe it never happened, still, I know he does things just like that.\u201d Regarding the health or safety warnings, the gossips will tell me, “well, it’s still good to know.” How? It’s not true. Why do I need to know it? Or they’ll say, “better safe than sorry.” Um, again, no. If it’s a lie, it’s not helpful at all and doesn’t make me safer.<\/p>\n Gossip hurts people. It’s never beneficial. Proverbs also warns us that, \u201ca gossip separates close friends\u201d and \u201cwithout wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.\u201d Next time you hear a story that you just know has to be true, or you get an email from someone you trust, who swears that he got the story from someone who knows the person it happened to, be a bit skeptical. Perhaps take a look at some of Brunvand\u2019s books in the library, or run a search on the web. It’s not hard. Spend the extra two minutes before you post something juicy. You don\u2019t want to be spreading gossip, now do you?<\/p>\n Someone I know copied an email she got this week and then sent it to me. It had dire warnings in it about a nefarious plot to cancel a certain beloved television show because of its religious content. Unfortunately, there … Continue reading ![](\"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/plugins\/send-to-kindle\/media\/white-15.png\")
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