Remember the chain letters most of us got in the mail at some time or other? ...The ones saying, "forward this letter to x-number of people and something good would happen to you"? Unfortunately, e-mail has its own version of that, and many of us get them often. Some are cute, funny, or thoughtful, but they're still “chain” e-mails if they ask you to forward them to x-number of people and if you do, something good will happen to you. While they're harmless, some people believe in them and look for the “thing” that's supposed to happen and become disillusioned when it doesn't.
The ones I appreciate are when they're sent only to me... It's more personal. I usually only forward something I receive to one or two people IF I think they'll appreciate it or benefit from it. So if you get an e-mail from me, you'll know I was thinking of YOU.
We need to check out e-mails carefully before forwarding them, EVEN if they came from a trusted person or a Christian. Forwarding chain “letters”/e-mails with possibly false information is similar to gossip or possibly lying. Before you forward an e-mail, it's good to check out one or both of the following online resources where you can search for key words and find out more about the particular message you received:
http://www.snopes.com/
http://www.hoaxbusters.org/
One time when I forwarded an e-mail to a Christian businessman, he replied that the particular issue in the forwarded e-mail was false. He said that by sending letters and making phone calls to senators, congressmen, etc., it was an embarrassment to Christians because they were writing and calling about something that wasn't true. Let's be good stewards of our e-mails and time spent online. Before you hit forward, check it out!
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