Stop O'Hair...er, Save Della...er, Help Dr. Dobson!
I received my thrice-annual e-mail about RM2493, the bogus FCC petition to ban religious broadcasting.
In its earliest incarnation, the blame for this petition was placed in the hands of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, famous atheist. Then, after her mysterious disappearance and subsequent death, the fate of Touched by an Angel was at stake. Now, for whatever reason, Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson gets to carry the mantle of "Protector of the Airwaves."
It would be mildly annoying if this was my first experience with this lame spam. Unfortunately, I've been dealing with it before I knew what e-mail was. I threw away stacks of mimeographed petitions from an information table in a small-church foyer every time they reappeared, after I heard a local radio pastor in the late '80s admonish his listeners for wasting time and energy refuting this non-threat. I haven't forgotten his rebuke.
Between 1975 and 1995, the FCC received over 30 million pieces of mail about this petition. Thirty million. Can you imagine how many hungry people could have been fed using the money that was wasted paying postal workers to sort and deliver 30 million pieces of mail? And the gas, oil, tires, and maintenance on their vehicles? The electricity? The wasted paper? The FCC personnel hired to handle the 30 million pieces that entered their facilities? The storage and landfill space required to handle the mail after the fact? It boggles the mind...
So now, we simply waste internet bandwith on it. Three times a year, on average, in my case. Not to mention the bandwith I waste forwarding the links to Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages about it. Here, for your enjoyment, are the Snopes and Focus on the Family pages concerning RM2493:
Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting
Dr. Dobson's Denial
Please remember: Friends don't let friends spam other friends with bogus e-mail petitions. Only you can prevent incendiary misinformation.
Help a brother out.
In its earliest incarnation, the blame for this petition was placed in the hands of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, famous atheist. Then, after her mysterious disappearance and subsequent death, the fate of Touched by an Angel was at stake. Now, for whatever reason, Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson gets to carry the mantle of "Protector of the Airwaves."
It would be mildly annoying if this was my first experience with this lame spam. Unfortunately, I've been dealing with it before I knew what e-mail was. I threw away stacks of mimeographed petitions from an information table in a small-church foyer every time they reappeared, after I heard a local radio pastor in the late '80s admonish his listeners for wasting time and energy refuting this non-threat. I haven't forgotten his rebuke.
Between 1975 and 1995, the FCC received over 30 million pieces of mail about this petition. Thirty million. Can you imagine how many hungry people could have been fed using the money that was wasted paying postal workers to sort and deliver 30 million pieces of mail? And the gas, oil, tires, and maintenance on their vehicles? The electricity? The wasted paper? The FCC personnel hired to handle the 30 million pieces that entered their facilities? The storage and landfill space required to handle the mail after the fact? It boggles the mind...
So now, we simply waste internet bandwith on it. Three times a year, on average, in my case. Not to mention the bandwith I waste forwarding the links to Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages about it. Here, for your enjoyment, are the Snopes and Focus on the Family pages concerning RM2493:
Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting
Dr. Dobson's Denial
Please remember: Friends don't let friends spam other friends with bogus e-mail petitions. Only you can prevent incendiary misinformation.
Help a brother out.
posted by Chris @ 7:30 PM
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