Sometimes I Write

After posting for two weeks straight about something uplifting, encouraging, and exciting, I’m kind of sad to be posting something “negative”. I haven’t posted a rant in awhile because I want to be a positive person. Right now I’m positively annoyed with receiving email petitions from well-meaning friends. I don’t sign email petitions – they are too easily faked, don’t really work, and are a waste of time. There are plenty of resources that say so, including Snopes.com and Truth or Fiction. com. The only thing they do is make me mad that people aren’t doing more on their own to bring about change they think is important. It’s easier to be one of the “1 million signatures needed”. You don’t have to get your hands dirty or build relationships. You don’t have to stand up by yourself and spend time actually working toward the cause you believe in, or take the time to make sure your communication is being received by the person who can actually make a decision to bring about the change you’re looking for. Signing an e-petition is a lazy way of saying, “I care, but not enough to actually DO something about it.”

No one in any position of authority takes email petitions seriously. Electronic signatures are meaningless, no matter how many hundreds of thousands are collected. There is NO documentation that this approach has ever worked. This site had some really interesting facts about why e-petitions are a waste of time, and here’s what they have to say about “Slacktivism”:

“Slacktivism is the search for the ultimate feel-good that derives from having come to society’s rescue without actually getting one’s hands dirty, volunteering any of one’s time, or opening one’s wallet. It’s slacktivism that prompts us to forward appeals for business cards on behalf of a dying child intent upon having his name recorded in the Guinness World Book of Records or exhortations to others to continue circulating a particular e-mail because some big company has supposedly promised that every forward will generate monies for the care of a languishing tot. Likewise, it’s slacktivism that prompts us to want to join a boycott of designated gas companies or eschew buying gasoline on a particular day rather than reduce our personal consumption of fossil fuels by driving less and taking the bus more often. Slacktivism comes in many forms, but its defining characteristic is its central theme of doing good with little or no effort on the part of the person inspired to participate, through the mechanisms of forwarding, exhorting, collecting, or e-signing.”

“For many, e-petitions satisfy the need to feel they are doing good and thus somewhat quell that nagging feeling they should be doing more to make the world a better place. As such, they serve a purpose as an outlet — those who “sign” such missives experience a personal sense of accomplishment in tandem with the warming sensation of having come to society’s aid. Good feels like it has been done in two directions — the signature helping a worthy cause, and the act of signing helping the person who was moved to add his name to the petition. E-petitions are sexy even when they don’t have a hope in hell of helping to accomplish their stated goals because they afford us an opportunity to bestow upon ourselves a pat on the back rather than continue to feel guilty about not doing our part. That nothing is really getting accomplished is almost beside the point; we believe we’ve been part of something worthwhile and so feel better about ourselves.”

That sounds about right.

In today’s case, the e-petition was titled, “Dr. Dobson & CBS Response”. Let me start by saying if you want to jump on board with something Dobson is trying to do, go to his website and join his cause. This e-petition begins by railing against CBS for discontinuing “Touched By An Angel” for using the word “God” in every program. The next sentence is about the atheist woman who is responsible for successfully eliminating the use of Bible reading from public schools. It goes on to say her organization has a petition that will “pave the way” for the removal of the reading of the gospel over American airwaves. And it boasts over 287, 000 signatures. The group is also campaigning to remove Christmas carols and programs from the public schools. The writer’s of this e-petition are praying for atleast 1 million signatures to defeat their effort. Great! A game of “I can get more signatures then you can”. Here’s the kicker…when you scroll down to the bottom, the petition my friend signed is to reinstate prayer in public schools and it’s supposed to be sent to President Bush at The White House by the 3000th signer. It was written to appeal to Christians through anger – talking about how “our” rights have been violated and we need to rally together. It was written without clear focus as to what it’s about – reinstating prayer wasn’t part of their convincing argument. It specified to send it to the President, but you know it’s NOT going to his personal email. What good does it do other than give the opinions of a group of people, some of whose signatures may have been faked? It’s junk mail that will be deleted by some administrative computer geek (no offense), or filtered as SPAM. The message part ends with “Together we can make a difference in our country while creating a way for the lost to know our Lord”. Good grief! What part of this creates a way for the “lost” to know “our” Lord?

The dumb thing is all over the place. There is so much more I could say but I’m done ranting for the day. I hope this post “paves the way” to people thinking before they pass along this trash to those who are actually getting their hands dirty and building relationships to bring about change. I love Jesus and care about our country and I don’t have to sign a petition or forward an email to my 10 closest friends to prove that I do, and neither do you.

Now copy and paste the logo I designed at the top of this post, and send it to all of your friends. I’m kidding!