My family, like many others, hold diverse political views. But, my family isn’t quiet about where we stand. At family gatherings, there’s lots of beer consumed … and lots of opinions shared. Sometimes loudly. This election season, my family has begun having this debates via email. There’s definately a conservative wing of the family and a more liberal wing. (And, then there’s my brother and my husband who fit somewhere in the middle.) Often, those differences are based on ideological and religious beliefs.
But, today’s discussion took a whole different turn. It started when my aunt forward an email to the whole group, which she said was causing her to think twice about voting for Obama. The email was filled with lies and smears and anyone who knows anything about Barack Obama would know that the email was crap. But, it was sent — and to a large group of people. So, I felt the need to make sure everyone had the facts. I emailed a nicely worded, very respectful email clarifying some of the lies. My great uncle Larry emailed back:
DEAR HEATHER, I ASKED TO BE ERASED FROM THE E MAIL LIST RELATIVE TO OBAMA, ETC. WE HAVE OUR OWN OPINIONS.
Why didn’t he respond to the lie-filled email, only the one that tried to provide the facts? I don’t think the truth is a matter of opinion. There are truths and there are lies. And, this email was full of lies. You’d think at some point I would learn to leave these family discussions alone — can’t teach an old dog new tricks, right? — but I wanted to make sure my family understood that they shouldn’t base their vote on these smears. If they were planning to vote for Obama, this untruthful email shouldn’ persuade them otherwise. So, I responded:
Uncle Larry,
I totally understand that everyone has their own opinions. I wasn’t “campaigning” for Obama. I was just trying to make sure that people understood that this email is false. That has nothing to do with any political affiliation. Major reputable newsources — and highly respected people of all political leanings — have rejected the information included in that email.I certainly wouldn’t think of sending you campaign information … just wanted to make the point that people shouldn’t trust everything that comes from email. Also, I just “replied all” and didn’t really pay attention to who it was sent to. If you don’t want to read it, feel free to delete it.