The World of Grandpa Don

. Chain Mail

A friend sent an email that set me to thinking. (again) This time it was along two diverse, yet related paths. The email started with a story that was familiar to me but more about that later. It concluded with a prayer (an Irish blessing) which would have been fine if it ended there. However, it went on to promise good luck which ranged from immediately to some time in the future depending on how many people to whom you would forward the mail. And ... if you deleted it you would have a period of bad luck.

Back in the 1930's when I was being taught by the good Sisters of St. Joseph, chain letters were quite popular. The sisters pointed out that these letters, when copied (by hand, of course) and sent on to others always promised something good would happen and if not, there was a promise of disaster. Some were prayers. Some dealt in luck. The prayers were bad enough but belief in luck was condemned as anti-religious. In any case, these chain letters were superstition at its worst. The work of the devil, no less. 

Now that we have email, the chain mail has resurfaced. And so, I do not do "chain prayer". There are times when a friend will send a prayer (no strings attached) and the prayer will make me think of another friend or two, (or more) and I will send it on to them (no strings attached). But to send a prayer as a result of being threatened with bad luck, or promised a reward for doing so, ... I'm sorry ... how insulting that is! 

Back to the story in this email ... 
It had a good moral lesson and involved a very well known person. I had seen it some years ago and included it on one of my "sharing" pages. But, since then I have become suspicious about things that arrive as a "true" story. So, I simply did a Google search on the first line. I found a large number of web pages that carried the same story, promoting the moral lesson. I also found "Fleming, Churchill and Penicillin". Just as I feared, the beautiful story with a lesson was a fake. Some misguided person took a few facts, added some fiction and tried to produce a parable passed off as fact. He may have had good intentions but when the lie is revealed, he has discredited the cause he tried to promote. 

But, what a great web site I found as a result of all this! John R. Ratliff has a web site that is dedicated to exposing all the problems with chain mail and the like. I was beginning to think that I was alone, a Don Quixote, tilting at the internet towers. "Breaking the Chain.org" is now one of my favorite places. If you look at their FAQ page you will find that they cover Chain Letters,  Spam & Scams, Petitions and Boycotts, as well as Virus Warnings, ... all related to Chain Mail. 

Some time ago I decided that if they were consistent with my web site, to take the stories that were sent to me and put them on my "sharing" pages as a way to pass them on to others. I have since found that a new story is very rare and by doing a search on it I find it on other web sites. So, I simply link to it as a way to pass it on to my visitors. Why try to re-invent the wheel? 

I would like to tell you not to forward email (chain mail) of any kind to anybody. If you find a story you want to share, find it on a web page and send your friends the URL of the web page. (After you have checked its veracity.) It is especially easy if the web site has an "Email this page to a friend" button such as found below on this page.

Do your part. Break the Chain! 

I intend to send out "the  last chain email". It will include the URL of BrakingtheChain.org  and a request that everyone who gets it visit the site, add their recommendation to the email message and send it to everyone on their mailing list. Then never send another chain letter again. That piece of chain mail will flow all over the internet and all around the world. It will be the last chain mail ever sent!

But, ... keep sending prayers, good wishes and news along with inspirational stories. Your friends do not need to be shamed or coerced to send them on to someone they really care about. And they will think more of you for the same reason.