"You should not accept any information unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the conscious(ness) and you are responsible of ( for) using them." 17:36

Anybody know where that comes from? Don't let the chapter and verse fool you, it's not from the Bible. It's from the Q'uoran.

Why, you may be asking, am I quoting from the Q'uoran? Well, besides the fact that it's a darn good quote, and the Q'uoran itself is a great work of literature, I looked it up in response to an e-mail I got. Maybe I shouldn't call it an e-mail. It was more like a hate mail.....

The person who sent it to me didn't mean anything by it. She just passes stuff along to me as a matter of interest, as if to say "this is what's going around out there in the world". And maybe the person who sent it to her sent it in the same spirit, though, judging from other stuff that had his return address on it, I tend not to think so. And I'm talking about someone who is educated and ought to know better.

It had to do with the Eid stamp, which you can see and get a little background on here

Some nutball, apparently without bothering to look into the fact that the stamp was planned months ahead of the September 11th attacks, launched a vitreol laden e-mail calling for it to be boycotted because, and I am not making this up, " They (Muslims) don't even believe in Christ and they're getting their own Christmas stamp, but don't dream of posting the ten commandments on federal property? " and then it went on, in larger and brighter letters about how "Muslims" perpetrated recent terrorist attacks, and we ought not to forget it and boycott "loudly when going to the post office" this stamp.

Usually, when I get this kind of stuff, I just hit the delete key. I tend to tell myself that nobody takes it seriously, that people are just pushing buttons, (both literally and figuratively)....but there was something about this, this painting everybody with a broad brush -as if every Muslim man, woman, and child was on a jihad against America - even those who ARE American. I admit it. It lit my jets.

Miss Kitty suggested that we post a hundred little tidbits about ourselves ( hers are great!) and I probably should have done that instead of getting involved in a controversial topic....but, here's at least three things about This Winged Creature. You can get me involved in an emmotional, voice raising argument over three things and they are 1) the death penalty 2) any kind of rampant, ignorant prejudice - like this and 3) t.v. "psychics" / John Edwards (the "Crossing Over" guy, not the political candidate) / mediums.

It's true that lately I've been feeling like I need to get a little bit more activist, like I'd better start speaking up for the rights of people who may not speak as well as I do...and my own rights while I'm at it. Also, I'm (usually) a very tolerant, live- and -let- live kind of person, whose first impulse when hearing about some viewpoint very different from mine is to try to understand it, and, if that fails to say, "well it takes all kinds of people to make up the world". But, I'm reminded of a recent article in an Oprah magazine ( Yes, Friend Will, I know how you feel about Oprah!) that encouraged women to not be so agreeable all the time, saying that, if you aren't clear about your viewpoints then "everybody from the Hell's Angels to the John Birch Society may think you agree with them."
You have to admit, it's a good point.

I'm not against people discussing their ideas. I'm not against people stating their opinions, "I may not agree with what you have to say but I'll defend to the death...blah, blah, blah..." you know all that. But there are times, when I get or hear stuff like this that nobody bothered to remotely "fact check" - stuff that says, "I'm ignorant, and I don't want the facts getting in the way of my opinions" that I feel like checking all of my liberal, tolerant, Quaker practices at the door and yelling, "Oh, For God's Sake, Shut Up Already!" I mean it took 2 whole minutes for me to type in "Eid stamp" on Google and get the link above. And then there was the person, somewhere in the chain, who said, "I'm not sure if this is true but I'm passing it on" ....well, for crying out loud! If you aren't sure if it's true or not ( and I suspect this person meant that the stamp was for real) then why would you tell it to someone else?! What ever happened to "When in doubt check it out"? What good is it to have literacy and internet access if nobody has any critical thinking skills any more?! Oh, my God, I'm turning into my parents! ARRRGGGGHHHH!

Anyway, I've included the full text of the reply I sent to every person for whom I could get a valid e-mail address forward and backward in the chain. You can tell I was upset when I wrote it because I "Mind merged" Terry Nichols and Tim McVey into one person....but with some of this crowd they may not even notice. Will somebody tell me if you think this is too harsh? I mean, it's too late now, but if my entire family gets mad at me, (which they might) I'd like to have some perspective on the thing.

Hi Everybody,
A forwarded e-mail has reached me, a Christian and a Quaker, with all of your names on it. Some of you are folks that the person who sent me the e-mail also sent it to....and some of your names come from the "links" to those who have done the forwarding.

I get all kinds of forwards that I don't nessasarily agree with, and usually I just delete them, thinking, "well, that's one person's opinion". I'm all for free speech, and whoever started this one's right to say whatever is on his or her mind - even if it is wrong. However, I feel called to shed some light on this particular one...because it states in louder and brighter colors that "Muslims" did all these terrible atrocities, and, therefore, their faith should not be represented on a stamp especially during the Christian season of Christmas.

Well, it's probably true that a handful of people who considered themselves Muslims did commit these attrocities. I guess the idea behind the called for "boycott" of this stamp ( which ought not be too tough to accomplish, since the stamp came out 3 years ago. whoever is calling for this action is a little late to the party) is that no Muslims, no matter if they are American Citizens just like us, who vote and go to school, and pay taxes, and go to tupperwear parties and are just trying to figure out how to send their kids to college while also worrying someone's going to rip their daughters' chador off her head while she's trying to buy a packet of m&m's...that these kinds of people don't deserve to have anything about their non-violent faith acknowledged because a bunch of crazy people, who claimed to adhere to the same faith, did all of this aweful stuff. Somebody, please tell me if I have got the gist of this wrong. And, if you think that, you have a right to think it and even say it.....

but I have a duty to say something in return: Folks, that's like cancelling Christmas stamps because David Koresh claimed to be a Christian or disowning the state of Oklahoma because Terry McVey came from there. It might interest those of you who are open minded to know that the stamp in question commemorates 2 of the most important festivals - or eids - in the Islamic calander: the end of the hadj ( pilgrimage) and the end of the fast of Ramadan ( that fact is from the usps website) Three years ago those things happened right around Christmas time....so the stamp didn't, in fact, have anything to do with Christmas. It might also be of interest to you that, contraray to what this outraged individual stated, Muslims do "believe"in Jesus. They not only believe that he lived but they acknowlege him as a prophet - just not the saviour.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about the peaceful Islamic faith can go to www.islamfortoday.com/armstrong01.htm.

Why, you may ask have I taken all this time to do all this research, cut and paste all these names and write this e-mail. Well, it's like this:

"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then, they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not Jewish, so I did not speak out. And, when they came for me there was no one left to speak out for me."
Martin Neimoeller 1892-1984

Maybe you might consider passing this on?
Yours in faithful service to the Lord,
Tea L.P. ( in the e-mail, I used my real full name)
www.somewingedcreature.net