Why I Hate Chain Mail

Here’s the chain mail I wrote this editorial is about:

7 seconds
I am not breaking this. No way!  I'M TOLD THIS WORKS!!!!! - Bishop T.D. Jakes "7 Second Prayer"
"The 7 Second Prayer" Just repeat this prayer and see how God moves!!
"Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, my church and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen."
Pass this message to 7 people {EXCEPT YOU AND ME}. You will receive a miracle tomorrow. I hope that you don't ignore this. Please let God bless you.

GRRRRRRRRRR

PLEASE don't send me chain mail! I don't care if they can make the dead rise again. They just grate on my resistence to authority and I always break them. I delete them, irregardless of the message or promise, because I hate the principle of the thing. It's only 1 small step below spam.

I mean, come on, is God going to smite me if I don't pass this on to 7 people? The problem is not so much the thought being expressed, it's just that in chain-mail format, there is always this underlying implication that you will be punished if you don't follow the arbitrary command. The religion-based chains are designed to guilt the reader into compliance. I have plenty of guilt already. No need to pile more things on.

I realize that not all the chains are created to annoy people. Let’s just pretend that I want to spread bright thoughts about my life experience. If I were going to write the chain mail above, I would word it like this: “Today has been a wonderful day. I prayed XX prayer several times during the day and then XYZ happened. I wonder if there's a connection. What do you think? If you want to, try it out and let's find out together the effect of this kind of prayer.”

That's a message I could respond to. But the way the chain is put, it’s patronizing and insinuates that the sender’s viewpoint is right and pushes it onto the recipient, especially those last 4 sentences: "Pass this message to 7 people {EXCEPT YOU AND ME}. You will receive a miracle tomorrow. I hope that you don't ignore this. Please let God bless you."

So, if no miracle happens tomorrow, what should I think? Did I miss it? Does God dislike me? Isn't my faith strong enough? Am I not LETTING God bless me? Have I shut myself down to blessings? Have I become such a bad person that God refuses to take notice of me?

As soon as I realize it’s a chain,I immediately try to forget what I read. I don't want to know what anyone thinks I should do. I utterly dismiss the message of the chain because I have no respect for anyone who tries to manipulate me with guilt or tries to influence my actions with the promise magical consequences if I annoy my friends and acquaintences with their opinions. The chain implies the message is fact and leaves no room for discussion. It’s black and white thinking. Anyone who tries to convince me that if I don’t play their hi-tech game of gossip, my spirituality will come into question is absurd and obnoxious and really needs to get a life.

Lisa