I am the owner of a huge pet peeve; and due to that, I must respond to the "Sermon" letter that was printed on Dec. 16.The prayer in question has been circulating through e-mails and has been falsely attributed to both Paul Harvey and Rev. Billy Graham. It is a version of a prayer that Rev. Joe Wright, the senior pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, delivered at the Kansas House of Representatives in January 1996; and in doing so, he caused quite a ruckus. But even his prayer was an edited version of an earlier prayer. The original was written in 1995 by Bob Russell, who prayed it at the Kentucky Governor's Prayer Breakfast.
This particular e-mail has probably not caused any harm; however, I must implore all lovers of forwarded e-mail to please check the facts before passing along e-mails. I've received forwarded e-mails that are downright libelous in regards to political figures and businesses. I've received several e-mails over and over that give out false or outdated over-the-counter medicine information. Obviously, these emails could potentially cause ill repute to innocent parties or could possibly even be dangerous for someone's health. Don't let your joystick ... your little forwarding trigger finger ... be the cause.
Please, please, please don't be so naive as to believe and pass along everything that comes to your e-mail inbox. There is no excuse to pass along untruths. There are several sites online where one can check on the validity of e-mail claims.
