Dear Aunt Ida,
I was appalled and somewhat embarrassed to open up my copy of the Religious Herald of Sept. 2 and see a private e-mail that you had sent to your nephew, Jimmy, plastered across page five of that publication as an editorial. I’m sure that you did not intend for your private correspondence to be published for all the world to see, but there it was, big as life.
I’m sure that you meant well, dear. Gossip and harsh words have no place inside or outside the church, but don’t you feel a bit guilty, railing against a group of people whose motives and intentions you do not know, just because they do not happen to agree with you?
While I have never contended that Mr. Obama is Muslim, seeing that as somewhat irrelevant to his policies, even you must admit that these people have at least as much evidence to support their belief, as you have to support yours that the President is Christian.
Later in your e-mail, you deplore people accepting as “fact” something just because someone says that it is true. And yet, the only evidence that you cite for Mr. Obama being a Christian, and for criticizing anyone who might differ with you is that, “He says that he is.” I agree with you that people can and do say anything, and we should examine what we hear and what we read with skepticism and independent judgment.
And your criticism of your husband’s family! Don’t you feel a bit like the pot calling the kettle black? One mark of a godly woman is that she seeks to maintain harmony and encourage healthy relationships in the family and the home.
In closing, my advice is, that you be very careful about what you write to your nephew, Jimmy, in the future, because as you can see, it just might wind up on the pages of the Religious Herald.
A Concerned Family Member (Gwendolyn White Yance)