Snopes
Handmade cards originally uploaded by plakboekLast Christmas I received a viral e-mail message from my mother-in-law with the usual coda of a veiled threat if I did not pass it along to my friends.
The message contained a story by Ben Stein, a notable author with a Jewish background, about how we should observe Christmas. I was curious about the truth of his words and looked up the details on Snopes, an excellent reference site for checking out urban myths and other stories that bounce about the net.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/benstein2.asp
To my pleasant surprise, the portion of the article penned by Ben was true. Sadly, somebody had doctored the end of Ben's message with their own glib addition that warned readers about the suicide of the son of the notable psychologist Dr Spock. Both of his children are alive and well and it is sad to think that anybody would consider misquoting a family tragedy in this way to make a cheap point about how to raise a child and the place for God in our schools.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/doctor/drspock.asp
For what it is worth, I sent the details back with the corrections to forward onto her friends.