I think the fact that the "story" is so incredibly shmaltzy is the first red flag anyone should see. Inspiration junk like that has been around the 'net for years -- long before 9/11.
jespah wrote:I think the fact that the "story" is so incredibly shmaltzy is the first red flag anyone should see. Inspiration junk like that has been around the 'net for years -- long before 9/11.
Is there a purpose to this post?
The fact that junk has been rampant on the net is true. Does that mean that all "inspirational" stories are "junk"? Untrue? Impossible?
ONE OF THE STORIES OF 911
A man from Norfolk, VA called a local radio station to share this on Sept 11th, 2003. His Name was Robert Matthews. These are his words:
"A few weeks before Sept. 11th, my wife and I found out we were going to have our first child. She planned a trip out to California to visit her sister. On our way to the airport, we prayed that God would grant my wife a safe trip and be with her.
Shortly after I said 'amen,' we both heard a loud pop and the car shook violently. We had blown out a tire. I replaced the tire as quickly as I could, but we still missed her flight. Both very upset, we drove home.
I received a call from my father who was retired NYFD. He asked what my wife's flight number was, but I explained that we missed the flight. My father informed me that her flight was the one that crashed into the southern tower. I was too shocked to speak. My father also had more news for me; he was going to help. 'This is not something I can just sit by or; I have to do something.'
I was concerned for his safety, of course, but more because he had never given his life to Christ. After a brief debate, I knew his mind was made up. Before he got off of the phone, he said, 'take good care of my grandchild.' Those were the last words I ever heard my father say; he died while helping in the rescue effort.
My joy that my prayer of safety for my wife had been answered quickly became anger. I was angry at God, at my father, and at myself. I had gone for nearly two years blaming God for taking my father away. My son would never know his grandfather, my father had never accepted Christ, and I never got to say goodbye.
Then something happened. About two months ago, I was sitting at home the door. I looked at my wife, but I could tell she wasn't expecting anyone. I opened the door to a couple with a small child. The man looked at me and asked if my father's name was Jake Matthews. I told him it was. He quickly grabbed my hand and said, 'I never got the chance to meet your father, but it is an honor to meet his son.'
He explained to me that his wife had worked in the World Trade Center and had been caught inside after the attack. She was pregnant and had been caught under debris. He then explained that my father had been the one to find his wife and free her.
My eyes welled up with tears as I thought of my father giving his life for people like this. He then said, 'there is something else you need to know.'
His wife then told me that as my father worked to free her, she talked to him and lead him to Christ.
I began sobbing at the news. Now I know that when I get to heaven, my father will be standing beside Jesus to welcome me, and that this family would be able to thank him themselves.
When their baby boy was born, they named him Jacob Matthew in honor of the man who gave his life so that mother and baby could live."
This story should help us to realize two things: First - that though it has been several years since the attacks, we should never let it become a mere tragic memory. And second - but most important - God is always in control.
We may not see the reason behind things, and we may never know this side of heaven, but God is ALWAYS in control.
Please take time to share this amazing story with those you love and care for.
You may never know the impact it may have on someone ...... God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
1) It's vague. The couple are never identified. The firefighter's death is not detailed. 9/11 is an extremely well-documented event at this point in time. While there may be a few people who died in the towers who are still unknown (undocumented workers or perhaps a person who was in the area -- after all, there was a subway station with shops and the like, plus a restaurant at the top of one of the towers and an observation deck), airlines have very good records of who was supposed to be on which flight, and the NYPD and NYFD have very good records of who was supposed to show up for work on 9/12 and who didn't. The NYFD also has decent information on how its employees died. This story can be checked. Does it stand up to scrutiny?
2) It's loaded with religious stuff and clearly seems to be intended to promote a religious message. I'm not attacking that, don't misunderstand me. I am, though, pointing out that the story is being told because there's an agenda behind it.
3) The whole point of "send this along to everyone you know" and the like is, in many cases, intended to do nothing more than tie up mail systems. If 1 person sends this to 10 people, and they send it to 10 more, etc., it hits 1 million emails in 6 iterations (10 to the 6th power). This can easily be done in 1 hour (5 minutes per email, which is more than ample time to crank out an email). That may not be the specific point with this particular item, but it does happen and it causes headaches for system administrators -- and not so nice people try to bring down companies by exploiting such things. Also, these can be used as email harvesters, because someone, inevitably, sends using the To: field and not the BCC: field. This is one of the ways that spam flies around the Internet so quickly and thoroughly.
4) The story is larded with all sorts of sympathetic elements. The wife that narrowly escapes death, the pregnant survivor, the "take care of my grandchild" sentiment, etc. I am not saying that such things do not exist, but the confluence of all of them in the same story, plus the religious elements, again smacks of a particular sympathy-getting agenda. By the way, if you ever want to read a bunch of these types of stories, take a gander at the 10 or so oldest pages of topics in the Human Interest Stories forum on this site.
5) Another one of the hallmarks of these kinds of Internet stories is that they often glom onto well-known events or names in order to lend an air of credibility and/or authority. E. g. the "Robin Williams guide to handling Iraq", etc., that sort of thing. Here, the authority/credibility piece is the alleged connection to 9/11. This is because 9/11 has some natural vagueness attached to it, due to the very nature of the tragedy. Like I said in point #1, there may still be some unknown victims. But the chances of those people being NYFD is miniscule/nonexistent.
6) Finally, if you don't like snopes for debunking, that's fine. Just type this search into Google: robert matthews jake matthews pregnant You come up with over 89,000 hits, many of which turn out to be either religious groups coopting the story or sites (urbanlegends.com, breakthechain.org, truthorfiction.com, etc.) that set about debunking it. This should tell you that (a) it has slid all over the 'net, probably due to the admonition to tell all of your loved ones, and (B) that more than one set of people has looked at it with a critical eye.
If you want to talk about it as inspirational, metaphorical, or perhaps a parable, go ahead. But when you try to speak about it as fact, don't be surprised when people look at it with skepticism and try to figure out whether it's true -- and furthermore, don't be hurt if they disprove it with readily available information, or if they insist that you hold the burden of proving it is real, because you are advocating its alleged veracity. Not everyone shares your world view (not everyone shares mine, for that matter). This is not a bad thing.
baddog1 wrote:jespah wrote:I think the fact that the "story" is so incredibly shmaltzy is the first red flag anyone should see. Inspiration junk like that has been around the 'net for years -- long before 9/11.
Is there a purpose to this post?
The fact that junk has been rampant on the net is true. Does that mean that all "inspirational" stories are "junk"? Untrue? Impossible?
Here is the purpose, since you asked. It is to suggest that you -- and everyone else -- engage in critical thinking. Forget snopes. Just consider the post, which I have repeated here:
Quote:ONE OF THE STORIES OF 911
A man from Norfolk, VA called a local radio station to share this on Sept 11th, 2003. His Name was Robert Matthews. These are his words:
"A few weeks before Sept. 11th, my wife and I found out we were going to have our first child. She planned a trip out to California to visit her sister. On our way to the airport, we prayed that God would grant my wife a safe trip and be with her.
Shortly after I said 'amen,' we both heard a loud pop and the car shook violently. We had blown out a tire. I replaced the tire as quickly as I could, but we still missed her flight. Both very upset, we drove home.
I received a call from my father who was retired NYFD. He asked what my wife's flight number was, but I explained that we missed the flight. My father informed me that her flight was the one that crashed into the southern tower. I was too shocked to speak. My father also had more news for me; he was going to help. 'This is not something I can just sit by or; I have to do something.'
I was concerned for his safety, of course, but more because he had never given his life to Christ. After a brief debate, I knew his mind was made up. Before he got off of the phone, he said, 'take good care of my grandchild.' Those were the last words I ever heard my father say; he died while helping in the rescue effort.
My joy that my prayer of safety for my wife had been answered quickly became anger. I was angry at God, at my father, and at myself. I had gone for nearly two years blaming God for taking my father away. My son would never know his grandfather, my father had never accepted Christ, and I never got to say goodbye.
Then something happened. About two months ago, I was sitting at home the door. I looked at my wife, but I could tell she wasn't expecting anyone. I opened the door to a couple with a small child. The man looked at me and asked if my father's name was Jake Matthews. I told him it was. He quickly grabbed my hand and said, 'I never got the chance to meet your father, but it is an honor to meet his son.'
He explained to me that his wife had worked in the World Trade Center and had been caught inside after the attack. She was pregnant and had been caught under debris. He then explained that my father had been the one to find his wife and free her.
My eyes welled up with tears as I thought of my father giving his life for people like this. He then said, 'there is something else you need to know.'
His wife then told me that as my father worked to free her, she talked to him and lead him to Christ.
I began sobbing at the news. Now I know that when I get to heaven, my father will be standing beside Jesus to welcome me, and that this family would be able to thank him themselves.
When their baby boy was born, they named him Jacob Matthew in honor of the man who gave his life so that mother and baby could live."
This story should help us to realize two things: First - that though it has been several years since the attacks, we should never let it become a mere tragic memory. And second - but most important - God is always in control.
We may not see the reason behind things, and we may never know this side of heaven, but God is ALWAYS in control.
Please take time to share this amazing story with those you love and care for.
You may never know the impact it may have on someone ...... God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
1) It's vague. The couple are never identified. The firefighter's death is not detailed. 9/11 is an extremely well-documented event at this point in time. While there may be a few people who died in the towers who are still unknown (undocumented workers or perhaps a person who was in the area -- after all, there was a subway station with shops and the like, plus a restaurant at the top of one of the towers and an observation deck), airlines have very good records of who was supposed to be on which flight, and the NYPD and NYFD have very good records of who was supposed to show up for work on 9/12 and who didn't. The NYFD also has decent information on how its employees died. This story can be checked. Does it stand up to scrutiny?
2) It's loaded with religious stuff and clearly seems to be intended to promote a religious message. I'm not attacking that, don't misunderstand me. I am, though, pointing out that the story is being told because there's an agenda behind it.
3) The whole point of "send this along to everyone you know" and the like is, in many cases, intended to do nothing more than tie up mail systems. If 1 person sends this to 10 people, and they send it to 10 more, etc., it hits 1 million emails in 6 iterations (10 to the 6th power). This can easily be done in 1 hour (5 minutes per email, which is more than ample time to crank out an email). That may not be the specific point with this particular item, but it does happen and it causes headaches for system administrators -- and not so nice people try to bring down companies by exploiting such things. Also, these can be used as email harvesters, because someone, inevitably, sends using the To: field and not the BCC: field. This is one of the ways that spam flies around the Internet so quickly and thoroughly.
4) The story is larded with all sorts of sympathetic elements. The wife that narrowly escapes death, the pregnant survivor, the "take care of my grandchild" sentiment, etc. I am not saying that such things do not exist, but the confluence of all of them in the same story, plus the religious elements, again smacks of a particular sympathy-getting agenda. By the way, if you ever want to read a bunch of these types of stories, take a gander at the 10 or so oldest pages of topics in the Human Interest Stories forum on this site.
5) Another one of the hallmarks of these kinds of Internet stories is that they often glom onto well-known events or names in order to lend an air of credibility and/or authority. E. g. the "Robin Williams guide to handling Iraq", etc., that sort of thing. Here, the authority/credibility piece is the alleged connection to 9/11. This is because 9/11 has some natural vagueness attached to it, due to the very nature of the tragedy. Like I said in point #1, there may still be some unknown victims. But the chances of those people being NYFD is miniscule/nonexistent.
6) Finally, if you don't like snopes for debunking, that's fine. Just type this search into Google: robert matthews jake matthews pregnant You come up with over 89,000 hits, many of which turn out to be either religious groups coopting the story or sites (urbanlegends.com, breakthechain.org, truthorfiction.com, etc.) that set about debunking it. This should tell you that (a) it has slid all over the 'net, probably due to the admonition to tell all of your loved ones, and (B) that more than one set of people has looked at it with a critical eye.
If you want to talk about it as inspirational, metaphorical, or perhaps a parable, go ahead. But when you try to speak about it as fact, don't be surprised when people look at it with skepticism and try to figure out whether it's true -- and furthermore, don't be hurt if they disprove it with readily available information, or if they insist that you hold the burden of proving it is real, because you are advocating its alleged veracity. Not everyone shares your world view (not everyone shares mine, for that matter). This is not a bad thing.
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