This forward was a beautiful, thoughtful sentiment. However, the facts that it listed were not accurate, as is the problem the over 95% of “Forwards”.
1) Yes, there WAS a tribute of crosses set up every Sunday morning and removed every Sunday evening for the soldiers of IRAQ (not Afghanistan). It started in 2003 with approx. 400 crosses and by December of 2006 there were 2,997 crosses. At that point they said they would add no more crosses as the logistics were beyond them. They were going to continue setting up and taking down every Sunday until the IRAQ (not Afghanistan) War ended. However, I can find no references to it after December 2006.
2) As to the ACLU demanding no crosses ~ that is a FALSE statement.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/cemetery.asp
3) As to the ACLU demanding no prayers ~ that is also a FALSE statement.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/marines.asp
I always find it sad when there is something good, such as the Beach Memorial, and people take advantage of it to spread hate and anger.
The pictures and accurate information on the Beach Memorial are a very powerful and moving testimony. The “Forward” claims that its purpose is to have people take a moment to remember to pray. That is a truly beautiful sentiment and one I have done.
However, that is not the true sentiment of the person that started the original “Forward”. Their purpose was to spread hate and anger. This “Forward’s” specific target is the ACLU. Everyone that received this “Forward” read the misinformation and did react towards the ACLU. The majority of people reacted with anger, “how dare they” and felt the need to act, “we must spread the word of their evil deeds by passing this information on”. The sad part is that most people that did receive this did not bother to look for the truth but instead simply hit “Forward”. By simply passing it on, you have helped the anger and hate to spread…even if under the guise of “pray for the soldiers”.
I will pass on the information about the Santa Barbara Cross Memorial by sharing it on the “Union of Americans” Blog because I believe that theMemorial conveys a beautiful sentiment and is worthy of acknowledgement.
But I will not pass on the “Forward” as you sent it to me because I am NOT “Honored to Forward” hate and misinformation. My prayer is that people would learn to check the facts before they just hit “Forward”. ~ Editor
Conclusion:
The “Union of Americans” Advisory Board has decided against printing the complete Email that was received. They feel that by doing so they will actually be helping to spread the anger and hate as opposed to stopping it.
To read more about the Beach Memorial simply click on:
Santa Barbara War Memorial
Week Beginning November 28, 2010
