# My mom, I love her but she needs to stop sending me this crap **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870 "2009-11-25T03:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/1 "2009-11-25T03:28:29Z")
My mom sent me this email. She likes to forward all this kind of crap to everyone in her address book. This one she forwarded to a select few, me included. I have no idea why she thinks I would care. It just makes me mad, people continuing to make generalizations. It makes me want to actually bother to send out Christmas cards and to use other religions’ holiday stamps just to screw with people. Do I send her a reply explaining that fundamentalist extremist Christians are evil, too, but that doesn’t mean all Christians are evil? She’s a smart woman, but as she gets older she seems to fall for this kind of crap. She just retired in July, and I swear she’s going soft already! BTW, I already [Snoped](http://www.snopes.com/politics/stamps/eidstamp.asp) it and found it’s not a new email, but it’s new to my mom and me, apparently, so I included the edited version that was actually in the email here, since they seem to have gone wimpy and softened it a bit from the quotes in the Snopes article: > [@](#): > > \> USPS New 44-Cent Stamp!!! Celebrates Muslim holiday. > If there is only ONE thing you forward today… let it be this! > REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of Pan Am Flight 103! > \> > REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993! > \> > REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon ! > \> > REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military Barracks in Saudi Arabia ! > \> > REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa ! > \> > REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE! > \> > REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001 ! > \> > REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks! > \> > Now President Obama has directed the United States Postal Service to REMEMBER and HONOR the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a new commemorative 44 Cent First Class Holiday Postage Stamp.. > \> > REMEMBER to adamantly & vocally BOYCOTT this stamp, when you are purchasing your stamps at the post office. > \> > All you have to say is “No thank you, I do not want that Muslim Stamp on my letters!” > \> > \> To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors. > \> > REMEMBER ~ > pass this along to every Patriotic AMERICAN that you know and lets get the word out !!! > \> ---
**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/2 "2009-11-25T04:01:48Z")
You owe her a Snopes link, at the very least. This sort of crap will never go away, but don’t be complicit in its spread. Tell Mom to do some reading before sending the next one. If you’re lucky, she’ll thank you for helping her not look like a bigoted moron in front of all her friends. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/3 "2009-11-25T06:24:44Z")
If you’re feeling very naughty, you could agree with her vociferously, and then start forwarding her white power messages, increasing in crazitude with each one. Tell her that you want to wear your Nazi garb at the next family function. \* - not really recommended. Intended in jest only. Do not try this at home. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/4 "2009-11-25T07:23:09Z")
My parents were going off tonight about some sort of weird “Islamic text” in a Best Buy ad. They had thrown the ad away, so I couldn’t see it. Turns out that it was just a little bit of text, in English, that said “Happy Eid Al-Adha”. Since my parents couldn’t pronounce “Eid” I didn’t know what they were talking about until I went home and saw the ad myself. Anyway, I went home and sent them an email about this “horrifying” ad: > [@me](#): > > Holy cow guys…the Best Buy says “Happy Eid” … I didn’t realize that’s what it was. It’s pronounced “eed”. Eid is like the Muslim Thanksgiving, and it’s on Nov 27 this year (Friday, so the ad is timely). > > It’s their holiday of sacrifice. Not as in sacrificing infidels to Allah. As in remembering Abraham sacrificing his son in obedience to God. > > Here’s what happens on Eid: > "Men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothing to perform Eid prayer ( al tu l-` di) in a large congregation in an open area or mosque. Muslims who can afford to do so sacrifice their best domestic animals (usually sheep, but also camels, cows and goats) as a symbol of Ibrahim’s sacrifice. The sacrificed animals, called u iyyah (Arabic: , also known as “al-qurb ni”), have to meet certain age and quality standards or else the animal is considered an unacceptable sacrifice. Generally, these must be at least a year old. > > The regular charitable practices of the Muslim community are demonstrated during Eid al-Adha by the concerted effort to see that no impoverished person is left without sacrificial food during these days. > > Distributing meat among people is considered an essential part of the festival during this period, as well as chanting Takbir out loud before the Eid prayer on the first day and after prayers through out the four days of Eid. (See Takbir in “Traditions and practices” of Eid el-Fitr.) In some countries families that do not own livestock can make a contribution to a charity that will provide meat to those who are in need." > > Seriously, does that sound so scary?!?! MUSLIMS ARE NOT SCARY. On Eid they give away a lot of food to poor people, and get together for a huge meal that includes meat (representing a sacrificed animal). Sound familiar? Same as Thanksgiving, except they go to church. > > Hope this was informative. I’m getting really tired of everyone being so anti-Muslim. Anti-terrorist is fine, but just because something has to do with Islam doesn’t mean it has to do with terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/5 "2009-11-25T07:39:02Z")
Riiight, because not buying STAMPS is going to tell the government how much we hate the [del]brown people[/del] MUSLIMS :rolleyes: If you REALLY wanted to be evil, you could do a “Reply to All” with something similar. Here, I’ll start: > [@](#): > > \> USPS New 44-Cent Stamp!!! Celebrates Christian holiday. > If there is only ONE thing you forward today… let it be this! > REMEMBER the CHRISTIAN bombing of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics ! > \> > REMEMBER the CHRISTIAN bombing of multiple Planned Parenthood clinics ! > \> > REMEMBER the KKK CHRISTIAN acts of arson, beatings, cross burning, destruction of property, lynching, murder, rape, tar-and-feathering, whipping and other TERRORISM against African Americans, Jews, and Catholics ! Not that I believe any of that tripe, because God likes spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/6 "2009-11-25T08:06:02Z")
You could do what my Aunt does when my Grandma forwards this kind of thing. She replies not only to my Grandmother but to the original forwarder, usually a distant relative, with extensive citations, and basically argues obnoxiously until the other person shuts up and never forwards anything ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/7 "2009-11-25T08:30:22Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > You could do what my Aunt does when my Grandma forwards this kind of thing. She replies not only to my Grandmother but to the original forwarder, usually a distant relative, with extensive citations, and basically argues obnoxiously until the other person shuts up and never forwards anything ever again. Your Aunt sounds nice. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/8 "2009-11-25T12:02:07Z")
If she is single, set her up with a Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/9 "2009-11-25T13:12:26Z")
> [@Discipline](#): > > You owe her a Snopes link, at the very least. This sort of crap will never go away, but don’t be complicit in its spread. > > Tell Mom to do some reading before sending the next one. If you’re lucky, she’ll thank you for helping her not look like a bigoted moron in front of all her friends. This is usually what I do, but she still slips up occassionally later. (And I have the nagging suspicion that I don’t get all her forwards (possibly becauseof the original “get thee to a Snopes” missive from me) and she still sends them out with regularity to everyone else.) Personally, I’d accompany the Snopes link with a reminder of how Christians should act (“with love towards everyone”). **EvilTOJ** , I like your “God likes spiritual fruit, not religious nuts” quote, mind if I steal it? 😉 The OP could probably throw that in to his/her mother as well. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/10 "2009-11-25T14:36:18Z")
My in-laws forward this kind of stuff almost weekly. A lot of it is at least a little offensive, some of it is downright evil, to the point that we now just delete any emails from them with anything other than text inside. They are nice people (really!). Basically they are just forwarding whatever is sent to them from their religious leaders, like a chain letter. A lot of the "letters’ have statements about not breaking the chain or some sort of crap about how Obama wants to stop them from speaking out so we have to forward this to all our friends. I think of these emails as Chick tracts. Somebody told my in-laws to send this stuff, otherwise the terrorist win, and they are used to doing what they are told. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/11 "2009-11-25T14:39:39Z")
**dhkendall** , go right ahead! I’m not religious myself, but my dad is a deacon at his church and he tells the more, ah, passionate church goers that expression when they get a tad riled up. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/12 "2009-11-25T14:45:14Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Basically they are just forwarding whatever is sent to them from their religious leaders, like a chain letter. **SeaDragonTattoo** , have you thought about asking your mother about this directly? “Thanks for that, mom. Is this how you really feel, or are you just forwarding e-mails without reading them first?” Or some less confrontational version of that. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/13 "2009-11-25T14:48:00Z")
Ignore it. One thing in life is to pick your time and place. This isn’t worth it at all. Just hit delete and move on ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/14 "2009-11-25T15:05:13Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > … > Not that I believe any of that tripe, because God likes spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. I have to use that sometime. I love that line. It’s so precise, insightful and funny all at the same time. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/15 "2009-11-25T15:31:17Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > My parents were going off tonight about some sort of weird “Islamic text” in a Best Buy ad. They had thrown the ad away, so I couldn’t see it. Back when I was a teacher in Bulgaria, about a quarter of my students were ethnically Turkish, and Muslim. The day after Eid (which is Baihram in Turkish) they would come to school to share leftover baklava. Anything that results in my consumption of baklava is awesome. I love Eid. I also love those stamps. They are beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/16 "2009-11-25T16:31:42Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Your Aunt sounds nice. She likes to win arguments. I’m sure nobody here could ever relate. Personally I just hit ‘‘delete.’’ People with irrational beliefs don’t usually respond well to reason. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/17 "2009-11-25T17:10:29Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > You could do what my Aunt does when my Grandma forwards this kind of thing. She replies not only to my Grandmother but to the original forwarder, usually a distant relative, with extensive citations, and basically argues obnoxiously until the other person shuts up and never forwards anything ever again. [QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] She likes to win arguments. I’m sure nobody here could ever relate. [/QUOTE] I was just about to ask what her Doper name is. And if she doesn’t have one, why haven’t you fixed that yet? She belongs here. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/18 "2009-11-25T17:10:34Z")
Send your mother a nice card. Use that stamp. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/19 "2009-11-25T17:34:52Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > They are nice people (really!). No, they aren’t. Really. Honestly, I’ll never understand why anyone responds to these sorts of emails from “friends” and family with anything other than “Do not send me this shit. If you send me shit like this again, we are done, and I don’t know you any more. Have a nice day!” It’s worked for me. The very few people who sent me shit like that again are people I don’t need to know. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870/20 "2009-11-25T21:49:52Z")
I didn’t know all that about Eid - I just may forward that info to Mom as well, but only if it escalates at this point. I did send her a second email with the Snopes link. this is the third time I’ve had to direct her toward Snopes, part of it is that she’s adamant she won’t become “internet savvy” and I’m determined to make her at least only partially impaired! The company she retired from gave her a super-duper-fancy laptop that she seems to be using more than I think she expected. Now that the only email she has to deal with is personal, I think she’s figuring out how fun the internet can be. If only I can figure out how to convince her that she doesn’t need Endora for her email, and that she doesn’t have to keep trying to sync everything between the laptop and the PC in the house… sigh [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-i-love-her-but-she-needs-to-stop-sending-me-this-crap/518870.md?page=2)