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CBS is not cancelling Touched by an Angel, or if they are it is not because of the use of the word "God". This is a false and malicious urban legend in much the same way the lie about the FCC censoring all religious broadcasting from radio is. Please stop spreading false information such as this. More information can be found here. You discredit your cause by passing on such misinformation.

Oh for heaven's sake! I DID NOT pass on a rumor. If you will go back and READ what I posted, you will see that all I said was that I got the email today. I did not say it was fact, I did not say anything about it at all - just that I got the email today. PERIOD!

And, for your information, I emailed the person that sent it to me and asked where they got the information and if it was something new the athiests are attempting to do or if it is the same old stuff the athiests have been up to for years.

So, get off your high horse and READ what is written before you start blasting away. In other words, ENGAGE BRAIN before engaging mouth and fingers!

By posting it you have spread it. You provided no qualifiers with the message, you simply printed exactly what you received without comment as to any research you might have done as to the validity of the claim. You did not make any statements asking if the claims within the message were accurate. Your only comment, "If this is a new attack I think the athiests are in for a surprise in light of Sept. 11.", does not imply any sense of incredulity regarding the information that you received.

I reponded as I did because I detest slanderous and/or defaming urban legends that are easily revealed as myth but proliferate because so many are willing to knee-jerk and so willing to accept stories that reinforce the myths and stereotypes they hold and because so few will ever bother themselves to insure that the information they pass on is accurate. Those who spread urban legends under the caveat "I don't know if this is true but I thought you should hear this!" are even more irresponsible -- not knowing if the words they pass on are true they share them anyway for others to read and accept.

The origin of this discussion is the nature of the word "God" and why a few people are hell-bent on having it removed from everyday usage (well, that seems to be the extremist view of things, I personally believe that the motives and desired results are far less sinister). You jumped into the discussion and provided a story of yet another attack (by the "atheists", apparently) against the mention of God in the public arena as related to you in an e-mail, as though to further expose just how much the "anti-God" forces wish to destroy. Unfortunately the described "attack" is fiction, no such effort is underway to remove the word "God" from network television, broadcast radio or some random bloke shouting on a street corner. Two results can come of this: either people believe the false accusaions and line up to destroy this new oppresive group (which may not have even been a "group" until lumped together by their opponents) for things that never happened or the tales are proven false and those spreading them lose credibility -- after all, if they are willing to make up one story to discredit their opponenets, why not many more?

I try to avoid emotion on discussion forums whenever possible, however urban legends -- specifically defamatory ones -- are a sore spot. I attack and expose them wherever I see them because the greatest threat in this country, in my opinion, is ignorance.