On John Howard, LPG Cylinders and Hoax Emails – Part 1

Once upon a time, in the early days of the Internet, surfers implicitly “trusted”  information they found on the web - particularly information that appeared genuine, seemed like it had been properly referenced and sounded credible. Through the 90s – as the internet grew and then exploded - good, credible information became harder to find…Google helped a bit, as did Wikipedia, to some extent. But these days you need to be careful of what you “read” (and do not “read”) on the web or in your email…

Almost all of you at some point or the other, must have received genuine-sounding email warnings/ chain emails/ requests for help for a suffering child in your inbox. Most of these are “urban legends”. A large part of credit for exposing these “legends” goes to Snopes.com. And yet, many amongst us continue to fall for such emails. In this series, I will examine some of the more “popular” urban legends…Pl. feel free to contribute, via the comments section below.

The first in the series: A speech falsely attributed to  John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia.

First some excerpts from emails that mention the falsely attributed “speech” and a “quote” from John Howard (some later versions have attributed this to Kevin Rudd):

*** Excerpts Begin ***

Subject: Canada & America Need A Leader Like This!
Prime Minister John Howard – Australia

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation’s mosques.

Quote:

‘IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.’

‘This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom’

‘We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!’

…’This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

…’If you aren’t happy here then LEAVE. We didn’t force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.’

Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American and Canadian citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths.

If you agree … please SEND THIS ON.

*** Excerpts End ***

Courtesy Hoax Slayer, here is the truth behind the quote and the email(s):

…although the message does contain elements of truth, it is in fact highly misleading and inaccurate.

The first part of the message suggests that Prime Minister Howard told Muslims who wished to live under Islamic Sharia law that they should get out of Australia. This is partly true in the sense that a high profile Australian political leader did make comments suggesting that Islamic extremists who desired to turn Australia into an Islamic state should leave and that Howard condoned such strongly worded rhetoric. However, it was in fact then Federal Treasurer Peter Costello who actually uttered the comments.

…The message also claims that John Howard had given government support to spy agencies monitoring the nation’s mosques. This element of the message is true. An August 2005 article in The Age notes:

Prime Minister John Howard said on top of trying to promote Australian values in Islamic schools, the government would monitor what was said in certain schools and mosques to ensure they did not foster terrorism.

Asked whether he was prepared to “get inside” mosques and schools to ensure there was no support for terrorism, Mr Howard was blunt.

“Yes, to the extent necessary,” Mr Howard told Southern Cross radio.

…The next part of the message transcribes what is claimed to be a speech delivered by John Howard detailing his views on immigration. The piece calls on immigrants to learn English, adapt to Australian values and lifestyle and pointedly reminds them that they always have the right to leave if they are unhappy in their adopted country.

However, the quoted words were not made by John Howard and were circulating in various forms years before he supposedly uttered them. In fact, the words were originally intended for an American audience and were part of a longer piece penned by Barry Loudermilk, a US Air Force veteran and columnist for a local newspaper in the American state of Georgia. Loudermilk wrote the article as a means of expressing his personal views on patriotism and immigration in post-9/11 America.

The article struck a chord with many readers in the US and elsewhere and it soon spread far and wide via email and other means. At some point, versions adapted to Australia, the UK, and elsewhere began circulating. Finally, the Australianized version of Loudermilk’s article was falsely attributed to John Howard and tacked on to the original…

…Taken out of context, and with the falsely attributed Loudermilk article thrown into the mix, this email may give the impression that Australia is intolerant of migrants, especially those of the Muslim faith. This is not the case. One of Australia’s great strengths is its rich cultural diversity and it welcomes migrants from all parts of the world and with many and varied systems of belief.

Sending on factually dubious information such as this is unlikely to be helpful and may even add to the cultural divisions and misunderstandings that plague our strife-torn world.

Now you know.

In Part II, I will examine the “danger” posed by LPG Cylinders…In the meantime, pl. feel free to contribute to the series, via the comments section below.

Bonus: Readers Digest profiles Snopes.com 

Somewhat related posts:

This is beyond funny… 

I don’t believe you…It is not on Google! 

Clearing the dust off Macaulay’s “famous quote” 

The importance of accurate referencing