Social media is replete with religious posts, holypictures, images, quotes and prayers. Prayers are always good, more so duringthis pandemic. What is not good is resorting to subterfuge to trick people intopraying. A recent post of a bishop and two priests of Bombay Archdiocese beingCovid positive is a case in point. The post requested 'urgent prayers' for thebishop who was 'fighting for his life' in Holy Family Hospital. While prayersfor the bishop and two priests were most welcome, the facts were deliberatelymisrepresented to get the maximum number of people to flood the heavens withprayers. Even God would not approve of such chicanery to coerce people intopraying. While people who forwarded the post did so in good faith, the authorof the post deserves condemnation, for it was a conscious effort to fool thepeople. As a general rule people should be wary of forwarding posts blindly.Remember, you are not participating in a game of fastest finger first. One dayyou may burn your fingers. So next time you receive a forward, give it a fewhours. No one will remember you for a forward, but you will always beremembered if you goof up on one.
