Social Conscience

I don't know the exact numbers, but I thought I could disseminate a message more effectively by posting it here than by sending it to everyone in my address book. So, pretend that this is a forwarded message you got in your email inbox from me. After you get over your disappointment that there is nothing personal or humorous in its content, take action, if you are so inclined.

I received a forwarded email from a friend today that contained the following:

Last Friday, the Oprah show covered a story of a Nigerian woman, Amina
Lawal, who has been sentenced to death by stoning because she had a baby
out of wedlock. She has tried to appeal the decision but has been unsuccessful,
thus far. The head of Nigeria disagrees with these stonings but has so far done
nothing-partly because of the fear of not being re-elected. I should also note that
the father of the baby denied fathering the child and, hence, has escaped any
form of punishment.

Amina Lawal's stoning will occur as soon as she is finished nursing her
child. She will be buried up to her neck in dirt and townsmen will throw
stones at her head until they kill her-which has been known to take hours.
I send out a plea to all the women receiving this e-mail and to all the men
raised by women to join me and many others to help prevent this horrific
and inhumane event from occurring. Visit the Oprah website:
www.oprah.com and you will see a pre-written letter addressed
to the Nigerian Ambassador. Just fill out your information on the bottom
of the page and send it. It's as simple as that.

I'm pretty sure this isn't a hoax or an email scam. There are no promises that Bill Gates will send you and everyone you know $5000 if you complete the task. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only reward in it is the possibility of a sense of personal do-gooder-style satisfaction. But, if this is a scam, I apologize for wasting your time and I assert that someone on the Oprah show should be stoned. But I don't think this is a scam, so I hope you did what you could. And I encourage you to support Amnesty International.