Ever played "telephone" as a child. The first person thinks up a short statement. He whispers it into the ear of the next person in line. Then that person whispers it into the ear of the next person, and so on until the statement has been relayed to the last person in the line. Then the last person announces to the group what he heard and it is compared to the original statement. It can be quite entertaining to see how the original statement gets distorted.
Guess what? Adults play the same game too! But this time it involves real people who might get hurt!
Congratulations! The Electronic Telegraph takes the cake. They are more interested in sensationalism rather than the facts. The following are the most glaring distortions. Of course, all of the articles contain a secular bias.
The Times |
The Electronic Telegraph |
|---|---|
| "vowing to die before they will surrender to police" | "vowing to shoot themselves rather than surrender." |
| "The local sheriff, Howard
'Slick' Alfred . . . keeping the compound under close watch," |
"The 16 people, including seven children, are surrounded by police" |
| "led by John Joe Gray, . . .a member
of the Oregon-based Embassy of Heaven Church," |
"John Joe Gray, 51, self-appointed leader
of the Embassy of Heaven Church," |
Embassy of Heaven Church
Paul Revere, Pastor
ISSUE 1925 Friday 1 September 2000
By Simon Davis
RELIGIOUS fanatics with a huge arsenal of weapons have barricaded themselves inside a compound, vowing to shoot themselves rather than surrender.
The 16 people, including seven children, are surrounded by police at the 47-acre site in Trinidad, Texas - 70 miles from the Waco siege site, where more than 80 people died. Their leader is John Joe Gray, 51, self-appointed leader of the Embassy of Heaven Church, a militant sect that rejects all forms of government control.
They have been barricaded in since spring after Gray failed to appear in court for assaulting a state trooper. Gray, a volatile man with a liking for guns, has warned that anyone trying to enter should "bring lots of body bags". There are sandbagged trenches and a sign outside says: "No trespassing - survivors will be prosecuted."
Telephones and electricity have been cut but the farm is self-sufficient and can survive indefinitely. Sheriff Howard Alfred has not tried to serve the arrest warrant. A deputy said: "We are going to try to resolve this peacefully. The last thing we want is for someone to get hurt."
The FBI is monitoring the case.