ABC-insulting letter to TV viewer-Truth!

Christian Receives Insulting Response to an Email Complaint to ABC Television-Truth!

Summary of the eRumor
An Arkansas man says he sent an email to ABC complaining about the homosexual content of an episode of the television program "The Practice." In his email, he quoted the Bible. He says he received a response from ABC that was insulting to his faith and, among other things, said, "Try thinking for yourself and stop using an archaic book of stories as your crutch for your existence."

The Truth
This exchange did occur, but ABC quickly apologized and said the comments were those of a particular person and did not reflect the views of the network.

The Arkansas man who initiated the email exchange is Jim Neugent from the city of Mena. The example of the story below is pretty accurate as to what he says he wrote and the response he received. Additionally, however, he received an official letter from ABC stating that the offending email response had come from one of their "exfreelancers" who worked for the website.

Mr. Neugent had directed his complaint to the webmaster and the reply came from the webmaster staff. In their letter, ABC said the insulting email was the act of an individual employee and "...not in any way reflect the views of ABC Television."

Last updated 11/15/00

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

I wrote to ABC concerning a program called "THE PRACTICE."

One of the lawyer's mothers decided she was gay and wanted her son to go to court to help her get a marriage license to marry her 'partner.' I sent the following letter to ABC yesterday and really did not expect a reply ... but I did get one.

My original message was:

ABC is obsessed (or should I say abscessed) with the subject of homosexuality. I will no longer watch any of your attempts to convince the world that homosexuality is OK. THE PRACTICE can be a fairly good show but last night's program was so typical of your agenda. picked the 'dufus' of the office to be the one who was against the idea of his mother being gay and made him look like a whiner because he had convictions. This type of mentality calls people like me a "gay basher". Read the first chapter of Romans (that's in the Bible) and see what the apostle Paul had to say about it... He and God and Jesus were all 'gay bashers.' What if she'd fallen in love with her cocker spaniel ... is that an alternative lifestyle? (By the way, the Bible speaks against that, too.)

Jim Neugent

Here is ABC's reply from the ABC online Webmaster:

How about getting your nose out of the Bible (which is ONLY a book of stories compiled by MANY different writers hundreds of years ago) and read the Declaration of Independence (what our nation is built on) where it says "All Men are Created Equal" -- and try treating them that way for a change!? Or better yet, try thinking for yourself and stop using an archaic book of stories as your crutch for your existence.

Mr. Neugent responded to ABC:

Thanks for your reply. Evidently, I hit a nerve from your harsh reply. I will share it with all with whom I come in contact. Hopefully, the Arkansas Democrat Newspaper will include it in one of their columns. And... I will be praying for you. . Jim Neugent Mena, Arkansas Please resend this to everyone in your mailbox.

Thanks, Jim