A familiar aspect of many religions is the use of narratives such as parables and fables to teach and reinforce moral attitudes and religious principles in forms easy to assimilate and remember. Likewise, urban legends are narratives often used to spread and reaffirm societal mores and beliefs, and since much of our moral code is mirrored in religion, the world of parables and urban legendry frequently intersect.
All stories teach us something, and promise us something, whether they’re true or invented, legend or fact.
— Stewart O’Nan
26 June 2018 - A notorious fake news web site got the basic facts right about the crimes of Monsignor Carlo Alberto Capella but misrepresented the role of Pope Francis.
25 May 2018 - A "satirical" blog's Facebook page used an actual news outlet's photo to make a stinker of an Islamophobic "joke."
9 May 2018 - A notorious fake news web site wrenches the Pope's remarks out of context to create yet another sensationalist, misleading story.
8 May 2018 - A bogus story in a notorious fake news web site claimed without evidence that the country is now allowing open practice of Christianity.
12 April 2018 - News reports exaggerated the scope and significance of comments made by the pontiff.
19 March 2018 - A disreputable Facebook page engages in a time-honored ritual — the phony deathbed conversion of a prominent unbeliever.
14 March 2018 - The founder of a so-called "Church of Lucifer" launched in Quindío, Colombia in 2016 also claims to sell "pacts with the devil" for profit.
8 March 2018 - A fear-mongering article was based on misleading and cherry-picked data about the number of churches and mosques in London.
1 March 2018 - The ceremony was held by an offshoot of the notorious Unification Church.
15 February 2018 - Fake news web sites gave a blatantly manufactured account of a statement by Archbishop Denis Hart.
13 February 2018 - The story is essentially true, but has picked up some embellishment along the way.
1 February 2018 - The evangelical leader said in a 1981 profile that people in his position "can't be closely identified with any particular party or person."
