Are you familiar with the childhood game of “telephone,” where a message is whispered from one person to another until, ten or so people down the line, the message has been distorted beyond recognition? Here’s an amusing analysis of a simple news item about automobile paint that got hugely distorted as it was passed from blog to blog. In this case the real-life consequences of the distortion are pretty harmless, but it’s a good reminder that, despite the ease with which things can be quickly fact-checked online, it’s easy for rumors to take on a life of their own. When the subject is something more serious, like somebody’s theology or spiritual life, a little distortion could cause much more damage.