Asking the clergy about chain letters

What do you do with emailed chain letter prayers?

Everything has gone high-tech, even the chain letter. They show up in your inbox asking you to pray for someone and encouraging you to ask others to do so. Or, they remind you of the blessings in life and tell you to also remind others. And, woe be unto you for not forwarding it to 10 people. And, like a command from an ever watchful eye, you must send it back to the person who sent it to you.

But, what happens if we falter just a little? Is there a cosmic prayer bank that keeps track of our accounts? The obvious recipients of such missives, clergy, have a definite thoughts about getting -- and sending -- email chain prayers.

Father Roy Tvrdik, SMM, director, Shrine of Our Lady of the Island, Manorville:

I get a lot of them. I read them all. I say the prayers, but I don't pass them on. I don't mind getting them. I do object to the ones that say bad things will happen if you don't pass it on. I find those kind of manipulative.

People become concerned about not passing them on, wondering whether something bad will happen to them. These things start to become a circle. You have to forward it and also send it back to the person who sent it to you.

There's nothing wrong with not passing it on. The prayer shouldn't put an obligation on the person you're sending it to.

There is power in prayer. God can hear the single prayer as well as the prayer of many. That's why I pray each that is sent to me. More people praying is never a bad thing. But I do want people to know they're not going to hell for not answering or forwarding an email chain prayer.

Rajinderjit Kaur, Singh representative of Mata Sahib Kaur Temple (Gurdwara) in the North Shore Clergy Association and president of East West Association of Sikh Women for World Peace, Glen Cove:

I never send them on as requested. I do read them when sent to me. If it is a really beautiful prayer, I may send it on to someone else, but not 10 people.

If you are emailed a prayer and like that prayer, then send it to a friend. But, don't keep sending those prayers that put fear in the mind of someone else.

I don't think there is anything wrong with emailing a prayer. What I don't like is the superstition of what will happen if you do or don't do something the email or prayer requests. Most of the prayers are good for all of us, but not the ones that come with the note about sending to 10 people in 10 minutes. There should be no conditions.

Any prayer that creates negative feelings in people's minds is not a good thing. I have a brother who just deletes them right away without reading them. He doesn't want the stress of the fear that will come if he doesn't do something the email requires.

And, why do I have to send it back to you? You already have a copy!

Lydia Vazquez, interfaith minister and owner of Mystic Dreams, a metaphysical and alternative medicine and herbal shop, Sayville:

I've never received one, but I do think prayer in any form helps. Energy can go through anything. It doesn't matter if the person is in front of you or on a computer. The energy is the same.

I personally find printed chain letters very annoying. But, you shouldn't let anything about them aggravate you. I'd find the requirement to pass them on annoying and wouldn't do it. But, I say to you if you want to forward them on, do so.

I think if you pass them on out of fear of what will happen if you don't do it, you should ask yourself why. Why can someone push your buttons so easily? What do you fear?

Rabbi Theodore Tsuruoka, Temple Isaiah, Great Neck:

I'm not particularly supportive of the concept of chain prayer. A prayer has to have kavannah, intention. Therefore, to shoot out a prayer without carrying along with it intention is less authentic, less personal.

Yes, I do get them. I read them and ignore them. These email chain prayers lack the integrity of a purpose. In effect, these prayers transfer the responsibility to the receiver, sort of "tag, you're it." Prayer should originate from the heart. It needs to be connected to the person to whom the prayer is directed.