ABC's response to Ted Neugent no hoax

On April 5, 1999, Ted Neugent wrote to ABC to protest their portrayal of homosexual issues on their program called "The Practice." What he objected to was, in his words, that ABC "picked the 'dufus' of the office" to cast in the role of the one who had problems with his mother being a lesbian, making him look like a "whiner" and thus presumably casting aspersion on anyone with anti-homosexual convictions.

The next day (April 6th), the ABC Online Webmaster replied:

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.

Subsequenly, Neugent's correspondence was forwarded to countless others until it acquired the reputation of some sort of hoax. However, it was no hoax. On April 12, 1999, Jim Neugent, a member of Dallas Avenue Baptist Church in Mena, Arkansas, received an apology from ABC for the e-mail remarks by an ABC employee. According to Neugent, the employee has been terminated. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published these e-mails on Monday April 26 and an editoral about them on April 27, 1999. Jim Neugent has since been interviewed by American Family Radio, a radio station in Pensacola, Florida, and Dr. James Dobson Organization. Jim Neugent can be contacted by e-mail at ubjim@arkansas.net. (Source)