Chain emails

I don't want anyone to take this personally, but I don't send on "chain" emails. I didn't send on chain letters either in the old days. I was prompted to write about this because I received one from my sister-in-law, whom I love dearly, but she will not receive it back from me. And it wasn't that I disagreed with the sentiments expressed...they were right on....so this is my attempt to figure out why I will not respond to them.
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I don't pass them on primarily because they tell me I have to pass them on, and usually the number is specific and I must include the sender so she/he knows she/he is loved. Well, there's a problem right there. If I want someone to know I love them I am going to say it directly in my own words; I am going to tell them in person or on the phone.
I have always harbored the thought that a little bit of the rebel of my youth lives on and only gets to express herself in small ways...this is one of them.
And then there are those mass emails that present a political message or an attack on a whole catagory of people and those usually manage to offend me; I can't imagine giving them continued exposure.
Or the religious ones that do not express my thoughts, and besides I believe we are all free to believe whatever gets us thru the night.
Now I do admit that with the humorous ones I have been known t o pass on to some specific friends, because if it is genuinely funny (and even that is a matter of individual taste) we can all use more humor in our lives.
I think that is enought on that subject. And by the way, Patty, I love you and I agree, "Carpe Diem".