Why news on April Fool's Day may confuse
April Fool's Day puts news consumers on high alert for hoax news stories, with the result of making actual stories appear false.
Burger King Japan's perfume, which smells like a flame-grilled burger patty and is named "Flame Grilled Fragrance", is shown here in front of a whopper at their store in Tokyo on Wednesdy. The perfume, which comes with a Whopper and is limited to 1,000 units, is selling at the price of 5,000 yen (42 USD) and available only in Japan on Wednesday.
Toru Hanai/Reuters
On this April Fool鈥檚 Day, a test. Which of the following news reports is true?
a) Tokyo residents can now pay $40 to smell like a hamburger
b) Police in India are taking 鈥榤ug shots鈥� of cows to enforce a law against beef consumption
c) A town in Sweden is about move its town center 2.5 miles to the east
d) A聽Wiccan priest would like to thank Indiana Governor Mike Pence for聽freeing his coreligionists to now marry horses.
e) All of the above are true.
If you guessed e), you're right!聽But don't fret if you were overly skeptical of any of these stories. Today, more so than all other days, is the day to give your聽skeptical muscles a workout. Practicing being a discerning consumer of news will serve you well for the other 364 days of the year, too.
This week in Japan, those who want to may spend 5,000 yen (about $40) for "Flame Grilled" cologne being sold at the fast-food chain's stores in Japan, according to聽published reports.
As for the mug shots of cows, according to聽BBC News, law enforcement officials in the city of Malegaon, in the western Maharashtra state, 鈥渟ay the in case a criminal case arises under the recently introduced law, which bans the slaughter of all cows and sale and consumption of their meat.鈥�
The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act came into force on March 2nd.
"We are keeping the photographs ," police official Mahesh Sawai tells聽The Times of India. "If someone alleges that some illegal activity has taken place and if the owner has a photo, it will be easy to establish the truth."
In a colossal unprecedented experiment, Kiruna, the northernmost town in聽Sweden, is preparing to to make way for its expanding iron ore mine, Agence France-Presse reports.
鈥淜iruna needs to move about four kilometres (2.5 miles) to the east as the mine's extraction area inches deeper and closer to the town, causing cracks to shoot up under its foundations,鈥� media the French news organization reports.
"We have always lived off the mine and we always will," Bror Pudas, who lives on Gruvvaegen, or Mine Road told AFP.
The Daily Beast聽reports that
Finally, while many fear the potential for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) legislation to limit LGBT civil rights in Indiana and other states, Wiccans are poised to take full advantage of the double-edged dagger that this ordinance appears to be.
鈥淲hile no religion should be used against people and I am against discrimination against LGBT or anyone else, this law says 鈥榬eligious freedom鈥� and practice,鈥� says Star Ravenhawk, founder of the Pagan Temple of New York City, reverend, elder and teacher at聽聽WFT Academy of Pagan Studies in an interview.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to protect religions you鈥檙e going to have to protect all religions, including Wicca. Indiana's governor and anybody else adding this law is doing us a favor. As long as the law is managed properly to work, so nobody is harmed in the name of religion. But if they can manage that I agree with it all. The Religious Freedom laws will let us all practice our faith.鈥�
Dusty Dionne, High Priest and High Summoner of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church of Washington State told The Daily Beast that, while he is horrified by the notion of RFRA being used against the LGBT community, he supports RFRA鈥檚 power to free Wiccans from religious oppression.
鈥淢any of us believe that love is the law. Though it is not a quote-unquote Wiccan tenet to have polyamorous marriages, it is under Wiccan law that love is the law,鈥� Dionne told聽The Daily Beast. 鈥淲hatever we want to do with marriage we can do. Carte Blanche. If I want to marry a horse, I can marry a horse.鈥�
All that said, if someone tells you that Wiccans 鈥� or practitioners of any contemporary religion 鈥� make a regular habit of marrying horses, you can be certain that they're pulling your leg.