"This is a good conversation for faith communities to have," said John Llewelyn, an associate professor of communications at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"It's serious business about how we operate within society as we try to figure out what's true."

Llewelyn was enlisted by Procter & Gamble as an expert witness in a lawsuit relating to the urban legend about Satanists running the company (false, by the way).

Research indicated that the rumor was deeply rooted in conservative Christian circles, particularly among those "with a very clear conception of the nature of evil," Llewelyn said. He added that he was not surprised that certain religious groups embraced certain rumors.

"Our loyalties are rooted in the stories we accept automatically and the stories we find implausible," he said. Urban legends typically "address perennial questions and perennial hot topics."

Buhler said most urban legends are "wow" stories — provocative tales that seem to offer insider knowledge not available from the mainstream media.

The war in Iraq is front-page news everywhere. But a story about a Quranic verse predicting the "wrath of the Eagle cleansing the lands of Allah" gives readers a feeling of being in the know. (Never mind that the Quran contains no such verse.)

While it's tempting to just forward an e-mail that has the ring of truth to it, Lewis said, there is a religious duty not to do so — particularly since the same Internet that makes it easy to spread rumors makes it easy to check their veracity.

"As Christians, we're exhorted to speak the truth in love," he said, "not follow a path of hearsay and things that might be true."