ABC's 'Sic' Choice Suggests Belief in Afterlife an Error [Update With Reply From ABC]

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sic: thus; so. Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally. - Answers.com definition

Adding religious insult to mortal injury in its coverage of the 3000th US service-person to die in Iraq, ABC seemed to suggest that there was something odd or erroneous in the expression of a traditional belief in the afterlife.

Today's "Good Morning America" focused on the death of Army Specialist Dustin Donica of Texas, believed to be that 3000th serviceman lost in Iraq. Narrating the segment, ABC's Jonathan Karl stated: "The MySpace page he left behind bears the tributes of those whose lives he touched." The screen then displayed the message [shown larger-than-normal here for clarity's sake] from one of those friends:

"You were one of my best friends and I'll never forget you. All my prayers go to your family and I'll see you again." (sic)

The friend was obviously expressing his expectation to see Dustin again in the world to come. That the reference to seeing Dustin again was prefaced by a mention of the family being in the friend's "prayers" leaves no doubt that religious faith was being expressed.

Does traditional religious belief strike ABC as so odd or erroneous as to require a snide little "sic"?

UPDATE 01/03: An ABC News executive has been in touch to say that the 'sic' was intended to refer to a misspelling of 'I'll' as 'ill' in the original MySpace posting by SPC Donica's friend, and that the 'sic' was mistakenly left in when the misspelling was corrected in the screen graphic. ABC has, in any event, reaped what the MSM has sown. That a member of the MSM would have intentionally sought to slight traditional religious beliefs with the use of the 'sic' is entirely plausible.

Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net