National Religious Broadcasters has written to its 1,200 members decrying a recent FCC ruling that allows the federal agency to influence religious programming content. The ruling states, programming “primarily devoted to religious exhortation, proselytizing or statements of personally held religious views and beliefs generally would not qualify as ‘general educational’ programming.” Brandt Gustavson, NRB President claims, “the order contains a disquieting implication that the government may restrict certain strains of religious speech¾disfavoring more passionate and emotional expressions of faith¾while not constraining others that are more ‘intellectual’ and drained of human emotion.” The threat is greatest for holders of non-commercial broadcast licenses , which are required to devote 50% of their regularly scheduled airtime to educational programs. These are typically the stations funded by listener donations and the least able to afford costly legal battles. Daniel Roy, Washington attorney, writes in the Wall Street Journal, “there is an anti-religious bias at work here” and that “the FCC is writing religion out of the culture.” The Christian community should be shocked by this flagrant action. (WSJ 1/14/00, The Gazette 1/11/00)
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