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Compiled By GayToday
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-- The Federal Communications Commission has determined – in a Pittsburgh case involving a television swap arrangement--that broadcasters must devote 50% of regularly-scheduled air time to educational programs. An alarmed televangelist, Jerry Falwell, and other religious broadcasters are up in arms.
"The FCC is out of control!" charges Falwell's organization, fearing that the government organization could end up banishing religious programming from the airwaves, an unlikely scenerio. |
 The Rev. Jerry Falwell and Rep. Michael Oxley |
Republican congressmen beholden to the Religious Reich are complaining too. "The commission's guidance is designed to force religious broadcasters seeking to hold a noncommerical license to cut back on traditional religious programming ... and replace it with FCC-approved educational content," wrote Republican Reps. Michael Oxley (Ohio), Steve Largent (Okla.), Chip Pickering (Miss.) and Cliff Stearns (Fla.).
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"I know the Congress will try to put a good face on this action," said Oxley, "but the simple truth is the commission is restricting those who express faith."
In the wake of widely publicized door-to-door Southern Baptist attempts to convert members of the Jewish Faith to Christianity, Jerry Falwell's defense of religious programming sounds an odd note.
"Indeed," says Falwell's press release, "the broadcast of religious material promotes the understanding of all religions, thereby fostering the First Amendment values that are at the heart of our democracy."
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Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Falwell's Fears & Hates
Thoughts About Religion
Senate Censors Poised to Interfere With the Internet
Related Sites:
Rep. Oxley's Religious Broadcasting Freedom Act
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