Editorial

Don’t believe everything you read. In the age of the Internet and e-mail this maxim has never been truer.

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from a friend. The subject line read: "I usually don’t send forwards so this must be important!" The original e-mail subject line read: "Please read and add your name— very important!"

The recipient list for the original e-mail and my friend’s e-mail must have numbered well over 100.

The e-mail message read, in part, "CBS will be forced to discontinue ‘Touched by an Angel’ for using the word ‘God’ in every program. Madline (sic) Murray O’Hare (sic), an atheist, successfully managed to eliminate the use of Bible reading from public schools a few years ago. Now her organization has been granted a federal hearing on the same subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, D.C. Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior on the airwaves of America."

My friend added her name on line 211 of the e-mail petition. Other signers were from cities across the U.S., as well as Canada.

About four weeks ago, I received a letter from a reader asking about the veracity of the very same FCC petition. The reader was skeptical, seeming to recall that the Witness had previously warned Florida Baptists about the petition.

My e-mail friend should have been as skeptical as was our reader.

Here are facts about the petition:

• In December 1974, Jeremy Lansman and Lorenzo Milam filed a petition requesting the FCC to inquire into operating practices of stations licensed to religious organizations.
• On August 1, 1975, the FCC denied the petition noting that the First Amendment required a "stance of neutrality toward religion."
• Madalyn Murray O’Hair was never involved in the petition. Last month, the FBI identified her remains. She had been missing since 1995.
• There is no effort before the FCC today to eliminate religious broadcasting. If there ever was such an attempt, you can be sure Christian organizations in Washington would let us know.

This and other information about Petition 2493 can be found on the FCC’s web site: www.fcc.gov.

For well over 25 years, millions of letters, faxes and e-mails have been distributed regarding FCC Petition 2493. When I worked in Washington for the SBC Christian Life Commission over a decade ago, hardly a week would go by without hearing from some concerned Southern Baptist about this petition. I was convinced then that well-meaning Christians were being taken advantage of by not-so-well-meaning unbelievers who wanted to make Christians look silly.

Today, I’m even more convinced that is true. In spite of repeated efforts by the FCC, Christian publications—including the Witness, and other Baptist state papers and other Christian organizations, this is the rumor that will not die.

Given the increasing level of hostility against Christians evident in our society, including our government at times, it’s easy to see how we might believe there could be an effort to banish Christian broadcasting.

Nevertheless, Christians should not be guilty of promulgating false information. Further, we have the obligation to checkout the facts of any claim, no matter how believable it seems.

Christians who are concerned about television programming can make a difference by supporting the Children’s Protection from Violent Programming Act introduced by Rep. Ronnie Show, D-Miss. The bill would require the FCC to prohibit the distribution of violent television programming during times when children are likely to be watching TV. This and other legislation deserves our support. FCC Petition 2493 does not.