Issues@Hand
AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs
March 2000 – American Family Association and the National Religious Broadcasters sounded the alarm. Concerned citizens nationwide responded by flooding lawmakers with calls protesting a recent ruling that would have limited the programming freedom of religious broadcasters.
“Only the great outrage expressed by people of religious faith and the introduction of certain-to-pass legislation by Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH) and other members of Congress put an end to the unconstitutional actions of the FCC,” said AFA President Donald E. Wildmon.
In a December 15, 1999, ruling (released on December 29), the FCC issued educational television restrictions that limited the programming freedom of religious broadcasters, but left secular broadcasters with programming discretion. The FCC disqualified church services, religious exhortation, proselytizing and statements of personally held religious views from being treated as “educational.”
“In other words, the FCC could have revoked a Christian ministry’s noncommercial television license if over half its programming consisted of church services, calls to repent and follow Biblical teaching, witnessing, testimonies, and invitations to accept Christ as Savior and Lord,” said Wildmon. “According to the FCC ruling, church services served neither the educational, instructional nor cultural needs of the American people – the church was considered useless to society.”
The FCC has traditionally left the decision of what to broadcast and the determination of what is educational up to individual broadcasters. In their dissent to the decision, FCC Commissioners Michael Powell and Harold FurchtgottRoth questioned the constitutionality of the government's religion-based intrusion into programming decisions. They asked why church services would not qualify as “cultural” programming just as an opera might.
AFA learned that the three votes in favor of the restriction on Christian broadcasting all came from Democrats appointed by President Clinton. Those FCC Commissioners were Chairman William Kennard, Susan Ness, and Gloria Tristani.
In response to the ruling, U.S. Representative Michael G. Oxley had introduced the Religious Freedom Broadcasting Act in Congress along with House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R- TX), and Representatives Steve Largent (R-OK), Chip Pickering (R-MS), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL).
Although the FCC’s ruling had been limited to noncommercial television stations, it stated a government policy that could have been applied to radio broadcasting as well. The FCC’s ruling caused an uproar among Christians and conservatives because it represented a governmental restriction targeted specifically at religious speech.
“That ruling evinced an acute hostility to religion, and hopelessly entangled government bureaucrats in religious questions,” said Stephen M. Crampton, Chief Counsel for the AFA Center For Law and Policy. “We’re very pleased that the ruling was promptly reversed. 
