brian@ut-sally.UUCP (Brian H. Powell) (10/14/85)
My apologies if this has already appeared on the net. My prayers if you
don't care about this topic.
This appeared in my church's weekly newsletter. I assume all the
information is correct.
The Federal communications Commission in Washington, D.C. has received
a 28,000 signature petition from Madelyn [Murray-] O'Hair protesting:
1. Christmas programs in public schools
2. Singing of Christmas carols in public schools
3. No public radio or television religious programs
This petition has been identified as No. 2493 and if anyone is interested
in responding to this you may write:
Federal Communications Commission
1919 M Street
Washington, D.C. 20054
The sorting of mail will be eased if in the corner of your envelope you
write "AGAINST PETITION No. 2493".
-----
Brian H. Powell
UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!brian
ARPA: brian@sally.UTEXAS.EDU
U.S. Mail: Southwestern Bell
P.O. Box 5899 345-0932
Austin, TX 78763-5899
AT&T
(512) 345-0932mab@riacs.ARPA (Matt Bishop) (10/15/85)
Re: Brian Powell's posting about FCC petition #2493: > This appeared in my church's weekly newsletter. I assume all the > information is correct. > > ... about FCC #RM-2493 which will ban various religious > ... broadcasts and Christmas school activities (my > ... paraphrase) Sorry, Brian, but your church newsletter is not correct. First, #RM-2493 was filed in 1974 and concerned something very different. (and was denied in 1975 to boot!) A similar flyer came around to my wife's church last year (except it said #RM-2493 would ban masses being broadcast, not what yours said), caused a big commotion, and ended with the priest telling everyone the petition was bogus, based on a call he made to the FCC. Also, the petition seems phony on the face of it -- so far as I know, the FCC controls the airwaves only, not the content of Christmas programs in public schools and the singing of Christmas carols in public schools. The latter two would be controlled by the state legislature or the school board. Didn't that make anyone suspicious? -- Matt Bishop mab@riacs.arpa {decvax!decwrl,ihnp4!ames}!riacs!mab
pmd@cbsck.UUCP (Paul Dubuc) (10/15/85)
The petition is a big hoax, intended to make Christians look foolish. Don't waste your time. -- Paul Dubuc cbscc!pmd
csg@pyramid.UUCP (Carl S. Gutekunst) (10/15/85)
In article <3178@ut-sally.UUCP> brian@ut-sally.UUCP (Brian H. Powell) writes: > The Federal communications Commission in Washington, D.C. has received >a 28,000 signature petition from Madelyn [Murray-] O'Hair protesting: > >1. Christmas programs in public schools >2. Singing of Christmas carols in public schools >3. No public radio or television religious programs > > This petition has been identified as No. 2493 and if anyone is interested >in responding to this you may write: NO, NO, NO! This is an entirely false rumor that has been making the rounds in church newsletters for *over 15 years.* DO NOT WRITE THE FCC. They have been up to their armpits in protest mail for this non-existant docket/petition for more than a decade. In the early 70's, the FCC altered the distribution of frequencies for new non- profit broadcasting stations, at the request of several Christian broadcasters. This included a 6-month moratorium on new non-profit broadcasting stations while the FCC sorted things out. Somehow this made the church newsletter circuit as a _total_ban_ on religious broadcasting; along the way the story was embellished and Ms. O'hare's name attached to it. Not only did Ms. O'Hare not have nothing to do with it, but she hasn't been an activist for over five years. Incidentally, people should learn to be more suspicious about these kinds of things; they are usually fraught with nonsense. For example, the FCC has no control over singing of Christmas carols in public schools -- why would anyone send them a petition about it? In addition, you can't submit "petitions" to the FCC in the usual sense; they are a regulatory agency, not a constitutional lawmaker. -- -m------- Pyramid Technology Carl S. Gutekunst, Software R&D ---mmm----- 1295 Charleston Rd {cmcl2,topaz}!pyrnj! -----mmmmm--- Mt. View, CA 94039 {ihnp4,uwvax}!pyrchi!pyramid!csg -------mmmmmmm- +1 415 965 7200 {allegra,decwrl,dual,sun}!
kene@teklds.UUCP (Ken Ewing) (10/16/85)
> > This appeared in my church's weekly newsletter. I assume all the > information is correct. > > The Federal communications Commission in Washington, D.C. has received > a 28,000 signature petition from Madelyn [Murray-] O'Hair protesting: > > 1. Christmas programs in public schools > 2. Singing of Christmas carols in public schools > 3. No public radio or television religious programs > > This petition has been identified as No. 2493 and if anyone is interested > in responding to this you may write: > Federal Communications Commission > 1919 M Street > Washington, D.C. 20054 > The sorting of mail will be eased if in the corner of your envelope you > write "AGAINST PETITION No. 2493". > I would urge strong caution before writing to the FCC. A few years ago there was a nation-wide scare that Ms. O'Hare had filed a petition with the FCC to BAN ALL religious broadcasting on radio and TV. Concerned Christians flooded the FCC with letters for months. The story was a complete hoax. A Christian radio station that I used to listen to broadcasted a message for months telling people that no such petition had been filed and to stop writing to the FCC. There are more than enough recent instances where Christians have reacted to a situation without even checking to see if the situation was real. Let's first VERIFY that the situation exists before we begin any campaign against it. Try contacting the FCC itself and asking. If THEY verify that the petition exist, then go for it! Ken Ewing Tektronix, Walker Road [decvax,ucbvax]!tektronix!teklds!kene
rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (10/20/85)
> The petition is a big hoax, intended to make Christians look > foolish. Don't waste your time. > -- > Paul Dubuc cbscc!pmd ... ... ... Naah, I won't say it. :-? (I thought it was Satan who engaged in temptation...) -- "to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight and never stop fighting." - e. e. cummings Rich Rosen ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr