peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley) (06/24/83)
The activities on CBN described in the article by machaids!brf sound very close
to hate literature ("designed to incite hatred against any identifiable group")
which, if expressed in print and possibly on the air, is illegal under the
Canadian Criminal Code. The 700 Club is carried on a Toronto station, though I
have never seen it; if they are carrying the US version, they may well have
broken the law.
Anyone seen the shows and know the criminal code so that they can say for
sure?
peter rowley, U. Toronto CSRG
{cornell,watmath,ihnp4,floyd,allegra,utzoo,uw-beaver}!utcsrgv!peterr
or {cwruecmp,duke,linus,lsuc,research}!utzoo!utcsrgv!peterrrh@mit-eddi.UUCP (Randy Haskins) (06/26/83)
So I hear it (I haven't watched CBN in a while), they are carrying on with a campaign of preaching hatred against the so-called liberal religions (like Unitarianism. I guess it's a liberal religion because most of us don't care who comes into our church, as long as they conduct themselves properly.). On CBN, they're claiming the liberal religions are responsible for the current ill state of the world. Gee, last time one group was preaching that another was responsible for all their troubles... I think the biggest example was in Germany about 40-50 years ago. I can't remember the guy's name, but he blamed the Jews for his troubles. -Randy
levy@princeton.UUCP (06/28/83)
I would advise people who want to know about CBN and Pat Robertson to watch
them a few times instead of expanding on what has been said over the net
once (and not very accurately, either). I don't watch CBN myself, because
I find them boringly predictable, and some of their rhetoric is exagerate;
however I think the picture that has been transmitted in some of the articles
is very biased (they hate Unitarians, they blame liberals for the evils of
the world, they are comparable to Hitler's Germany). Just think of all that
has been said about right-wing "conspiracies" involving Reagan, the Moral M.,
conservative senators and congressmen etc. I have a copy of a "Reagan 1982
calendar" with the inevitable caricatures and a month-by-month plan to take
over the whole structure of government in the U.S., culminating (in December
1982!) with the rewriting of the Constitution. If that's not shouting "fire"
in a packed auditorium, I don't know what is... (Just to set the record
straight, I'm not a Reaganist, I think his external policy is lousy, that he
is by and large insensitive to the poor and minorities, and that the only
things in his platform I agreed with, like fighting abortion, are being
totally neglected. A 3 out of 10 for him.)
Finally, if you *really* think CBN is offending federal legislation in
spreading panic and lies, you should sue them. You have a right and a duty
to do so, either individually or corporately.
For fair play in both sides,
-- Silvio Levy