[net.religion] 700 Club and Fair Play

brf@machaids.UUCP (06/19/83)

The following excerpts are from an article by Cliff Morgan (tektronix!cliffm)
(Original Subject: 'Re: What is God doing today?')

>> With regard to what God is doing, I recently heard Dr. Pat Robertson,
>> President of the Christian Broadcasting Network, state that their
>> organization has witnessed literally tens of thousands of miraculous
>> answers to prayer.

>> .... Pat felt the calling to found the Christian Broadcasting Network.
>> Today, CBN has gained the respect of both Christian and secular audiences,
>> though it portrays a view of the world not presented by the other networks.

>> The "flagship" program of CBN is "The 700 Club", a 90-minute daily TV
>> program featuring interviews with prominent Christians, as well as documen-
>> taries and news clips covering current events....

Just to put things in proper perspective, the following is a letter
that was sent to Mr Richard Hughes, Director of Programming, WPIX TV.
(WPIX is a New York station that carries "The 700 Club".):
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                                                  March 22, 1982
    Dear Mr Hughes,
        I have recently been watching the "700 Club" on
    WPIX a few times each week.  The people on that show
    have frequently mentioned "humanists" and implied that
    "humanists" are terrible people.
        Until the week beginning March 8 it was not clear
    just who was meant by the term "humanist".  However,
    during that week I was treated to a series of interviews
    that explained who "humanists" are, what they have done
    and what they are supposedly planning to do.  According
    to host Pat Robertson and his guest, Dr. Schaffer ("a
    world-renouned Christian philosopher"), the "humanists"
    include people who are members of "liberal religions".
        During the March 8 to March 12 series of interviews
    it was stated that there is a "humanist plot", a "con-
    spiracy of humanists", and that "a condition of warfare
    exists between the two irreconcilable views of reality",
    i.e. Christian versus Humanist.  According to the views
    espoused on this show the plot/conspiracy involves the
    current take-over by Humanists of our schools, courts,
    and government.  During the last show of the series
    Mr. Robertson stated that the Humanists were termites
    which were taking charge and destroying our country,
    which had been built by Christians, and that it is
    "now time for Godly fumigation."
        My husband, two young children and I are members
    of the Unitarian Church.  Our Church is generally
    agreed to be a "liberal religion".
        Freedom of speech in America is not absolute.  For
    instance, one cannot legally cry "fire" in a crowded
    theater if there is no fire.  Likewise, one should not
    cry "warfare", "plot", "conspiracy", or invite "Godly
    fumigation" on the public airwaves without so much as
    an invitation to those accused of the "plot", etc., to
    defend or explain their side.
        I have no objection to religious broadcasts targeted
    to specific audiences, but I strongly object to public
    airwaves being used to attack specific religious groups.
    While cries of "plot", "conspiracy", and "warfare" may
    serve to increase contributions to the "700 Club" from
    gullible viewers, they also inflict harm on society.
        The use of half-truths, distortions and outright
    lies such as I heard on these broadcasts have been used
    in the past to instill fear of certain groups of people.
    For example:  fear of Japanese and their removal from
    the general population in the early 1940's; Senator
    McCarthy and his witch-hunts for communists during the
    early 1950's; fear of Jews, Catholics and Blacks
    promoted by the Ku Klux Klan for too many years.  These
    examples clearly show that such activities, when carried
    to extremes, result in persecution and harassment of
    individual groups.  They are not parts of our
    American history of which we should be proud.
        By serving as a forum for the current vintage of
    hate-mongering, WPIX is not serving the public interest.
    In addition, some of the things I have seen and heard on
    the "700 Club" serve to tarnish the reputation and image
    of WPIX as a fine and responsible TV station.
        I would like to know if WPIX has a policy controlling
    the broadcasting of attacks on specific religious groups.
    Surely a blatantly anti-Semitic or anti-Catholic series of
    broadcasts would not have been aired; certainly liberal
    religious sects deserve the same courtesy.
                            (signed) Diann Fowler
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I for one am glad that CBN " ...portrays a view of the world not
presented by the other networks."  If everyone thought the way these
people do, what a sad world we would live in!  I do agree with Cliff
that *you* should watch the "700 Club" if you get a chance, to see
for yourself what goes on there.
We are still waiting for an answer to the above letter.

    Bruce Fowler     {houx*}!machaids!brf
    Bell Telephone Laboratories, Holmdel, N.J.