c. 2004 Religion News Service
United Church of Christ Files FCC Complaint Over Rejection of TV Ads
(RNS) The United Church of Christ has asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny licenses to two Miami television stations after church ads were rejected as “too controversial” by the NBC and CBS networks.
The church accused the two stations _ WFOR, a CBS-owned affiliate, and WTVJ, an NBC-owned station, of denying fair access to the airwaves when the networks rejected a 30-second spot that highlighted the church’s inclusive welcome of all people, including homosexuals.
The church filed its petition Thursday (Dec. 9) with the FCC because the two network-owned stations’ licenses are up for renewal. Under FCC rules, only local stations _ not networks _ may be the target of licensing challenges.
The two local stations “represent and reflect the ad policies implemented by their respective networks,” church officials said. The complaint was filed on behalf of the church by Angela Campell of Georgetown University Law Center and Andrew Schwartzman of the Washington-based Media Access Project.
“NBC and CBS and their stations must be accountable to the communities they are licensed to serve,” said Gloria Tristani, managing director of the church’s Office for Communications and a former FCC commissioner.
“How can it be in the public interest for television stations to exclude a church’s message of inclusion?”
The FCC filing signals that the Cleveland-based denomination is going on the offensive after the networks rejected the ads as improper “issue advocacy.” CBS, in its response, said the ads’ reference to gay couples was too closely tied to a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. NBC called the ads “too controversial.”
A spokesman for WFOR referred questions to CBS’ parent company, Viacom, which declined to comment. A spokeswoman for WTVJ did not immediately return calls for comment.
The networks said the church was free to bypass them and sell the ads to local stations. That would be “impractical, burdensome and expensive,” church officials said.
“If you were asked to bring a case of soda to your family reunion, you could buy it reasonably at a discount store or you could feed $24 into vending machines and buy the bottles individually,” said the Rev. Robert Chase, director of the church’s communications division. “But I ask, which would be the better use of your time and resources?”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Iraqi Foreign Minister Tells Pope Country Will Protect Its Christians
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Iraq’s foreign minister met with Pope John Paul II on Monday (Dec. 13) and pledged the commitment of his interim government to protect the country’s Christians from terrorist attacks.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari delivered a message to the pope from Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who had talks with John Paul at the Vatican on Nov. 4. At that meeting, the pope made a special plea for the dwindling Christian community, which he noted has been “present in Iraq from apostolic times.”
The Iraqi government requested Monday’s audience with the pope following the bombings Dec. 7 of an Armenian Orthodox and a Chaldean Catholic church in the tense city of Mosul northwest of Baghdad. Zebari also met with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state.
“The minister thanked His Holiness and his collaborators for the aid always shown toward Iraq and then assured him of the commitment of his own government to promoting religious freedom and, in particular, the defense of the Christian community,” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a brief statement.
There were an estimated 800,000 Christians in Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion last year. Large numbers have fled in the wake of terrorist attacks targeting individuals, Christian-owned businesses and churches.
The Vatican spokesman said that the pope and Sodano deplored “the sad plague of terrorism” in Iraq and said they hoped for “a rapid return to respect for the moral values that are the basis of every civilization.”
At a news conference in a Rome hotel and in a television interview, the Iraqi foreign minister said his government believed that Iraq’s Christian community had an important role to play in building a democratic society.
Iraq’s new ambassador to the Vatican, Albert Yelda, said the interim government is considering paying “a form of compensation’ for the destruction of churches. Zebari blamed the Mosul bombings on “terrorists from outside” Iraq.
_ Peggy Polk
Former Spy for Israel Lambastes Rabbi’s Decision on Jewish Settlers
JERUSALEM (RNS) A former American naval intelligence analyst serving a life sentence for spying for Israel has entered the debate on whether Israeli soldiers have a moral obligation to remove Jewish settlers from their homes if commanded to do so.
In a letter from his prison cell, Jonathan Pollard, the convicted spy, chastised Brig. Gen. Rabbi Israel Weiss, the chief rabbi of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), for telling soldiers they must remove Jewish settlers from their homes if a superior commands them to.
Since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his plans to remove Jewish settlements and troops from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank, various prominent rabbis have come out for or against the “disengagement” plan.
The issue is particularly wrenching for religious soldiers because the disengagement could force them to choose between the orders of their military commanders and the decrees of their spiritual leaders.
Weiss, the most senior religious official in the IDF, recently told Israel Radio that “we cannot allow a soldier to do whatever he wants. This will bring a danger that the army will end its function and this nation will end its task.”
Pollard _ whose decision to pass on classified documents to Israel was lauded by some American Jews but condemned by others _ called on the IDF rabbi to heed the word of God rather than politicians. His “open letter” was circulated over the weekend by the Women in Green, an Israeli organization opposed to the disengagement.
“With all due respect, Rabbi,” Pollard says, “it is difficult to imagine that you truly believe that it is the state and the army alone which protect us and ensure our viability as a People! The Jewish People lived for 2,000 years without a state and without an army, under the grace of God Almighty.”
Pollard goes on to say that “it is obvious that in this lifetime, God has placed you, of all men, in the unique position of being able to single-handedly defeat the immoral disengagement plan. You, amongst all men, can say `No’ to disengagement, and in so doing, support thousands upon thousands of soldiers to do the same!”
Pollard says that Weiss’ stance “will set the model for all God-fearing soldiers. It will also determine whether your name is revered for all generations as the rabbi who stood up to secular power in defense of the Land; or, God forbid, remembered as the rabbi who betrayed Jewish soldiers into defaming Torah and desecrating the Land.”
An IDF spokesman told RNS that it could not comment on the letter because “it was not referred to the IDF through any official channel.”
_ Michele Chabin
Abducted Care Director in Iraq Praised as a `Martyr’
LONDON (RNS) Margaret Hassan, Care International’s director of operations in Iraq, is being called a “martyr” for living a faith-filled life and dying for her convictions.
In a Saturday (Dec. 11) Mass for her in Westminster Cathedral, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said Hassan’s life and death pointed to God. She was abducted in October and subsequently killed.
“I use the word advisedly,” the cardinal said. “The word `martyr’ means `witness.’ Margaret witnessed, in both her life and her death, to the act of loving. Because Margaret’s love was of the kind that is obviously nourished by the faith that was so important to her, her life, her death and her way of loving have reminded people of her Master, of whom it was said: `Greater love than this hath no one than that a man lay down his life for his friends.’
“That is why I do not hesitate to describe Margaret as a martyr here, in a Christian place.”
Earlier, the cardinal remarked that it seemed to him and to very many others that Hassan lived out the Beatitudes.
“She was a peacemaker in a time of seemingly endless wars,” he said. “She hungered and thirsted for justice for the Iraqi people. She was persecuted _ brutally slain _ because she was working in the cause of right.”
The Mass was attended by Hassan’s family and friends, with the notable exception of her husband, Tahseen Hassan, who was said to be ill. In a brief statement, her family said they had been “overwhelmed” by the messages of sympathy from all over the world.
“All of the family in Baghdad, Ireland and here in London have been touched by the kindness that has been shown to us,” the family said.
_ Robert Nowell
No Coins to Drop in That Red Bucket? Just Say `Charge It’
(RNS) Being penniless is no longer an excuse for bypassing Salvation Army kettles in Arizona, where the holidays’ famous bell ringers have started taking plastic.
At six locations in the greater Phoenix area, holiday shoppers have the option of swiping their credit and debit cards through wireless charge machines. Givers walk away with not only a good feeling, but also a receipt for their taxes.
“Many people will come by a kettle and say, `I wish I could give. I just don’t have any cash,”’ said Sandi Gabel, director of development for the Southwest Division of the Salvation Army. “It really doesn’t take much longer. You just have to swipe the card, and that’s it.”
Across the country, the Salvation Army faces a fund-raising challenge this year as fewer national retailers are permitting the charitable organization to seek donations on corporate-owned property. In Arizona, the charity was bracing this season for a 20 percent drop in revenue from kettles that raised about $1 million last year.
Organizers said they hope the pilot project of accepting credit and debit cards will make up for some of the lost revenue.
To date, credit cards at kettle stations elsewhere in the nation have tended to attract more curiosity than anything else. Residents of Akron, Ohio, and Pittsburgh have had an opportunity to charge their kettle donations, but few have chosen to go that route. The reason: cold temperatures.
“We found in the cold people really didn’t want to pull out their cards and wait for the transaction,” said Fran Brace, director of development for the Western Pennsylvania Division of the Salvation Army. “In Arizona, it might be a lot easier because of the warm weather.”
Other obstacles also proved a hindrance in Pennsylvania, such as the need to train volunteer bell ringers to process credit transactions with perfect accuracy. But in Arizona, organizers are convinced new technologies make that part easy, and expenses beyond the $200-per-machine rental cost are thought to be nominal.
Whether credit cards will ever become a national standard at kettle stations is yet to be seen, although Arizona is considering expanding the program after this year.
“To put the kind of street labor out there that you need to process credit cards … I’m not sure it will have sustainability,” said Major George Hood, national spokesperson for the Salvation Army. “But if it works (in Arizona), other units will try to replicate it.”
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Quote of the Day: Susannah Heschel
(RNS) “Democrats are being advised to respond to their election losses by enhancing their rhetoric of religion. What we need to do instead is to revive the prophetic tradition, especially its critique of religion.”
_ Susannah Heschel, professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and co-chair of the Tikkun Community, writing in the Dec. 20 issue of The Nation.
MO/PH END RNS
