Please do not forward this any more. This is a hoax. Please check these things out at http://www.snopes2.com/. This has been going around for a couple of years now. Please read the following: Keith Brooks
Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting
Claim: Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair is trying to get religious
broadcasting banned from American airwaves.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 1996]
Madalyn Murry O'Hair, an atheist, whose effort successfully
eliminated the use of the Bible Reading and Prayer from public schools
fifteen years ago has now been granted a Federal hearing in Washington, D.C.
on the same subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Her
petition, P.M. 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of
the Gospel on the air waves of America. She took her petition with 287,000
signatures to back her stand. If her attempt is successful, all Sunday
worship services being broadcast, either by radio, or television will stop.
Many elderly people and shut-ins as well as those recuperating from
hospitalization or illness, depend on radio and television to fulfill their
worship needs every week.
Madalyn is also campaigning to REMOVE ALL CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS,
CHRISTMAS SONGS, AND CHRISTMAS CAROLS from public schools. You can help this
time! We need 1,000,000 (one million) signed letters. This should defeat Ms.
O'Hair and show that there are many CHRISTIANS ALIVE AND WELL AND CONCERNED
in our country. This petition is NUMBER 2493. Sign, cut off and mail the
form below. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN JOINTLY AS Mr. and Mrs. Let each adult SIGN
ONE separately and mail it in a separate envelope. BE SURE TO PUT PETITION
NUMBER 2493 ON THE ENVELOPE when mailing your letter.
Please send this letter out to anyone that can help in the
cause.
Federal Communications Commission
RE: PETITION NO. 2493
1919 "H" Street
DATE:________
Washington, D.C. 20054
Gentlemen:
I am an American and proud of my heritage. I am also very
much aware of the place religious faith has played in the freedom we as
Americans now enjoy. Therefore, I protest any human effort to remove from
radio and television any programs designed to show faith in GOD or a SUPREME
BEING or to remove CHRISTMAS SONGS, CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS, AND CHRISTMAS CAROLS
from Public Air Waves, Schools, or Office Buildings.
Sincerely,
NAME:______________________________
ADDRESS:__________________________
Origins: Proof that no baseless scare is ever too old or tired not
to be rejuvenated by a quick facelift came in November 1999 when what has
come to be the canonical text of this petition was prefaced with the
following, adding the warning that a particularly well-loved television show
was in danger:
FOR YOUR INFORMATION CBS will be forced to discontinue
"Touched By An Angel" for using the word "God" in every program.
Please do this, it will only cost you a stamp. If things got
bad when prayer was taken from school, think of how it will get with no
shows like 'Touched by an Angel'. PLEASE! Your right to freedom of religion
is being tampered with.
*sigh* Where to begin?
Madalyn Murray O'Hair never petitioned the FCC to ban religious
programming nor was she ever granted a hearing by that regulatory body to
discuss the matter. That's not all that surprising either for there is no
federal law or regulation that gives the FCC the authority to prohibit radio
and television stations from presenting religious programs.
The real RM-2493 had nothing to do with Madalyn Murray O'Hair nor did
it have anything to do with banning religious broadcasting. That didn't stop
the above petition from being widely circulated as concerned citizen after
concerned citizen signed it, then sent it on to an ever-widening circle.
It's still kicking around to this day despite the real RM-2493 going in
front of the FCC in 1974 and being turned down by that body in 1975.
Whether by intent or by error, the author of the petition to stop
Madalyn Murray O'Hair badly misrepresented RM-2493 as well as invoked a
bogey(wo)man who wasn't ever part of the deal. Paraphrasing RM-2493 wildly,
Jeremy Lansman and Lorenzo Milam asked the FCC to prevent religious
organizations from obtaining licenses to operate broadcasting channels
reserved for education. (Religious organizations that operate a university
or school may, under FCC rules, receive a license reserved for
non-commercial educational use.) The petitioners also asked the FCC to place
a freeze on new licenses to religious-oriented stations while it considered
whether existing license-holders were providing diverse programming.
The intent of the infamous RM-2493 was to ensure channels reserved for
educational purposes ended up being used for education and not be taken up
by religious groups looking to use them for a different purpose. RM-2493 has
since come to be understood as a petition seeking the ban of religious
broadcasting, and from there it was further attributed as the work of
Madalyn Murray O'Hair, arguably the best-known atheist of our times. How
this great a misunderstanding of the actual petition then in front of the
FCC came about is anyone's guess.
The real petition the FCC was asked to consider was filed in December
1974 and defeated in August 1975. Even through the smokescreen of thousands
of people misunderstanding what it had been asked to consider and heatedly
arguing issues that weren't on the table, the FCC saw its role in such
matters quite clearly:
As a government agency, the Commission is enjoined by the
First Amendment to observe a stance of neutrality toward religion, acting
neither to promote nor inhibit religion.
They denied the petition. As to those who misunderstood the petition
or who had it presented to them under false pretenses, the FCC had this to
say:
The Commission appreciates the time taken by these individuals
to make their feelings known, however, the vast majority of these letters
are not directed to a resolution of the issues raised by the petition, as
most are based on an incorrect understanding of the nature of the relief
petitioners seek. Many of them are form letters that are premised on the
mistaken view that the petition was filed by Madalyn Murray O'Hare, when
such was not the case. In addition, the vast majority of letters urge us to
reject what they understand to be the proposal to ban the broadcast of all
religious programs (including church services) from the air. However, no
such proposal was advanced by the petitioners, nor was it raised by the
Commission.
View the text of the FCC's ruling yourself.
Between 1975 and 1995, more than 30 million pieces of mail decrying
RM-2493 had been received by the FCC. Those worried that religion is dead in
America, take heart. But also spare a bit of pity for the FCC -- they've
been buried under this hoax for over 25 years.
It was a given that Madalyn Murray O'Hair would come to be associated
with the "ban religious broadcasting" petition. It was largely through her
efforts that in 1963 the U.S. Supreme Court barred organized prayer from the
public schools, bringing her national infamy. (In 1964 LIFE magazine
headlined her as "the most hated woman in America," a title she burnished as
a badge of honor.)
Over the years she built up her cause, battling for the separation of
Church and State and, according to rumor, lining her own pockets in the
process.
For more than five years, she was the focus of a mystery. In August
1995, Madalyn (then 76), along with her son, Jon (40), and granddaughter,
Robin (30), vanished from their home, reportedly with breakfast still
cooking, and were never seen again. Tax returns filed by groups affiliated
with American Atheists suggest that Jon took $629,500 of organization money
with him, and there were further rumors of Madalyn having stashed millions
in overseas accounts over the years. Had the threesome met with foul play?
Had they absconded with ill-gotten proceeds?
In June 2000 a man named Gary Karr was convicted of conspiracy to
commit extortion for his alleged participation in a plot to kidnap and kill
Ms. O'Hair and her children for their money. As part of a plea bargain, in
early 2001 David Waters led police to a burial site where the remains of
three bodies were found, and in March 2001 two of the bodies were identified
as those of O'Hair and her granddaughter. Waters is already serving a
60-year state prison term for bilking O'Hair's American Atheists
organization out of $54,000. He now faces an additional 20-year for
"conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and extortion."
Technically, no one will ever be charged with these murders, but the killers
are behind bars on other charges.
Barbara "prison and accounted for" Mikkelson
Additional Information:
RM-2493 (FCC)
Touched by a Hoax (touched.com)
Mystery of Madalyn O'Hair (ABC News)
Last updated: 15 March 2001
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/fcc.htm
Click here to e-mail this page to a friend
Urban Legends Reference Pages � 1995-2001
by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
This material may not be reproduced without permission
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Sources:
Dart, John. "FCC Stuck Rebutting Broadcasting Rumor."
The Plain Dealer. 23 September 1995 (p. E7).
Ellis, William. "Flyers Still Flying."
FOAFTale News. December 1992 (p. 8).
Gonzalez, John. "Son of O'Haire Relieved Case is Apparently Over."
The Houston Chronicle. 30 January 2001 (p. A15).
Killeen, Mike. "Rumor About Nonexistent FCC Petition Circulating
Again."
Catholic News Service. 29 March 2000.
Lewis, Robert. "FCC Still Hears About Religious Ban."
The San Diego Union-Tribune. 21 December 1985 (p. A16).
Lyman, Rick. "A Hint in Texas About the Fate of the Missing Atheist
Leader."
The New York Times. 26 March 1999 (p. A14).
Tonyan, Rick. "It's a Fact: FCC Can't Shake Anti-Religious Rumor."
Orlando Sentinel Tribune. 28 July 1991 (p. K4).
Van Biema, David. "Where's Madalyn?"
Time. 10 February 1997.
CNN.com. "Atheist Leader's Remains Found on Texas Ranch."
15 March 2001.
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Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 8:20 PM
Subject: [RR] Fwd: FW: Stopping .......
> Attention all Christians, This needs to be read by all.
> Jerry
>
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