 |
The famous Supreme Court decision, Murray v. Curlett (which occurred in 1963
- that's thirty-five years ago, not "15 years ago" as the article reported)
merely removed from the public school milieu the mandatory requirement of
compelling all students to participate in a communication ritual with the
majoritarian version of a supernatural entity. Students can still pray if
they need to, or want to, to the deity of their choice. They can also read
any of the various bibles (as well as the Torah, Koran, Upanishads, or the
"Ferengi Rules of Acquisition") whenever they wish outside of real classtime.
Never has a student's, or anyone else's, desire to pray or read religious
literature been abridged. Let's use some common sense. There is no such law.
And there should not be.
MYTH #2 - " . . . she has a hearing before the FCC on her Petition R.M. 2493
. . . "
I would have hoped that three years after the fact, including cover stories
in Vanity Fair,
Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, radio and TV coverage, including ABC's
NIGHTLINE, everyone concerned would know that Madalyn O'Hair and her family
disappeared in Oct. 1995 and have not been heard from since. How someone
whom the FBI and other enforcement agencies can't find is scheduled to appear
before the FCC is as big a mystery to Atheists as the Virgin Birth is to
believers.
MYTH #3 - The Phantom Petition that would forbid religious broadcasting.
This "phantom" petition (R.M. 2493) would have done nothing of the sort.
This idea is wholly the product of excited and delusional individuals who need
to create hysteria to mobilize the faithful. The idea of such a persistent
legend is to occasionally remind the FCC, through hundreds of thousands of
letters, just who is in charge here. It's no wonder the Archdiocese of New
York has stepped up to the plate and demonstrated just how far gullibility can
extend when something can be gained – no matter how false, no matter the
injury or the cost.
The Truth
There was a petition R.M. 2493 but it was not filed by Ms. O'Hair or American
Atheists. In 1974 two small radio operators, Jeremy D. Lansman and Lorenzo W.
Milam, filed a "Petition for Rulemaking" with the FCC "In the Matter of (1)
Revision of Rules Permitting Multiple Ownership of Non-commercial Educational
Radio and Television Stations in Single Markets; and (2) Request for "Freeze"
on all Applications by Government Owned and Controlled Groups for Reserved
Educational FM and TV Channels; and (3) Request for "Freeze" on all
Applications by Religious 'Bible,' 'Christian,' and other Sectarian Schools,
Colleges, and Institutes for Reserved Educational FM and TV Channels." The
Petition was mailed to the FCC on Dec. 1, 1974, received by it on Dec. 5, and
clocked into the Rules and Standards Division on Dec. 6, 1974. It was given
the file number R.M.-2493.
According to the petition, these two gentlemen were merely seeking a more
balanced procedure for securing broadcast licenses. Part of the petition had
nothing to do with "banning" religious programming, but merely to limit the
special considerations and privileges given to religious broadcasting over
secular, nonreligious broadcast outlets when considering such licenses.
Within about 90 days after the petition had been filed, a rumor began that
Madalyn O'Hair had filed the petition with 27,000 signatures on behalf of the
petition ( I find it laughable that now, 24 years later, the number of
signatories has "miraculously" increased to 280,000 - but then again, consider
the sources).
By the summer of 1975, the FCC had received well over 500,000 letters
protesting the petition. On Aug. 1, 1975, the FCC rejected the petition. In
a UPI release dated Aug. 2, 1975 it was stated that the FCC found "that the
vast majority of letters were premised on the mistaken view that the petition
proposed to ban all religious broadcasting, which was not the case."
The situation worsened, and this time TV Guide, in its July 24, 1976 issue
attempted to stay the flood of phony mail. Even as late as 1977, the Illinois
Senate, at the goading of then Sen. LeRoy Lemke, passed a resolution
condemning Madalyn O'Hair for the Petition.
As of May 1982, the FCC had four full-time employees just opening up mail
regarding R.M.-2493 (which had been rejected seven years earlier).
Now, in 1998, we see the same, boring, religious hysteria again.
My Kingdom for a Clear Thought
As an ex-Roman Catholic and ex-Moravian, my Atheism has taught me one very
important fact of life. Non-religious individuals and secular claims are held
to a far higher standard of ethics and scrutiny than religious people or
supernatural claims. Critical thinking, objectivity, scientific methodology,
and peer review are all hallmarks of Atheism. Submission, fear, credulity, and
insupportable claims are the hallmarks of religious belief. Just watch the
media and everyone else go completely haywire when the back of a highway sign
in Yakima, WA, a blob of candle wax in NJ, or a urine stain in a Mexico subway
station are the landing sites for "supernatural visitors." A little Atheism
could go a long way toward minimizing this nonsense.
In the 25 year life-span of the saga of "The Phantom Petition" it appears
that very few religionists have even bothered to think, make a phone call, or
determine what the truth really is - they just "go along with the crowd."
I'm especially saddened by the lack of any real investigation or verification
by the Register. Such shoddy journalism will only serve to undermine future
endeavors at uncovering fraud. The reaction by the archdiocese is
understandable, but journalistic integrity falters if a little Atheism is not
employed. A simple phone call to American Atheists (or a visit to our
website (http://www.atheists.org/), my office (it's in The Yellow Pages in New
York), or the FCC (the Petition is on their website - http://www.fcc.gov),
would have resulted in a completely different, and very real and verifiable,
set of circumstances. They would have discovered a frantic FCC doing
everything possible to diffuse this damaging, and costly, myth. As recently
as 1997, the FCC had to issue a "Fact Sheet" outlining the truth (while
lamenting that it had responded to well over a million inquires - and now the
archdiocese wants to send them a million more - what a waste!)
In the unreal world of supernaturalism, myth is more productive than fact.
Myth- conception is an endless function of faith. Who it hurts or how much it
costs is incidental. As long as religious purposes are served, ethics,
inquiry and reason are abandoned.
Does anyone care about truth? Are we becoming a country of mindless
followers, content to wallow in a world full of concocted hysteria and
senseless sensationalism? Is it that easy to believe fantastic claims rather
than it is searching for truth? The truth is not always comfortable.
Ascertaining truth takes work, lot's of it. But let's not waste what little
precious time we have. Let's not quibble over facts. Truth is anathema to
religious exploitation and hysteria. And so is reason.
Ronald J. Barrier
National Spokesperson,
AMERICAN ATHEISTS
![[top]](/pix/arrow.gif)
[text only]
|
I like the Staten Island Register. Some of the most informative and
investigative journalism relating to local Staten Island issues has been done
by this important community newspaper. But sometimes even the best of them
waver when beset with blind emotionalism and when even the most cursory
journalistic procedures are abandoned for the sake of sensationalism.