SpeakSpeak News

A February convention in Florida united evangelicals bent on “reclaiming America for Christ.”

In material given to conference attendees, the Rev. D. James Kennedy, wrote: “As the vice-regents of God, we are to bring His truth and His will to bear on every sphere of our world and our society. We are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government … our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors - in short, over every aspect and institution of human society.”

In the Christian Science Monitor.

The “We Are Family” video has hit the nation’s classrooms. (You remember – Barney, Big Bird and SpongeBob getting jiggy to the Pointer Sisters?)

How is the vid being received?

Last week, New York school kids said the video had a good dance beat.

This week, students at one South Florida school “giggled, clapped and wiggled as they watched the montage of characters flash across the screen.” Devon Peoples, a Ft. Lauderdale six-year-old, provided this plot synopsis: “Just because we’re all different, we are still a part of a family,” he said. “Everyone is different, like Barney and stuff.”

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “students then took turns showing off family pictures they created. Holding up his picture, one boy pointed to his mother, an orange stick figure, and his brother, scribbled in blue.” One boy described his life with mom and dad, while a classmate said she lives with her grandmother, stepsister, cousin, and parents.

Clearly, America’s children are being corrupted.

According to the Sun-Sentinel:

Ed Vitagliano, spokesman for the American Family Association, said defining family by “people who care about each other” is wrong.

“It artificially expands the definition of family to any group of people, beyond what is traditional,” he said Monday. “That’s not accurate. We think kids should be taught things that are true.”

Sigh.

Read the article at Sun-Sentinal.com.

The Advocate (Baton-Rouge, LA), has an op-ed about what crusty old Arthur Miller thought about censorship.

Read the piece, with excerpts of Miller’s writings.

Apparently deflated after Jay and Kay introduced their own cable/satellite regulation bill, Senator Ted Stevens has come up with a splendid new idea: Insert an Internet-decency rider into the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act.

More at CNet.

Worried that Old Testament references to “getting stoned” would encourage kids to go and get themselves stoned, the British publishers of ‘Today’s New International Version Bible’ have instead decided to refer to the method of execution as “being stoned to death.”

Fortunately, this clears up such potentially confusing Biblical proclamations as

“When an ox gores a man to death, the ox must be stoned.” (Exodus 21:28-32)

“And Moses spake to the children of Israel; and they brought forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. And the children of Israel did as Jehovah commanded Moses.” (Leviticus 24:23)

“Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through.“ (Exodus 19:10-25) [Apparently the Bible had been advocating heroin use as well.]

“And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:59-60) [Commentary withheld.]

Story from the Observer.

A PTC spokesperson says that parents are increasingly concerned about swearing during professional sports broadcasts. “Sports events are not as family-safe as they once were,” said Melissa Caldwell, director of research for the PTC. Parents are also concerned, she says, with commercials shown during sports broadcasts. [Aside: The solution? Make bikini-clad women a disincentive for buying beer. Agreed? Great. Now, who has a plan?]

There more in the Seattle P-I.

The Right is reacting to the FCC’s rejection of indecency complaints against the Terrell Owens/Nicollette Sheridan NFL teaser.

The Parents Television Council is absolving themselves of all responsibility. They claim to have filed no complaints, and PTC executive director Tim Winter was quoted by Bloomberg as saying “Though we felt the show was offensive and irresponsible, we didn’t feel it was a violation of the law.”

Dobson’s brigade, on the other hand, is warming up their ballpoints. This afternoon’s Focus on the Family CitizenLink newsletter urges FoFers to “let the five commissioners of the FCC know what you think of their ruling that there was nothing indecent about the “Monday Night Football"/"Desperate Housewives” sketch.

Speak up!

Have you seen the video?

(read on…)

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who vowed to extend indecency regs to cable but backpedaled early this week, has been beaten to his own party. West Virginian Jay Rockefeller and Texan Kay Bailey Hutchison have introduced a bill that would give the FCC jurisdiction over cable and satellite. The bill would also provide the first-ever statutory definition of “indecency.”

According to Broadcasting & Cable, the Jay-Kay soiree would also “boost fines for indecency, double the number of required hours of educational children’s programming per week from three to six (we’re not sure how that fits into the indecency equation), and require 30-second, on-screen warnings every 30 minutes during violent of indecent programming.”

B&C points out that similar violence provisions led to the death of an FCC regulation bill in the last Congress. (But hey – today’s a new day.)

B&C also gives a point-by-point rundown of changes the bill would enact:

1) It would give the FCC the power to regulate violence on TV (for the first time).

2) It would give the FCC the power to regulate indecency (and violence) on cable and satellite (for the first time).

3) It would require the FCC to conduct a review of the V-Chip and other blocking technologies, to determine whether they’re effective.

4) It would require labeling of violent and indecent programming, including a full-screen, 30-second, warning every 30 minutes on broadcast, cable, and satellite programs.

5) It would doubles required kids’ programming from 3 hours to 6 hours per week.

6) It would increase maximum indecency fines to $500,000 (as would a pending bill). It would also let the FCC double that fine for especially “egregious” violations.

Stay tuned.