Don't Fall for Fake FCC Petition 2493 Claims

Recently I got an e-mail from a friend with the subject line Pastor Removal From Television. It didn't take me long to realize that this was an old wolf in a new sheepskin. In fact, I knew it from the subject line. & when I saw that the petition # was 2493, I thought, here we go again.

Back in the mid 70s a letter started going arround claiming that Madalyn Murray O'Hair had filed a petition to ban all religious broadcasting. It also claimed the Dr. James Dobson was supporting it. About every 3 years it made a new appearance despite Dr. Dobson & the FCC's efforts to stop it. With the advent of e-mail, electronic versions began circulating. Even after her disappearance & the confirmation of her death, the petition continued with her name on it.

In recent years, O'Hair's name has finally been removed. But many new versions have started to go arround. Some esp geared to Christmas. Even though they have updated the names of some of the preachers, Dr. Donson's name still usually appears on it.

Back in 1974 there was a real petition, RM-2493. It had to do with giving licenses for radio stations to Church affiliated schools in the spectrum reserved for educational stations. The FCC quickly rejected the petition. Somehow or other, the petition number got attatched to this claim & to O'Hair, who never had a thing to do with the original petition.

For more info about the fake petition & its variations: Snopes.com: Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting

So, if you get an e-mail, or a snail mail, about a petition sent to the FCC to ban relgious broadcasters & esp if you see that it is #2493, you can be assured that it is a fake. All any response sent back to the FCC does is make their job more difficult (& adds to their expenses that we as taxpayers underwrite).

It also makes us look foolish & wastes our time.

Also, be sure to send a e-mail back to whoever sent it to you with the above info.

I don't think this will ever die completely, but the more people that know the truth, the quicker it will fade away to oblivion.

PS I suspect that with the election of Obama that the new version with his name will get a lot of circulation.