The Difference Between Family Radio, Family Life Radio, Family Life Network and American Family Radio

[Kelly A]

Then there's the concept of the work spouse

Yeah, that's creepy in itself. They used to call that cheating.

 

[gr8oldies]

Correct. We are in a strange era for the church. Old-style pew churches and Baptist churches are losing ground to non-denominational, more glitzy churches. We have a large Baptist church that still has a lot of cars in the parking lot, but the average age of attendance keeps going up. Many are in their 70s, 80s or early 90s. What happens when they all head for Heaven? Who replaces them?
The church I go to has 600-800 people in attendance each week and there are many families who attend together, including a bunch of Latino families (they may or may have not been Catholic previously).

The attractions of the church, and its outreach, appeal to the current demographic. Our coffee stand is always packed before service. There are tons of opportunities to serve, including tech - cameras/sound/tech. directing/lyrics, and we fill all three cameras every week, with about 10-12 volunteers on a rotation (and growing). Baptisms every month, and some months we've had close to 15 over the course of two services...plus a handful of others at the two satellite campuses. No political BS, no endorsing candidates. Sometimes they do a generic prayer for the U.S., or for the leaders (they don't mention Biden by name, or McConnell by name...just for the US government as a whole). They pray for teachers at the start of the school year and students, but they don't diss public schools vs. homeschooling...it's for all students and teachers no matter where.
Thankfully, unlike many of the 'megachurches' that are bigger than us, the pastor and co-pastor come out in between services, greet people, pray for them, etc. Others with their $500,000 paychecks walk off the set and get in their Ferrari or Mercedes as soon as the last service ends, or they hide in the green room in between. That's YOU I'm talking to, Joel Osteen!!
Contemporary worship music, as well, in my church. Two upbeat songs, and two slower songs where the prayer team often comes up. Sometimes a song at the end, but that's rare. Worship nights and conferences nearly fill both the main floor and the balcony, just about every seat is filled.

Anyways, back on topic. Family Radio and AFR are to me, what Mikey calls 'dark messages about end times' stations. FLR and FLN are upbeat, positive, CCM stations with a couple of teaching programs and FotF in the afternoons or evenings. FLN airs an hour of kids programming on weeknights (Adventures in Odyssey at 7, and a rotating mix at 7:30 ET). FLR does not air kids' programs. I'd much prefer the positive message on FLR vs. hours of teaching/preaching on AFR. I save my sermon for my local church on Sunday morning.

One of AFR's hosts plead guilty and took a plea deal to testify against Trump. Jenna Ellis becomes latest Trump lawyer to plead guilty over efforts to overturn Georgia's election

 

[boombox4]

Unfortunately the word “family” has become an extreme right-wing dog whistle for an authoritarian and patriarchal societal structure in which husband/father figures have iron-fisted dictatorial control over blindly submissive women and children.

If you start hearing religious types blathering about “family”, rigorously ignore and avoid them.

Everyone uses the word "family" politically. Not just right wing religious nuts. And being that this thread is about several Christian radio networks and programs, I think the extremist use of "family" doesn't apply as much as you think.

Elizabeth Warren -- who is as far from being a religious nut as you can get -- when she was running for President in 2016, used the term "working family" or "working families" about 80 times in just one or two exchanges. The term is even mentioned in the Democratic Party Platform several times. Obviously, the concept of "family" is a big deal politically, and it's used for political means just like a lot of other push-button, or bread and butter issues. Then you have the fact that what constitutes a "family" has changed over the past couple of decades, and obviously not all people accept the changes, but they're there and no one's turning the clock back.

And contrary to the assertion here that all of the religious organizations we are discussing in this thread -- or Christian radio in general -- are promoting an authoritarian and patriarchal structure, if one actually listened to the programs they would find out that in many of these programs the reverse is the case.

When my mother was still alive, and was ill and living with me, I used to have the radio on the Christian teaching stations 24/7, at least a few days a week, because Mom liked the programming. She also liked NPR. So it was a mix. Consequently, I heard a LOT of Christian, protestant radio programming.

Extremely rarely did I hear the patriarchal/authoritarian model being preached. Maybe 95% of the time it was the exact opposite. Phrases like "mutual submission" -- both spouses being completely equal, in other words -- were taught by most of the 'family' oriented programs I heard. I heard this concept being taught on programs like Focus On The Family even. And I think they're considered 'evangelical' or fundamentalist.

As for some of the conservative political nuts? Yes, they tend to use the term "family" to push a politically "traditional" agenda, as if they're trying to take us backwards. I've seen it from guys like Charlie Kirk and Matt Walsh. They think we can turn the clock back to 1953. News flash: ain't happening.

But I didn't hear such crap on Christian radio all that much. Then again, what plays on Christian, evangelical radio in Seattle may be different than what one would hear in Nashville or Montgomery, or parts of Oklahoma and Texas. So there's that.

As for the notion of churches dying, it's the internet, which has not only changed media, it's changed work, retail, business in general, and even changed the concept of community-based associations like church. You don't need to go to church. You've got podcasts and live streaming instead.

 

[kevtronics]

It's hard to erase the stigma of politicians claiming to represent "family values", while they were cheating on their wives, molesting children, and getting caught in airport bathrooms.

 

[Kelly A]

It's hard to erase the stigma of politicians claiming to represent "family values", while they were cheating on their wives, molesting children, and getting caught in airport bathrooms.

Or, as I heard about on the radio recently; people like the book-banning, anti-LGBTQ, founder of 'Mom's for Liberty' Bridget Ziegler, who admitted to having threesomes along with her accused-of-rape-husband Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler.
Talk about 'family values'.