Let's Pick Your Brain, Shall We???

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

We are trying to merge two topics into one; we are trying to make those two topics fit the same pattern.

What religion does, is, and teaches is one thing, and is probably not an appropriate discussion to try and fully flesh out in a Radio-Info forum.

What broadcasting does, is and turns out to be is not lashed to the temperament of organized religion.

• However, any broadcaster who decides to program a radio station to cater to broadcasting of religious material and ignores trying to understand what religion does and what religious organizations do will eventually risk running into a brick wall and wondering what happened.
  

Stations (and cable channels?) owned and operated by a church-owned or mission-based organization look at the task of programming from a "how do we bring change to peoples lives" and look upon making the budget work as some kind of necessary evil to be tolerated.

Stations owned and operated by an investor seeking a return on investment does not have the same kind of 'how do we bring change to people's lives" drive. (Some for-profit owners do have a faith-based motivation and they have their own brand of struggles on programming decisions.)

A quote from Talk_Dude:

Once one has decided what one believes, then the balance of one's life in faith is spent in practicing it and reinforcing it. That's why one seeks out programming on the radio that reinforces one's faith, not teaching one regards as false that challenges one's faith.

Not universally true. There are religions and faith-groups who teach that as part of their dogma, and their dogma never changes, never "updates". Other groups recognize change and a maturing process as part of life and part of ones belief system. A broadcaster who plans to operate a station with religious programming over the long term probably needs to learn which is which because the stations efforts at audience promotion needs some targeting and direction.

Additional quote from Talk_Dude:

Quote from: Goat Rodeo Cowboy on Yesterday at 23:13:07
I don't think you guys have been sitting in he teacher chair.... trying to keep peace among the students as they roll out their disagreements.

Huh?

In the previous quote you spelled out your understanding of faith issues. In this second quote you are indicating that you cannot comprehend that there could be a time when church people are gathered together for academic pursuit of faith issues and there might be times when opposing views become part of the discussion. In some groups that happens. In fact, some groups thrive on that.

So. We have now set the stage of understanding the thankless task of being the manager responsible for programming a Christian Talk station in particualr: At 1:30 in the afternoon you have this local preacher who is very "fixed" in his teachings and is beginning to throw insults during his broadcast directed at the 2:00 P.M. broadcast. The preacher at 2:00 P.M. teaches a "big-tent, more-flexible" form of teaching and is beginning to throw insults at the 1:30 P.M. broadcast. As station manager you see a nasty situation developing and you have got to understand what is going on and take some kind of action before lawsuits begin.... and you listening audience decides to find another place on the dial.

Been there. Done that. Got the tee-shirt as evidence. ;D

P.S. about that Sunday School class where people don't see eye-to-eye with each other and maybe with the teacher.... I got that tee-shirt also.

 

[quadraphonic]

There are corollaries to all these questions that pertain to radio stations, but I'll stick with the Sunday school line for the first part of this post to keep it simpler...

P.S. about that Sunday School class where people don't see eye-to-eye with each other and maybe with the teacher.... I got that tee-shirt also.

You already said you had that t-shirt and that you don't think the rest of us guys have been sitting in the teacher's chair trying to keep peace while students disagree.
And honestly it sounds like you are looking down your nose at every one else here.
Why don't you think anyone else has had that t-shirt?
What went into the thinking there? Is it a pretty elite t-shirt or something? Does the fact that others have taught Sunday school with few incidents of fisticuffs also entitle them to a nebulous, honorary prize?

Does your Sunday school class encourage dissension? Is it like talk radio?
Does it encourage the idea of disagreeing to the point that a teacher has to regularly "keep the peace?" That's a different kind of Sunday school class. Or were you just exaggerating?
They might be disagreeing with each other because they are contentious. Like talk radio?
They might be disagreeing with the teacher because the teacher talks in circles and doesn't answer their questions and speaks in sophistry. These are things for a teacher to consider. Sometimes I might mumble and have to repeat myself, we all have places to improve.
If you're having a hard time "keeping the peace" more than a couple of times a year (which doesn't really earn you a t-shirt, you just get a certificate for that), then there's something intrinsically wrong somewhere in that class.
Which faiths encourage people to disagree? There can't be many.

Except for those very, very, very few exceptions, people in the general public view radio the same way they view church. It's there, if they want to partake, they will. If they don't, they won't. The number of people who listen to the radio or attend Sunday school to challenge their thinking is pretty minimal. Not even qualifying for the "t-shirt as a reward" category.

If there's a t-shirt for teaching people in a way that educates them and enlightens their thinking makes them more interested in learning more than in fighting amongst one another in "academic pursuits," I'll take that t-shirt.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

If there's a t-shirt for teaching people in a way that educates them and enlightens their thinking makes them more interested in learning more than in fighting amongst one another in "academic pursuits," I'll take that t-shirt.

I regret that my choice of wording came across as abrasive or put-down or whatever. I had hoped it would "
stimulate people to consider the various ways we can deal with this topic. We don't know how others who have not chosen to chime in are reacting to the entire conversation.

I like your last paragraph.

I just went back and re-read all the messages in this thread. I could go back and quote a few lines here and there, pick at them, and say: THIS is what I was responding to. But that would just stir the pot rather than "enlighten people and make them more interested in learning." When people want to learn, the want or need to fight is probably diminished.

Trying to keep this whole conversation related to the broadcasting side of the topic, here is a parallel that I see:

RADIO: Listeners already know everything they want to know about radio and topics that might be talked about, so the only choice of the industry is to feed them the comfort food they expect. It's our only choice. Somehow offering the possibility of new thinking is not discussable.

RELIGION: Participants get only one choice in life on this topic, and once they have made that choice they will not change, cannot change, must not change so broadcasters of religion (and churches, synagogues, and other places of worship and teaching) must be content to feed them the "comfort food" they expect. It's our only choice. Somehow offering the possibility of new thinking is not discussable.

I don't know if anyone in this conversation is as rigid as what I have described in these parallels or not. I do know that people show up at worship and teaching and sometimes say: This is so refreshing. I also know that I seldom run into anyone who discusses radio and says: This is so refreshing.

 

[Talk_Dude]

RELIGION: Participants get only one choice in life on this topic, and once they have made that choice they will not change, cannot change, must not change so broadcasters of religion (and churches, synagogues, and other places of worship and teaching) must be content to feed them the "comfort food" they expect. It's our only choice. Somehow offering the possibility of new thinking is not discussable.

I don't know if anyone in this conversation is as rigid as what I have described in these parallels or not. I do know that people show up at worship and teaching and sometimes say: This is so refreshing. I also know that I seldom run into anyone who discusses radio and says: This is so refreshing.

I have encountered many people who expect the churches of their choice to have a wishy-washy, easy-going, make-it-up-as-you-go-along sort of unrestricted theology. There are many well known organized religions and quasi-religions who proudly proclaim that they welcome all ideas and thoughts on all things spiritual. I do not belong to any of those religions or quasi-religions.

 

[ChiefEngineer]

"God spare me from your people." A famous prayer.

Unfortunately there is only one "religion" so if you are a part of the body of Christ and disagree with your arm it is still a part of you. I disagree with my toe as it has become unresponsive. (Yes I cut it off..well, a doctor did.)

Until we determine how to prune effectively we have much in common with even Mormons. The whole one body concept allows us to see that offshoots and heretical viewpoints are parts of the one body under Christ. Many letters to early churches offered advice on how to correct their problems. Many in the early church lost their life due to heretical practices like AnaBaptism. (A second or first Baptism at an adult age in whcih some discernment by the Baptised is invoked.) Even the Catholic Church accepts one Baptism for the forgiveeness of sin. They disagree with the theology of churches but consider them a part of the One Church. This one Church is split.

I get that broadcasting is a ministry run like a business. This requires as much inclusiveness as the frozen chosen allow... including some heretics that are ultimately saved.

The difference is that the heretics can't be discerned by the main churches as such or your station will be discerned as heretical. (Judged by man without God being in the equation.)

I am happy to note our oldies station has not received the ire of churches because it is seen as a secular plot to reach the ujnsaved.

There are many more shots fired over differing viewpoints on the christian station. Ultimately this is due to disagreement.