Well evangelicals etc...are linked to MAGA etc...because they're not likely to be linked to Hillary, Harris or others lol. I know many conservative Christians who don't vote, or support any candidates. K-Love is awful to listen too, and in my major metro there's at least 4 K-Love stations. How many does one area need. They know how to extort money from listeners though lol
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Religious Radio Organization Cheers Upcoming Opportunities to Acquire More Signals
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OK, enough is enough, even for this nonbeliever! "Extort money from listeners"??? How is taking donations from people who enjoy the music a certain station plays and the encouraging message in its lyrics, and not asking them for a penny more than what they're willing to give, extortion? That radio station, its music, its message, and the religion it champions will still be there for them even if they stop giving. They suffer no negative consequences for not giving. And for everyone who gives, there are thousands who never donate, and they get the same pleasure out of K-LOVE as those who donate thousands of dollars a year. All they don't get is the tax break! Taxation: Now THAT'S extortion!
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
There is nothing wrong with listeners to Christian-formatted radio stations making donations. In fact, it is every bit as appropriate as listeners to public radio.
Where I draw the line with EMF/K-Love, or any such broadcaster, is the on-air positioning of the requests for donations as if the station will be forced off the air if the listener does not donate. EMF is well known for having an obscene amount of money piled up at any given moment in time; that is how they have been able to consistently outbid anyone competing to acquire a station that they covet if it comes on the market. (It is that same ability to make attractive offers to station owners before they even think about listing it with a broker that has been successful for them.)
Pure and simple, they have gamed the system, and I find that to be contrary to what Jesus Christ taught us.
I think that any religious organization -- broadcast or brick-and-mortar -- with enough assets for Jesus to compare them to the "merchants in the temple" if He walked among us today, should have their tax-exempt status revoked. Thus, I am not talking just about EMF, but about the megachurches and the television preachers, and even the Roman Catholic Church.
I liked the Contemporary Christian music format that Ed Atsinger pioneered at Salem, and as I have said, I respect him for running that company as a business and paying taxes on its profits. In fact, my first exposure to CC music was at his first station, in the 1970s, in my home market of Oxnard-Ventura CA. But EMF has turned that into an abomination, in my opinion.
Somewhere along the line, it has to stop.
Where I draw the line with EMF/K-Love, or any such broadcaster, is the on-air positioning of the requests for donations as if the station will be forced off the air if the listener does not donate. EMF is well known for having an obscene amount of money piled up at any given moment in time; that is how they have been able to consistently outbid anyone competing to acquire a station that they covet if it comes on the market. (It is that same ability to make attractive offers to station owners before they even think about listing it with a broker that has been successful for them.)
Pure and simple, they have gamed the system, and I find that to be contrary to what Jesus Christ taught us.
I think that any religious organization -- broadcast or brick-and-mortar -- with enough assets for Jesus to compare them to the "merchants in the temple" if He walked among us today, should have their tax-exempt status revoked. Thus, I am not talking just about EMF, but about the megachurches and the television preachers, and even the Roman Catholic Church.
I liked the Contemporary Christian music format that Ed Atsinger pioneered at Salem, and as I have said, I respect him for running that company as a business and paying taxes on its profits. In fact, my first exposure to CC music was at his first station, in the 1970s, in my home market of Oxnard-Ventura CA. But EMF has turned that into an abomination, in my opinion.
Somewhere along the line, it has to stop.
Actually i all started in 1980 or so when a religious broadcaster got the FCC to permit translators anywhere in the country. A few groups began ploping down translators in almost every state, applying for what we might see as obsene amounts of stations with a filing window. Jimmy Swaggert applied for around 5,000. The FCC talked with them and it was greatly reduced. Most filed several hundred. Yes, EMF was part of that.
When the book you regard as an unquestionable, never-to-be-challenged pillar of your faith commands you to go out and convert the world to your belief system, you can't be blamed for using technology undreamed of at the time that chapter and verse were written to follow that command.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
God is omnipotent. He doesn't need transmitters.
Thats what my late mom used to say about me, but not because I was god like.... "You have no inside voice, you don't need a transmitter.. just stand on the studio roof and yell"
Frankly, few of those Christian radio stations seem likely to convert anyone -- most of them seem designed to appeal to the already converted. And if you're staying on the air based on donations that kind of makes sense, since those are the people who are going to be willing to donate.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Just don't bear false witness against the flock by making your donation requests sound like you'll go off the air next week if they don't
And how would you expect people who believe in God and consider the Bible to be "the word of God" to feel?
Most everyone who is regular here know that K.M. and I have been friends for well over a decade and we share lots of ideas and concepts of radio. So that does not mean we can't disagree on issues and discuss them.
In this case, I don't believe that EMF/K-Love has an "obscene amount of money" on hand. Elon Musk is worth close to $500 billion. EMF generally has less than $100 million in available funds, and often... after making acquisitions... far less. By comparison, my neighbor city of Palm Springs has $42 milllion budgeted just to renovate a single public library.
I think they will refer to the biblical references to "go forth and spread the Word" as demanding them to expand the reach of their radio efforts.
There are some overly ostentatious preachers who seem to revel in displaying the "blessings" that God has sent them. But for the most part, the majority of churches are always seeking funding and contributions.
I don't like the EMF / K-Love music at all; I find it both insipid and pandering, but some people love it. And some people find the music I like to be terrible. But in the end, EMF is a music station that tries to spread a message through the lyrics of those songs and does not preach, teach or offend those of other faiths. Given the number of persons who listen across the country, it's obvious that they are doing something that a lot of folks really enjoy.
Your turn, K.M.
To respect adherents of other religions and stop trying to tell them that their "word of God" is a lie? In a world where no one truly knows what the afterlife is like, or even if there is one, wouldn't that go a long way toward eliminating faith-based friction and resentment?
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Without getting into specifics (because we've both now given our individual views), I see your side of the issue, mi amigo, but still think EMF/K-Love is bigger than they should be, they gamed the rules to get there (before the main studio requirement was done away with, every station they acquired had a waiver request attached) and I believe spreading the Word should happen more locally than nationally. In fact, I am still a believer that one's faith is better "spread" one-on-one in terms of that Biblical "mandate".
And I still think the religion I was raised under -- and later rejected as being too regimented for the way I feel as a Christian -- is even more at fault than EMF. I refer, of course, to Catholicism.
It is also still my opinion that if EMF wants stations in the commercial part of the FM band, they should not be allowed to convert them to non-commercial and avoid the annual FCC registration fees on same. Knowing those fees as well as I do, that would be a significant increase in revenue at the Commission.
Exactly! If someone asks me about Judaism, I'll give them a few details without trying to sound like I'm trying to convert them, mainly because I'm pretty much a casual Jew, not observant of the dietary laws, almost never in a synagogue, don't observe the Sabbath. But I do mark the high holidays, love the traditional Passover and Rosh Hashanah rituals and foods, and yes, it helps to be Jewish if you want to tell good jokes.
And I'll hear Christians out under those circumstances, but if they start telling me about Revelation and the lake of fire, it's "take a hike" time. One of my more interesting experiences came on a long Greyhound ride across the South. I wound up sharing seats with a pair of Mormon (or LDS, as they prefer) missionaries on their way from Atlanta to Tuskegee, Alabama. We got to talking about the LDS Church and the story behind the religion. It was fascinating and they never once told me I needed to convert or I'd go to Hell. They even gave me a Book of Mormon to leaf through, which I did. It was a positive experience, a great way to pass time on a long trip, and left me with a positive opinion of Mormons as human beings, which I retain to this day.
If only certain evangelicals I've encountered over the years were more like those two missionaries, I might not have as much as a negative attitude today. My response to in-your-face evangelism, for better or worse, is usually a joke, sarcasm, or outright laughter. I'll admit that this does not make them respect Judaism any more, but if you're going to tell me I've got to change or I'll suffer for eternity, I think I have the right to tell them where they should go, too.
By the way, I do enjoy both black and Southern gospel music, and absolutely love the Brandon Lake/Jelly Roll duet "Hard Fought Hallelujah." That song is incredibly powerful and personal without being preachy. It's personal testimony and they sell me not on Christianity as a whole but on the positive effects that their chosen religion has had on their lives.
Read it again. "Certain evangelicals." That's individuals. Not all Christians, not even close. Not Catholics, not Congregationalists, not even all Southern Baptists or Lutherans or Methodists. And I have a clue. I've probably read more of the New Testament, which is both a narrative and an instrument of persuasion, than I have of the Old, which devotes entire books to "who begat who begat who begat who," which gives no more insight into Judaism than the Crown Heights phone book does.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
If you knew me personally, you would have been one of the people in my circle of friends and colleagues who would have received a solemn message from me to have an easy fast at the beginning of this month.
I actually look forward to being able to wish them a "Chanukah same'ach" and "chag Pesach kasher vesame'ach" every year. One of my long-time Jewish friends returns the first greeting each year with "Merry Christmas".
I have encountered a number of young LDS men on their missions and have found them to be very friendly and polite. I tell them that while I have no interest in their faith -- in organized religion of any kind -- I respect their church and wish them luck. And they always respond pleasantly.
I like to quote Biblical passages that are contrary to whatever POV they are espousing. They hate that, and are very uncomfortable when the last thing I say to them before absenting myself is "God bless you".
It seems that with many of the Christian religions, if you don't agree 100% with whatever their interpretation of the Bible is, you cannot be a true Christian. I always wonder, when they get to Heaven, what Jesus Christ Himself says to them about spreading messages other than unconditional love in His name.
The first station I worked for brokered an hour on Sunday morning to the First Southern Baptist Church in the community, who came in one evening a week while I was producer of the nightly Classical music program to record their program. A lot of joyful sounds came out of the production studio on those evenings! (And the pastor, who was Black, was a wonderfully good-natured individual who was quick with thanks if I needed to help with some technical aspect of their recording sessions.)
Of course, none of that makes me feel any more charitable toward EMF/K-Love.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
I thought I was clear. I respect them until they get pushy and then I quote the Bible back to them as applicable. If they want to cherry-pick passages that fit their POV, then I reserve the right to cherry-pick my own in rebuttal.
It's still the same Word.