Frank Bruni has a germane op-ed today in The New York Times. He calls it, "The God Glut." Writes Bruni:
"We Americans aren’t careful at all. In a country that
supposedly draws a line between church and state, we allow the former to intrude
flagrantly on the latter. Religious faith shapes policy debates. It fuels claims
of American exceptionalism.
"And it suffuses arenas in which its place should be
carefully measured. A recent example of this prompted my conversation with
Kerrey. Last week, a fourth-year cadet at West Point packed his bags and left,
less than six months shy of graduation, in protest of what he portrayed as a
bullying, discriminatory religiousness at the military academy, which receives
public funding.
"The cadet, Blake Page, detailed his complaint in an
article for
The Huffington Post, accusing officers at the academy of “unconstitutional
proselytism,” specifically of an evangelical Christian variety. "
This "unconstitutional proselytism" has been my argument underlying all my posts complaining about the omnipresence of Christmas carols and hymns on LDS Church-owned "public" radio station, KBYU-FM, broadcasting its signal to most of Utah.
KBYU takes advantage of calling itself "public." It engages in frequent on-air fund drives. It touts its public nature, serving the Utah public, believers and atheists alike.
Yet at Christmas, it begins to air Christmas carols and religious hymns, as if its mission were to foster public religious belief. This carol onslaught takes place from December 1st, all the way through New Year.
I object to those carols that have a readily apparent Christian message—carols like Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, The First Noel. I blame KBYU managers, Eric Glissmeyer and Marcus Smith, for crossing the line separating religious proselytism from public entities, like public radio stations.
If KBYU is really a public station, then it should keep God and Christmas out of its programming.
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