The attitude of the Synagogue council of America to the question of whether atheists should be given time on the air to ##sent their views was outlined in a statement presented today by Rabbi William F. ##enblum, president of the organization, to a special House committee hearing on a decision of the Federal Communications Commission regarding a petition submitted by Robert Harold Scott asking that atheists he given radio time to present their views“Like every other American organization, the Synagogue Council believes in the preservation of the principles of freedom of speech and conscience and it reiterates that position.” The statement says, “Those who espouse atheistic or other godless philosophies have a constitutional right to present their views on the air, particularly where they feel themselves unjustly accused or improperly represented.
“However, it must he kept in mind that this great nation of ours was farmed ‘under God.’ We thus have a distinct affirmation in our Declaration of Independence that this is a country with religion as one of its fundamental bases, separation between church and state has at no time meant that we wish to see our institutions subverted by atheism.
“Therefore the Synagogue Council of America Joins in the hope that the decision of the Federal Communications Commission in the Scott case will not be misinterpreted to mean that the airwaves are to he open indiscriminately to those the represent atheism or other forms of attack upon religion. The vast majority of the people of this country are religious, and there is no validity to the demand hat those who have opposite views must receive an ‘equal amount of time’ or that they must of necessity appear on stations or programs when religious views are presented either by a religious service or otherwise.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
