RM-2493 was the title of a rule-making proposal made to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) in 1974. It has since been the subject of an ongoing

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

(sometimes being called Petition 2493).

Origin

In 1974, Jeremy Lansman and

Lorenzo Milam Lorenzo Wilson Milam, born on August 2, 1933, in Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida; died on July 19, 2020, in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, was an American writer and activist who was instrumental in starting many of the first liste ...

submitted a request to the FCC to amend the rules concerning educational broadcasts. They requested a review be made to determine if any religious groups were filing for licenses on channels that had been reserved for general educational purposes with the intent of making religious broadcasts. The FCC reviewed this request and denied it in 1975, citing it did not have a policy on restricting broadcasts based on possible religious content. Thereafter, the matter was officially ended. During the time the matter was being considered, the FCC received numerous letters concerning this proposal. Many of the correspondents were under the incorrect impression that the proposal was seeking a complete ban on all religious broadcasting. The FCC explained that that possibility had never been suggested and was not being considered. Following the denial of RM-2493, the FCC went on to explain that there now was no longer any proposal being considered.

Variations

These statements did not stop the concern of some citizens. Messages were circulating on the Internet as late as September 2012 stating that a ban on religious broadcasting was either being actively considered or has been recently enacted. Variations of this message state that

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

are circulating a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

in support of the ban; that religious people are circulating a petition to oppose the ban; that

Madalyn Murray O'Hair Madalyn Murray O'Hair ( Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995) was an American activist supporting atheism, separation of church and state, feminism, and Holocaust denial. In 1963, she founded American Atheists and served as its president ...

is responsible for the ban (O'Hair had no association with RM-2493 and died in 1995); that

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelicalism, evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FotF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s, he was ranked as one of the m ...

is leading opposition to the ban (Dobson has stated he is aware there is no proposed ban and has not led any efforts in regard to it); and that the ban was responsible for the cancellation of the television series ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced by Ma ...

''. The FCC states that it has received over 30,000,000 pieces of mail regarding this issue since 1975. A 2009 variation of Petition 2493 (without the RM- prefix) claims O'Hair's organization,

American Atheists American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and th ...

, wants the "Removal of Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Charles Stanley, David Jeremiah and other pastors from the air waves," and Dobson asks petitioners to send responses and donations to "Lisa Norman". Once again, Dobson denies any involvement.

References

External links

Snopes.com: Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting

* ttp://www.hoax-slayer.com/petition-number-2493.shtml Hoax-Slayer.com: Pastor Removal from Television - Petition 2493
Urban Legends About.com: Petition 2493 (Pastor Removal from Television

Florida Baptist Witness Blog: Before You Forward That email

Wise County Texas Tea Party Patriots: FCC Petition to Remove Pastors from the Airwaves

Media Matters Action Network: Email: Pastor Removal From Television
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rm-2493 Federal Communications Commission American urban legends