Tens of thousands of Christians last week called on the British government to lift a ban on national religious broadcasting, and to include independent broadcasters in a government forum set up to address the future of religious broadcasting.
Tens of thousands of Christians called on the British government last week to lift a ban on national religious broadcasting, and to include independent broadcasters in a government forum set up to address the future of religious broadcasting.
Religious broadcasters have been banned from applying for national radio licences since the passage of the 1990 Broadcasting Act. The United Kingdom is one of only four countries to have such a ban, alongside Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Iran.
Protests against the ban have been co-ordinated by United Christian Broadcasters (UCB), a satellite radio station supported by a wide range of Christian denominations. UCB reports that over the past 10 years, hundreds of Members of Parliament from different political parties have supported lifting the ban, and numerous petitions, containing more than 276,000 signatures, have been presented to the government.
“We, too, are deeply frustrated by this undemocratic ban,” says John Surridge, communication director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Britain. “Christian free speech is being stifled by the unfair British licensing laws. Around the world, the Adventist Church provides extensive radio services but here in the United Kingdom we are severely limited.”
For further information about United Christian Broadcasters go to www.ucb.co.uk
