AFA curses out the FCC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Now, look! No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle! Do you understand? Even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/11\/16\/afa-curses-out-the-fcc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AFA curses out the FCC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""Now, look! No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle! Do you understand? Even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/11\/16\/afa-curses-out-the-fcc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"slacktivist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2004-11-16T05:21:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fred Clark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fred Clark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/11\/16\/afa-curses-out-the-fcc\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/11\/16\/afa-curses-out-the-fcc\/\",\"name\":\"AFA curses out the FCC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2004-11-16T05:21:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2004-11-16T05:21:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/0173c85e46e7e0951fef5752bed78b6e\"},\"description\":\""Now, look! 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A former managing editor of Prism magazine, Fred worked in the parachurch nonprofit world for a decade and then for a decade in the newspaper biz. He began blogging in 2002. In 2003 he began writing a review of the best-selling Left Behind series. Eight years later he still hasn\u2019t finished reviewing the second book of that series and the experience has left him a broken shell of a man. Fred knows the difference between the possessive \u201cits\u201d and the contraction \u201cit\u2019s,\u201d and he is acutely bothered when others mistakenly confuse the two, yet he himself just kind of instinctively types the apostrophe whether or not it belongs there. Some feel this is his greatest hypocrisy, but those who know him better know better. He\u2019s guilty of much greater hypocrisies. Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. You can reach him via email at slacktivist at hotmail dot com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/author\/fredclark\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AFA curses out the FCC","description":""Now, look! No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle! Do you understand? 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A former managing editor of Prism magazine, Fred worked in the parachurch nonprofit world for a decade and then for a decade in the newspaper biz. He began blogging in 2002. In 2003 he began writing a review of the best-selling Left Behind series. Eight years later he still hasn\u2019t finished reviewing the second book of that series and the experience has left him a broken shell of a man. Fred knows the difference between the possessive \u201cits\u201d and the contraction \u201cit\u2019s,\u201d and he is acutely bothered when others mistakenly confuse the two, yet he himself just kind of instinctively types the apostrophe whether or not it belongs there. Some feel this is his greatest hypocrisy, but those who know him better know better. He\u2019s guilty of much greater hypocrisies. Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. 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{"id":962,"date":"2004-11-16T05:21:52","date_gmt":"2004-11-16T05:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/11\/16\/afa-curses-out-the-fcc\/"},"modified":"2004-11-16T05:21:52","modified_gmt":"2004-11-16T05:21:52","slug":"afa-curses-out-the-fcc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/11\/16\/afa-curses-out-the-fcc\/","title":{"rendered":"AFA curses out the FCC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Now, look! No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle! Do you understand? Even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do say 'Jehovah' \u2014 Ow!\"<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 from Monty Python's Life of Brian<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

The folks at the American Family Association<\/a> are all lathered up again.<\/p>\n

That's hardly news \u2014 it doesn't take much to get Don Wildmon's knickers in a twist. But what's newsworthy this time is the target of Wildmon's wrath \u2014 ABC television's Veterans Day broadcast of Saving Private Ryan.<\/i> (See here<\/a> for more context and commentary.)<\/p>\n

AFA is urging its members to e-mail the FCC objecting to the broadcast of such anti-family smut.<\/p>\n

\"File an indecency complaint against ABC for 'f' word and 's' word,\" AFA says in its \"Action Alert<\/a>\" for members. Private Ryan,<\/i> apparently, has \"at least 20 'f' words and 12 's' words.\" (Yes, of course<\/i> the AFA counted them. That's what they do. They protect families by quantifying profanity.)<\/p>\n

Because the film contains such vile language, AFA calls on members to, \"File a formal complaint against ABC for airing indecent language during the November 11 ABC movie, Saving Private Ryan..<\/i>\"<\/p>\n

But here's the fun part, the Action Alert goes on to include the following warning:<\/p>\n

WARNING: Because your complaint MUST CONTAIN the actual language used during the broadcast of Saving Private Ryan, it is included in the email text box below.<\/i><\/p>\n

Sure enough, follow the link to the ready-to-send astroturf e-mail<\/a> page and the \"formal complaint\" the AFA has prepared for your use contains examples of the offensive dialogue from the film \u2014 including 7 'f' words and 4 's' words.<\/p>\n

I am horrified that the AFA would repeat such language on an allegedly pro-family site.<\/p>\n

I'm sure you share my shock and dismay. That's why I invite you to take action and file a formal complaint<\/a> with the American Family Association.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"