# Jay Sekulow on religious TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 17, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512 "2017-09-17T01:42:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/21 "2017-09-17T20:59:45Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > OK, you win. In **drad dog** world, it’s a cable station. For the rest of us, it’s over-the-air. > > I give up, you’re hopeless. I can’t seem to get through to you, so I won’t try anymore. I did say I was nitpicking. It’s not worth the effort trying to fight ignorance when it keeps fighting back. I’ll know to avoid one of your topics from now on. You were here for your jollies not my edification. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/22 "2017-09-17T21:29:10Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > You were here for your jollies not my edification. Believe me, it was anything but jolly. Willful ignorance is the worst kind. And if you resist edification, why are you even here? Anyway, I’m truly finished with you. It’s like teaching my dog to ride a bicycle. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/23 "2017-09-17T21:35:41Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > at which time, along with every other full power U.S. TV station, it switched to transmitting, still over-the-air, a digital signal. in this case over UHF channel 47. (For consistency’s sake, over-the-air converter boxes still display its channel as 48.) Since it is an active over-the-air station, Federal Communication Commission “must carry” rules require local cable systems to carry its transmissions. > > WYDN is owned by, and carries the programs of, the Daystar TV network. There are about 40 Daystar TV broadcasting stations throughout the United States. “ACLJ This Week with Jay Sekulow” is carried by the Daystar network stations at 9:30 Eastern on Saturdays. (Sekulow also has a daily radio program). “ACLJ” stands for the “American Center for Law and Justice”. It considers itself to be a conservative analog (and counterweight) to the liberal ACLU. > > In early 2018 WYDN will go off the air after selling its spectrum space to be used for wireless telephones. Although not mentioned in the Wikipedia article, WYDN has the option of “doubling-up” with one of the other TV stations by continuing to broadcast over-the-air using one of the other station’s sub-channels. (With the switch to digital in 2009, a single TV station can now broadcast up to 5 or 6 separate over-the-air signals). Or Daystar can make an affiliation agreement with another station, most likely going over one of the sub-channels. > > There are few restrictions on the over-the-air programming due to First Amendment considerations. And the FCC is even less involved with the content of cable TV stations. There has always been a first amendment, but not always the right to broadcast anything you wanted. So it’s the lack of a fairness doctrine you mean, right? It’s an infomercial/mini telethon to get donations to prosecute former democratic public figures. There is not one word about god in it. For me I’ve never seen this kind of thing on a jesus station before but I don’t watch those much. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/24 "2017-09-17T21:37:33Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Believe me, it was anything but jolly. Willful ignorance is the worst kind. And if you resist edification, why are you even here? > > Anyway, I’m truly finished with you. It’s like teaching my dog to ride a bicycle. Too bad I was really interested in when you were going to realize you were arguing with yourself. Guess that’s not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/25 "2017-09-17T21:40:07Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Too bad I was really interested in when you were going to realize you were arguing with yourself. Guess that’s not going to happen. No it isn’t. They say it takes two fools to argue. I decided not to be one of them. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/26 "2017-09-17T21:44:28Z")
See I do wonder if political fundraising like that and calling it “religious” is legally wrong in some way, notwithstanding the signal chain. But they’re an “on the air” station so I guess that means…something…anything… ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/27 "2017-09-17T21:53:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No it isn’t. They say it takes two fools to argue. I decided not to be one of them. Too late. You made this thing without any participation from me. Then you kept on arguing against a position I didn’t hold. Then of course you started in with the endless" I’m done with you"s. You hit every point. Because you are so invested in what technical conditions this station gets broadcast under, you don’t seem to be able to grasp that I don’t care. But that if those conditions play into the OP you seem to be incapable of articulating that. Because you are here for your jollies and not to educate or edify. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/28 "2017-09-17T22:02:40Z")
My God, you are a motherfucking tool. If you don’t fucking care, why do you keep fucking replying to me, unless you’re trolling? Yes, I realize I crossed a line. I hereby acknowledge any warning I get without protest. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/29 "2017-09-17T22:14:29Z")
Yep. That’ll do it. Don’t do it again. I don’t care if you acknowledge it. Want to stay here? Control yourself. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/30 "2017-09-17T22:18:56Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > My God, you are a motherfucking tool. If you don’t fucking care, why do you keep fucking replying to me, unless you’re trolling? > > Yes, I realize I crossed a line. I hereby acknowledge any warning I get without protest. You can’t see that second sentence as the basest projection? I’m the OP. You are here to argue about something I didn’t ask you and don’t care about. Now who is a tool? You didn’t cross a line here. You did by nitpicking and then acting superior about something that is irrelevant. Then acting like it’s the issue at point and you are only trying to help, I’m done with you, blah blah. Take a look at yourself. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/31 "2017-09-17T22:19:01Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Yep. That’ll do it. > > Don’t do it again. I don’t care if you acknowledge it. Want to stay here? Control yourself. I won’t. And I apologize. I will control my temper in the future. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/32 "2017-09-17T23:12:36Z")
\*\*ENOUGH! \*\* The thread has nothing to do with the manner of broadcast in the sense that the question “What are they allowed to do?” could easily be transferred to some other station being broadcast from a religious school pr mega church. EVERYONE stop bickering over the technical aspects of the transmission and stick to addressing whether there is any rule for any station limiting politicking. (The “religious” nature of the broadcaster has already been addressed in [post #16](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20482356#post20482356).) [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/33 "2017-09-18T05:32:03Z")
The big restriction of non-commercial education stations is that they can’t run advertisements, which is to say, they can’t take money in exchange for broadcasting a message that “promote[s] any service, facility, or product offered by any person who is engaged in such offering for profit”, “express[es] the views of any person with respect to any matter of public importance or interest”, or “to support[s] or oppose[s] any candidate for political office.” It gets more complicated than that, because there’s a bunch of rules about underwriting and sponsorship that sort of goes up against the line of advertisements, and the FCC is considering relaxing the rules to let noncommercial broadcasters run fundraisers for other organizations . Non-commercial stations didn’t used to be allowed to editorialize for certain political points of view, IIRC, but the courts got rid of that restriction. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/34 "2017-09-18T17:17:49Z")
I think I’ll call comcast and ask them what it means when the description in the guide says “Religious,” if anything. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/35 "2017-09-18T17:38:56Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I think I’ll call comcast and ask them what it means when the description in the guide says “Religious,” if anything. You do that, but you must realize that if a description in a guide says “Religious”, it has absolutely no bearing on FCC licensing, or other federal regulations/laws. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/36 "2017-09-18T18:43:24Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > You do that, but you must realize that if a description in a guide says “Religious”, it has absolutely no bearing on FCC licensing, or other federal regulations/laws. I want to find out what bearing it has, period. I have a terrible habit of questioning authority. I know it’s out of style. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/37 "2017-09-18T18:54:19Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I want to find out what bearing it has, period. I have a terrible habit of questioning authority. I know it’s out of style. That’s the point, though. Comcast isn’t any sort of authority. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/38 "2017-09-18T19:01:11Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > That’s the point, though. Comcast isn’t any sort of authority. :dubious: You’ve never dealt with Comcast, have you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/39 "2017-09-18T19:06:00Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > That’s the point, though. Comcast isn’t any sort of authority. :dubious: Yup. If there’s a “Religious” tag on a program (or a station) in your Comcast onscreen guide, it’s either because the TV station itself supplied it, or there’s some third-party company who does the classifications. It’s very unlikely that Comcast is doing any sort of examination of the content of the thing to decide if it’s being correctly classified, much less doing so with an eye to any FCC regulation of it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512/40 "2017-09-18T19:35:51Z")
Actually, it being over the air as opposed to cable _might_ be relevant: The FCC has more jurisdiction over over-the-air broadcasting than over cable, because broadcast bandwidth is finite, and is considered to be the common property of the entire nation, but cable bandwidth is effectively infinite, and is the property of whoever owns the wires. That said, I have no idea how, if at all, the FCC’s regulations relate to religion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-sekulow-on-religious-tv/796512.md?page=3)