Sunday, January 11, 2009

UK On-air Pastor Fired for Defending Christianity

When the government requires "fairness and balance" in broadcast media, the result is the loss of religious liberty and the end of broadcast Christian witness.

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-- From "Presenter sacked for 'supporting the Bible's teachings' on radio" by Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter, The Telegraph 1/11/09

The Rev Mahboob Masih, a Church minister [and community radio show host], claims he was unfairly dismissed and that the action taken against him was a case of religious discrimination.

After a lively religious debate, the radio station management took exception to the content of the discussion. The Rev Masih was accused of not being balanced enough on air. However, Awaz FM refuses to detail anything specific he said that might have offended its listeners.

The Rev Masih and his co-presenter Afzal Umeed were discussing the views of a prominent Muslim speaker, Zakir Naik, who the Rev Masih accuses of belittling the Christian faith on Peace TV, a digital channel.

The Rev Masih says that Mr Umeed asked Asif Mall, a Christian on-air guest, about Mr Naik's remarks. Mr Mall said Mr Naik's comments showed a lack of knowledge of the Bible and of the Koran.

In particular, Mr Mall disputed a claim by Mr Naik that Jesus Christ was not the only prophet to be "the way, the truth and the life".

. . . Javaid Ullah, the director of the radio station . . . said that they had "failed to remain neutral and as such allowed the guest to make comments which led in [to] offending various members of the community."

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.