Progressive faith on the FM dial?
Driving in northern Indiana one recent evening, I came to the conclusion that religious broadcasters pretty much own the FM band in this part of the country. One station was playing contemporary Christian music, another gospel music. And three different stations were airing James Dobson’s radio program. Dobson, formerly of Focus on the Family, was touting a new novel he has coauthored, which fictionalizes all the bad things supposedly resulting from a decline in the American birthrate.
In my last pastorate I created a minor stir in one sermon when I observed that the biggest divide I detected in the congregation was between those folks who listened to National Public Radio and those who listened to one or more Christian stations. One congregant was offended because she didn’t think you have to choose: she listened to both. Another detected my bias for NPR, and he let me know about what he perceived as NPR’s “liberal bias.” Mostly, my observation led to friendly conversation and reflection.
Scanning the FM band that evening while driving, I wondered why, among all those religious radio stations, there isn't at least one that represents an incarnational gospel—rather than an Americanized version of Platonic Christianity. What is needed on the airwaves is a voice that speaks for justice, peace, care of the earth, inclusion, civil discourse and the commonweal.
