TBN Explains Why It Has Bumped Hal Lindsey's Program in December
by Allie Martin
December 8, 2005
(AgapePress) - - A spokesman for the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) says a popular weekly prophecy program with a news format will return to the air early next year. But the show's host is still puzzled over its preemption this month.Last week officials with TBN announced that Hal Lindsey's weekly television show International Intelligence Briefing, which examines current world events in the light of scripture, was pulled from December's lineup for two reasons: because it did not have a Christmas theme, and because it placed Arabs in a negative light. John Casoria, TBN's general secretary, explains the network's policy.
"We give our regular programmers the opportunity to do Christmas-focused programming [in December], and if they don't do so they get bumped to make space for other Christmas programming," Casoria says.
Explaining his company's decision, the TBN spokesman says network founder Paul Crouch believed that one of Lindsey's programs toward the end of November was "inflammatory towards Islam and towards the Muslims."
But Lindsey says this marks the first time he has been preempted for the entire month of December. He says his program has served as a warning about the true nature of Islam. "If you read the Quran, which I've done intensively, you'll find that it is not a religion of peace," he says. "This is why so many Muslims -- once they become really dedicated in reading the Quran and following the Quran closely -- they become radical."
He says he convinced there is a desperate need for Christians to learn the true nature of Islam -- and why that religion is such a threat. "It's a threat not only to Christians but especially to Israel," he asserts, "and they're determined to destroy the nation of Israel."
Casoria explains TBN does not want to censor Lindsey's show, but that it also wants to reach out to the Arab world with the gospel of Christ. "Dr. [Paul] Crouch [founder of TBN] believes the way to reach these people is not to inflame their senses against TBN but to show these people the love of God," he says, "to reason with them in order to bring them to at least an understanding of what Christianity is about."
Casoria says TBN plans to start airing International Intelligence Briefing again early next year.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
