Supported partly with taxpayer dollars, PBS has rules on the books against member stations airing partisan political, commercial or religious shows. In recent years, though, the ban on religious programs has not been enforced, so a handful of stations have been airing religious shows alongside Sesame Street and the News Hour. Yesterday the Board decided to allow running religious shows to continue, but not to allow any new ones to be offered.
Barry Lynn is pleased with the second part of that decision; not so much the first.
Some would-be religious providers could now argue that the PBS board has shown special preference to some religious groups over others. Indeed, they could argue that religious scofflaws who ignored the rules now continue to benefit from their past actions.
