Question Authority (And Other Conspiracies)

Previous legend || Question Authority (And Other Conspiracies) || Next legend

Touched Inappropriately by an Angel

Perhaps the canonical example of the Rumor That Just Wouldn't Die, claims that Madalyn Murray O'Hair was petitioning the FCC to ban religious broadcasting were first floated in 1974 and have been going strong ever since.

Debunked: Noted atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair is petitioning the FCC to ban religious broadcasting.

Jeremy D. Lansman and Lorenzo W. Milam petitioned the FCC in 1974 to do two things, (1) investigate the operations of stations run by religious organizations and (2) grant no further licences to noncommercial educational broadcasting stations until the investigation was completed.

Some people interpreted Lansman's and Milam's petition as an attempt to ban religious broadcasting. Furthermore, rumor falsely linked Madalyn Murray O'Hair, plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case that resulted in the banning of prayer in public schools, to the petition.

The FCC rejected Lansman's and Milam's petition in 1975. But the rumor lives on and on and on and on...

References:

• http://tafkac.org/classic/fcc_religious_broadcasting_ban.html
• The Urban Legends Archive: Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Petition 2493
• FCC: Religious Broadcasting Rumor Denied
• About.com: Madalyn Murray O'Hair vs. Religious Broadcasting