HCJB English to Europe and North America to end on 31st May
Curt Cole, Latin American area director of HCJB, announced on the DX Partyline this weekend that the station is to end its English transmissions to Europe and North America from Ecuador on 31st May 2003. The decision, taken last week, reflects a change in strategy for HCJB World Radio. The organisation has become regionalized, and with the opening of the new transmission facility in Kunnunurra, Australia, some English transmissions have already been moved away from Ecuador. The mission in Quito now plans to focus on the Latin American region itself. Financial considerations, while not the primary reason for the decision, did play a role. HCJB says surveys have shown a decline in shortwave listening in Europe and North America over the past decade.
Opinion: Christian evangelicals may compound the problems in Iraq
On Friday our Media Newsdesk reported that Trans World Radio had introduced special broadcasts beamed to Iraq, where less than three quarters of a million out of 23 million inhabitants are Christians. Today I noted a report about the Atlanta-based In Touch Ministries. Australian newspaper "The Age" says "In Touch has an annual budget of $US40 million ($A65 million) and already broadcasts across the Middle East. In Saddam Hussein's Iraq it was only able to proselytise on shortwave radio, but it now plans to air Mr Stanley's sermons in Arabic on satellite television and AM and FM."
Is this the beginning of a concerted campaign by Christian broadcasters to try and convert Iraqis from Islam to Christianity? As a Christian myself, I sincerely hope not. It would be a foolish and dangerous policy, guaranteed to inflame anti-western sentiment in Iraq and the wider Arab world, and ensure that the peace is not won.
The US government repeatedly assured the Moslem world that the military campaign was directed at the regime of Saddam Hussein and not at Islam. Yet days after the end of hostilities, we see signs that the Christian evangelicals are seizing the opportunity to take advantage of the current unstable situation in an Islamic country. It would be better if the money they plan to spend on broadcasting were re-directed at helping to pay for food, medical supplies etc. for all the people of Iraq. That, to me, is what Christianity should be about.
Andy Sennitt.
Disclaimer: The above represents the opinions of the writer, not necessarily those of Radio Netherlands.
