Is Christianity a 'Fairness Doctrine?'

Over 40 years ago, I worked for awhile as an intern for National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting in Washington, D.C. Funded by Ralph Nader, the NCCB operated during a different media age -- before cable, before the Internet -- in a time in which over-the-air broadcasting held sway over America.

NCCB's director, Sam Simon, was pretty hard on me, as I recall.

By the end of the internship, apparently I'd proved my value to him, because Simon asked me to keep writing for NCCB's newsletter after returning to college in my home state of Pennsylvania.

Simon, a lawyer, later went on to a distinguished career with the Federal Trade Commission before moving to Capitol Hill to be chief counsel for Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

Fairness Doctrine

Long before Fox News and MSNBC and the rise of cyberspace, broadcasters had to show themselves to be "fair" to candidates and to all identified sides of a public issue. If they didn't, when their licenses came up for renewal by the government, they might be denied.

During my own time in commercial broadcasting, I hosted so-called "public affairs" shows -- always on Sunday morning when few were listening or watching -- in order to demonstrate fairness to every side.

No one cared about these programs.

They were done so that when license renewal time came, ownership and management could answer, with a straight face, how they "served the public interest."

This policy of evenhandedness, the so-called Fairness Doctrine, was in effect from 1949 until August 1987, when the Federal Communications Commission, emboldened by President Reagan's decision to veto legislation making the doctrine law, voted for its immediate end.

Simon was a vigorous defender of the Fairness Doctrine, but even back in the Jimmy Carter era, when I worked for him, it was becoming increasingly clear the policy was starting to need oxygen to survive. The mood of the country was changing.

No one knew, in the late 1970s, that the explosion of cable and the Internet was coming. ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and their local affiliates around the United States were all we had. In the 21st century, we receive news and information from literally hundreds of outlets. Now, there is no more "scarcity," which was Simon's 1978 argument during my NCCB tenure. Today, if you don't like MSNBC's take, switch to Fox. Easy peasy. Those options weren't available in the 1970s, which is why Simon fought so hard for what ultimately became a lost cause.

Biblical fairness

Is there a Bible mandate to be fair?

Fairness is not a word that appears often in any Bible commentary I use. As I tell my New Testament (N.T.) students at Southeast Missouri State University, the words of Koine Greek (the language of the N.T.) do not often translate easily into English.

There are exceptions, of course.

Proverbs 16:11: "The Lord demands fairness in every business deal."

Isaiah 11:5: "For He (meaning God) will be clothed with fairness and truth."

Isaiah 33:15: "I will tell you who can live here -- all who are honest and fair, who reject making profit by fraud, who hold back their hands from taking bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong."

I find, in scouring the canonical Scriptures, fairness is a fairly rare concept. The biblical authors were all too aware that bias and partiality are strong tugs on us. I cite a writing wrongly attributed to King Solomon as a prooftext.

Ecclesiastes 9:11: "Again I looked throughout the earth and saw the swiftest person does not always win the race, nor the strongest man the battle, and that wise men are often poor, and skillful men are not necessarily famous."

Do we always want fairness?

It depends. We want it in business, in government, in schools, in institutions. Personally? Not speaking for you, but no, I'm not sure I always want fairness in this sphere of my life.

Consider that fairness can mean getting exactly what you deserve at all times. Fairness at all times also means grace, the unmerited forgiveness of another, can never be extended. If I make a mistake injuring another, I cannot be let off the hook because fairness demands an equal response. Also, when you are loved by someone, the people closest to you sometimes have to look past a lot of your behavior. Fairness might demand they turn away.

And fairness might demand that God would turn away from us too.

Lyricism

A favorite song is called to mind at the conclusion of this column:

"Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise,

For it was grace that brought my liberty.

I'll never know just why he came to love me so,

He looked beyond my faults and saw all my needs.

I shall forever lift my eyes to Calvary,

To view the cross where Jesus died for me.

And how marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul,

He looked beyond my faults and saw all my needs."