Believe it or not, this time NBC-TV has censored Bible verses and expressions of Christian love from the children's cartoon series "Veggie Tales" shown on its network on Saturday mornings.

NBC says comments such as "God made you special and He loves you very much" were offensive and censored them from the show.

In response to the outrage over the allegations that NBC was ordering the removal of any references to God and the Bible from the animated series, the network first issued a flat denial. As reported in Broadcasting & Cable, NBC said they had to "clip off the beginning and ending tags, which are Bible verses, but they were also arguably the easiest cut to make."

The creator of Veggie Tales, Phil Vischer, said NBC's excuse for censoring the Bible verses was not true. Vischer said, "Well, that's kinda funny, because as the guy required to do all the editing, I know that statement is false...The show wasn't too long, it was too Christian. The show was already cut down to the proper length, so timing had nothing to do with it."

NBC then backpeddled: "NBC is committed to the positive messages and universal values of Veggie Tales. Our goal is to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view." Evidently NBC considers not being truthful as one of their "universal values."

Vischer said had he known how much censorship NBC would exercise, he would not have signed on for the network deal.

Also censored were comments such as: "Calm down. The Bible says we should love our enemies." And "the Bible says Samson got his strength from God. And God can give us strength, too."

NBC says using Bible verses or referring to God is offensive to some non-Christians. But NBC doesn't hesitate to offend Christians by showing Madonna mocking the crucifixion of Christ. Neither does it mind offending Christians in their new program Studio 60 with a segment called Crazy Christians.

Here is a review of Studio 60 courtesy of Bill Johnson, President of American Decency Association.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" is a new show on NBC's fall line up. The show's creator, Aaron Sorkin of "West Wing" fame, has a history of portraying Christians and the "right wing" as radical 'whackos'. This new show, "Studio 60", is aggressively following the same pattern. The show, made up of a cast of Hollywood heavy-hitters, is a 60 minute drama of the behind the scenes workings of a "Saturday Night Live" type of show (also called "Studio 60") and the wranglings with the network that take place.

The premier episode began when the host of this fictional show was forced to delete a comedy sketch called "Crazy Christians" from the show. The network representative dropped the segment for fear of angering Christians and advertisers. The host of the show went on a rant on air complaining about his network and stating, in part, "And the two things that make them scared gutless are the FCC and every psycho religious cult that gets positively horny at the mere mention of a boycott."

With great cunning, Aaron Sorkin and NBC send the message repeatedly throughout this hour-long show that Christians are extremists and the enemy of "free speech". The first and second episodes of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" center upon the theme of Christians as 'nut-jobs' who terrorize networks and advertisers with threats of boycotts. In other words, people like you and me, who voice our concern over the decline of decency, are part of a "psycho religious cult".

The show hammers home this message over and over. After replaying the line referenced above, the fictional network president repeats "there's going to be some horny, psycho religious cults tonight." This network president, a young woman named Jordan, defends the character who wanted to run the segment "Crazy Christians" and allows it to air the following week. She states about the "Crazy Christians" segment "I just read it and I thought it was inspired."

Later, at a press conference, she is disgusted that among the members of the press, is a reporter from a fictional Christian magazine called "Rapture" magazine. Jordan, the network president, says: "How many whack jobs read Rapture magazine?" She is shocked to learn that it actually has a very large readership. Those who believe in Christ for salvation and His Second Coming are mocked when one network official condescendingly says: "The Rapture's what I think it is, right? The world comes to an end, believers go up in a space ship." Jordan replies: "It's not a space ship. It's Jesus Christ."

Another asks: "What happens to the non-believers?" Jordan states: "You get thrown down into a fiery pit."

All of this airs in a derogatory manner, with a air of condescension - making it seem as those who believe this are gullible fruit-cakes.

Numerous other derisive portrayals of Christianity are given, including ministries like American Decency Association. When concern is raised on this fictional show that affiliates won't carry the show if the "Crazy Christian" sketch isn't dropped, and that television stations are being inundated with phone calls, the network president blames "Rapture" magazine stating: "How does the editor and chief of total nut farm magazine get mobilized this fast?" She is told that a Christian group posted it on their web site. "That's like flashing the bat signal for her members."

One of the characters is supposedly a born-again Christian - a Christian who swears regularly and writes comedy for this fictional show that mocks Christianity. She also prays before each show and is shown praying with the cast stating: "We say this prayer in the name of your son Jesus Christ, who had to have been funny to get so many people to listen to him."

This character supposedly appeared on the 700 Club. Her boyfriend was outraged, called Pat Robertson a "bigot" and compared his audience and other Christians to the Ku Klux Klan, stating: "Throw in the Halloween costumes and you got yourself a clan rally."

NBC and the producers of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" seem to think its open season on Christians. One would never see such an incredibly negative, stereotypical portrayal of any racial group or other religion. But Christianity is fair game. And those of us who use our free speech to speak out when we are defamed or our values are trashed are labeled as "whack jobs" and a threat to "free speech".

This will seem a strong statement, and it is: The real reason the religious content is being censored is that the networks are run by people who have an anti- Christian bias. I noticed this anti-Christian bigotry and spoke out against it over 25 years ago. I'm sorry if someone thinks that is too harsh, but I must speak the truth as God leads me to see the truth.

Donald E. Wildmon is Founder and Chairman of the American Family Association