Evangelische Omroep
Encyclopedia
Evangelische Omroep is one of the twelve member-based broadcasting associations contributing to the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has as its mission to bring people into contact with Jesus Christ and its statement of faith is a form of Evangelicalism
. EO is one of the few broadcasting associations in the pillarized
Dutch broadcasting system to have remained totally faithful to its religious roots. For a long time every one of its programmes made reference to God and to the Christian religion, although this is less often the case in the 21st century.
EO was founded in 1967 by Christians, mainly Free Church members who were disappointed with the other Protestant broadcasting association, NCRV
, for not putting more emphasis more of its Christian inspiration. It is not known how effective EO has been in winning people for Christianity. A well-known effect of its work, however, has been that Christians from across the highly fragmented church scene in the Netherlands have come closer to each other. EO's activities have greatly stimulated contacts and mutual respect among Dutch Evangelicals and members of the Reformed churches.
ideology. While still being presented as a BBC
documentary, The Life of Mammals
series was edited to remove material incompatible with young earth creationism
, and profanity
is regularly edited out of bought-in drama series.
s were to be asked to create short sketches about Jesus of Nazareth. The planned show caused so much uproar among EO members that it was cancelled. Soon afterwards Boomsma left EO and joined the Catholic broadcasting association KRO.
.
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
. EO is one of the few broadcasting associations in the pillarized
Pillarisation
Pillarisation is a term used to describe the politico-denominational segregation of Dutch and Belgian society. These societies were "vertically" divided into several segments or "pillars" according to different religions or ideologies.These pillars all had their own social institutions: their own...
Dutch broadcasting system to have remained totally faithful to its religious roots. For a long time every one of its programmes made reference to God and to the Christian religion, although this is less often the case in the 21st century.
EO was founded in 1967 by Christians, mainly Free Church members who were disappointed with the other Protestant broadcasting association, NCRV
NCRV
NCRV is a public radio and television broadcaster in the Netherlands, mostly transmitting on Nederland 1 and Nederland 2....
, for not putting more emphasis more of its Christian inspiration. It is not known how effective EO has been in winning people for Christianity. A well-known effect of its work, however, has been that Christians from across the highly fragmented church scene in the Netherlands have come closer to each other. EO's activities have greatly stimulated contacts and mutual respect among Dutch Evangelicals and members of the Reformed churches.
Controversies
Documentaries are often edited to reflect EO's creationistCreationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
ideology. While still being presented as a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary, The Life of Mammals
The Life of Mammals
The Life of Mammals is a nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 20 November 2002....
series was edited to remove material incompatible with young earth creationism
Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism is the religious belief that Heavens, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago...
, and profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
is regularly edited out of bought-in drama series.
Creationism
The subject of creationism has sparked a number of EO-related controversies. In early 2009, a controversy arose over statements by a leading presenter and former director, Andries Knevel, that he considered it possible for a religious person not to believe in the literal interpretation of the biblical creation story (Genesis 1-2). Shortly afterwards Knevel apologized for the highly charged way in which he had made his statements and for the fact that his personal viewpoint could have been interpreted as the official viewpoint of EO.Arie Boomsma
In 2009 Arie Boomsma, an EO television presenter was suspended for three months after appearing partially undressed in a magazine called L'Homo. Later that year, EO planned to broadcast a new television show called Loopt een man over het water... ("A man walks over the water...") which it was intended Boomsma would present. In the show, non-Christian comedianComedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
s were to be asked to create short sketches about Jesus of Nazareth. The planned show caused so much uproar among EO members that it was cancelled. Soon afterwards Boomsma left EO and joined the Catholic broadcasting association KRO.
Decline in membership
As a result of these and other controversies, the number of subscribing EO members has declined. In March 2010, this led to a member initiative entitled Ik bid en blijf lid (I pray and stay a member) which called upon members of EO to retain their membership and pray that the association will continue to spread God's word in a way that remains true to the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.