Super Bowl parties in the stake center!

21 February 2008 @ 5:15 pm | 6 comments

Congress scores another one for religious (tv-watching) freedom. Sen. Hatch gets the NFL to let churches show the Super Bowl.

The commissioner sent Hatch a response on Tuesday that said the league would have no problem with “live showings - regardless of screen size - of the Super Bowl” so long as the event was free and held in a building normally used by the religious organization.

“I am grateful that this accommodation was made to allow the NFL to protect its copyrighted material, while respecting the interests of churches,” Hatch said in a statement. “Although the practice is uncommon in Utah, Super Bowl parties can be very beneficial for all involved.”

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  1. Mike L.’s avatar

    Mike L. on 21 February 2008 at 9:48 pm

    ???

    I’m confused on so many levels. Why does congress care? Why are churches showing the super-bowl? Why does Hatch care about churches being able to show the super bowl? Why does the NFL require that it be only churches and not other organizations? Like I said:

    ???

  2. Dennis Wendt’s avatar

    Dennis Wendt on 22 February 2008 at 1:04 am

    Amen to above confused comment.

    What a joke!

  3. Porter Rockwell’s avatar

    Porter Rockwell on 22 February 2008 at 11:33 am

    Hatch cares because he wants to make sure the law does not head in the direction on not allowing copywrited programing, live or otherwise, to be shown to Church groups.. i.e. still wants it to be legal to have a Young Men Young Women movie night when they show “Napoleon Dynamite” on a big screen in the gym.. or to be able to show a short scene from the movie “Joseph and the amazing technicolor Dreamcoat” in Sunday School class..

    You get my point.. while no LDS unit would sanction a Sunday Superbowl party.. we may want to all gather in the cultural hall one Saturday evening and watch BYU in a bowl game.. and not have to worry about it being illegal

  4. David H. Sundwall’s avatar

    David H. Sundwall on 22 February 2008 at 1:45 pm

    Porter,

    That’s a avery astute point. While it does seem like a silly issue I could see that as the reasoning behind the Senator’s involvement.

    One of Sen. Hatch’s big issues is copyright law. And while I’m sure President Monson is not asking him to allow Super Bowl parties in ward houses, I bet you are correct that the Senator is concerned that churches can dinged for showing movies and other copyrighted materials.

  5. David Bowie’s avatar

    David Bowie on 22 February 2008 at 3:24 pm

    Re: no LDS unit sanctioning a Superbowl party, i don’t know–i’ve been in a couple wards where the bishop might well have been happy to preempt Sunday School for the big game…

  6. Mike L.’s avatar

    Mike L. on 22 February 2008 at 10:59 pm

    Well now it makes a little more sense, but I stand by my confused comment in #1.

    I still don’t think this should rise to the level of being of a concern from any member of congress.

    I still don’t see why a church should be given special considerations from any other public place.

    I still don’t understand why churches are showing the super bowl. I can see the sign outside the church: “Come worship with us, and then see the Patriots put the smack down on our big screen!” Yes, I know LDS churches sometimes show BYU games, but it’s not on Sunday and there is at least a common thread there (LDS and BYU), and it usually happens because the game is not available otherwise.