...and See All the People

For the second time, major television networks have rejected ads by the United Church of Christ, on the grounds that they are too controversial. The particular ad in question, the so-called "Ejector Seat" ad, depicts people being literally thrown out of church for being unusual, inconvienient, or unpleasant.

At the same time, however, Focus on the Family is being permitted to air an ad promoting its own perspective. Apparently, according to ABC, which is airing the ad, FotF isn't "controversial."

For the record, I've been skeptical of much of the tone and theology of the "God is Still Speaking" initiative in the UCC. I'm not convinced that it's good theology to make  your primary religious symbol a comma, nor am I convinced that an entire evangelism campaign should be organized around a quote by Gracey Allen (for those not in the know, the slogan for the campaign is "Never place a period where God has put a comma"). However, I'm troubled by the network's attitude toward advertising in general, and religious advertising in particular.

On the one hand, ABC's attitude seems to be that conservative religion isn't "controversial" while liberal religion is. Perhaps more relevantly, I suspect they figure that conservative Christians are more likely to raise a hue and cry over a banned ad than liberal Christians are. Either way, it suggests that a different standard is used to evaluate liberal and conservative religious broadcasting.

Added to that is the implication that, if your ad might actually cause people to stop and take notice, it's too hot to handle. But after all, what's the point of advertising if not to catch peoples' attention. According to this reasoning, the only acceptable ads are precisely those that aren't trying to sell anything. At which point, one wonders, why bother?

If one were to judge from watching TV talkshows, one would assume that American Christianity consisted of millions of fundamentalist evangelical Christians, millions of conservative Roman Catholic Christians, and Jim Wallis.

In response, the UCC has joined with Media Matters for America to promote more of a voice for progressive Christians both in advertising and on interview and talk shows. This is welcome, if for no other reason than to demonstrate that there is much more political and social diversity to the Christian community in the United States than one might otherwise infer from what we see on our televisions.

The ad that was banned by the networks is actually not the best of the ads that the UCC is currently running, though it is the most controversial (and the funniest). But I agree with Andrew Sullivan that this other ad is much more moving, and I think, much more relevant to what make the United Church of Christ a unique and necessary expression of American Christianity.