A Reversal of Sorts

A Christian denomination gets it right, and the 'liberal' media gets it wrong.

The United Church of Christ is airing ads that show bouncers keeping a gay male couple out of a church, among other 'undesirables'. This is followed by the message: "Jesus didn't turn anyone away. Neither do we." People of all sorts are shown being welcomed into a UCC church, including a lesbian couple.

How refreshing! A Christian denomination besides the MCC with a gay-positive message. And they're mostly straight! How nice that some Christians, tired of the Religious Right claiming the high moral ground, are actually putting their own message on the air, where everyone can...

Oops, did I use the phrase 'on the air'? Better make that 'on cable'. Unfortunately, the ad has been deemed too controversial for the major networks. NBC simply said they didn't broadcast 'religious advertising' (overlooked the ones for the Book of Mormon, didn't they?), but CBS was more direct: "because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples ... and the fact that the executive branch has recently proposed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast."

In other words, the President might not like it.

The outcome of the election seems to have been a factor: earlier this year, the network execs expressed their concern, but the UCC ads ran on NBC and CBS affiliates in test markets during March without incident.

This is scary: if the networks are afraid to displease an actually-elected Dubya by running a church ad, what else are they afraid to broadcast? What will their news crews not even try to investigate any more?

These folks need a good nose-tweaking. Please write them at:

CBS:
http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.shtml

NBC:
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx
?c=klLWJcP7H&b=100385&action=1475&template=x.ascx

Happy tweaking!

Sarah G