<p>From a student at my daughters school</p>
<p>
My church, the United Church of Christ, recently has begun buying spots on television for a 30 second commercial meant to welcome people into the UCC. The following statements are from a UCC press release. I have screened them because, as with most beauraucracy, there’s a lot of crap to cut through.</p>
<p>The debut 30-second commercial features two muscle-bound “bouncers” standing guard outside a symbolic, picturesque church and selecting which persons are permitted to attend Sunday services. Written text interrupts the scene, announcing, “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” A narrator then proclaims the United Church of Christ’s commitment to Jesus’ extravagant welcome: “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”</p>
<p>If I may interject, the scene with the narrator shows a modest group of people, in which there are closeups of people of different races and sexual orientations. Because of this, The CBS and NBC television networks are refusing to run a 30-second television ad from the United Church of Christ because [it] … has been deemed “too controversial.”</p>
<p>Also in the release: “Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations,” reads an explanation from CBS, “and the fact 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 on the [CBS and UPN] networks.”</p>
<p>If I get time and I think about it, which I should, I’m going to write NBC and CBS and ask them to reconsider. Furthermore, I will not be watching either network.</p>
<p>If you continue to watch these networks, know what they support and keep that in mind.</p>
<p>If you would like to see the ad, it is on <a href=“http://www.stillspeaking.com %5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D”>www.stillspeaking.com
</a></p>
joev
December 1, 2004, 7:31pm
2
<p>I saw this ad. At first I didn’t know what it was for, but after I did I actualy laughed out loud. Jesus would let anyone in his house, so I approve of the commercial, very effective. Strikes me as funny though that some liberal networks would strike down a LIBERAL Christian commercial. Odd.</p>
<p>I don’t think either General Electric or Westinghouse can be described as “progressive” or even “liberal”.</p>
<p>
Let’s take a look at CBS. Well, CBS is owned by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, a huge Fortune 500 corporation that is not your everyday, progressive, fighting-for-human-rights company. In fact, Westinghouse is one of the biggest investors in nuclear weapons and power. If you think the media are liberal, maybe you’re confusing Dan Rather (who is just an anchor) with the CEO of Westinghouse who really has the power…</p>
<p>Just as CBS is owned by Westinghouse, NBC is owned by General Electric (GE). I find it amusing that GE censored that idiotic movie on NBC Sunday night, “Atomic Train.” They changed references to nuclear waste to “hazardous waste” because they themselves are involved with nuclear waste.</p>
<p>That’s nothing new, though. The chairman of General Electric called the president of NBC News after the 1987 stock market crash and told him not to use words in their reporting that would adversely affect GE stock.</p>
<p>By comparison, ABC is owned by Disney … you could count the total minutes of air-time given to the ABC labor dispute on two hands. CNN is owned by Time Warner, and FOX News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who doesn’t hide his right-wing views.</p>
<p>My favorite is MSNBC which is owned by Microsoft and General Electric. Will you please take a moment to think about this - do you honestly think that these are liberal companies?</p>
<p>We are constantly blasting other countries for feeding “propaganda” to the public, while the same thing happens in our own country. Do you ever wonder why you never see people on the news who are a threat to the system in any way? Or why certain stories aren’t covered?
</p>
simba
December 1, 2004, 7:54pm
4
<p>saw the ad, and approve it and I am not even a religious person. Networks don’t seem have any trouble running ads for the religious extremists.</p>
<p>i don’t see the problem with it. I’m not religous either, but i have several friends who are, I’ll ask them what they think of it.</p>
joev
December 1, 2004, 9:23pm
6
<p>Chardon snows all the time. Do you go to NDCL? Back in high school, I used to love the drive out to play those guys because it took like 45 minutes and it was naptime. (Central Catholic)</p>