When is a Religious Organization, Not a Religious Organization?
When is a religious organization, not a religious organization?
The answer is when the ABC advertising department (for political or financial reasons) chooses to ignore the obvious.
The ABC television network refused to accept advertising from the mainstream protestant United Church of Christ, citing a policy of not accepting ads from religious organizations. However, it opted to run ads on prime time from Focus on the Family, the largest Christian Right organzation in the U.S. The United Church of Christ, noted the discrepancy, perhaps more politely than I did , in reporting on this. In response to the UCC's criticism, ABC spokeswoman Susan Sewall told Kevin Eckstrom of Religion News Service, "The network doesn't take advertising from religious groups. It's a long-standing policy."
It appears Ms. Sewall and the rigorous enforcers of ABC's ad policy didn't read -- or simply ignored -- the Focus on the Family "Mission Statement" -- conveniently located at the top of thier web site:
"To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in disseminating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible, and, specifically, to accomplish that objective by helping to preserve traditional values and the institution of the family."
But just in case anyone thinks they didn't really mean that, the next item is Focus on the Family's "Guiding Principles." The first sentence states: "Since Focus on the Family's primary reason for existence is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through a practical outreach to homes, we have firm beliefs about both the Christian faith and the importance of the family."
Here is the first sentence of what the UCC web site has "About the United Church of Christ": "Welcome to the United Church of Christ -- a community of faith that seeks to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed."
If we compare the statements of the two groups, would we say that either one of them is not a religious organization? By the standards of the ABC advertising department, if Focus on the Family is not a religious organization, then the United Church of Christ is not a religious organization either -- and ABC should apologize and accept their advertisements.
The answer is when the ABC advertising department (for political or financial reasons) chooses to ignore the obvious.
The ABC television network refused to accept advertising from the mainstream protestant United Church of Christ, citing a policy of not accepting ads from religious organizations. However, it opted to run ads on prime time from Focus on the Family, the largest Christian Right organzation in the U.S. The United Church of Christ, noted the discrepancy, perhaps more politely than I did , in reporting on this. In response to the UCC's criticism, ABC spokeswoman Susan Sewall told Kevin Eckstrom of Religion News Service, "The network doesn't take advertising from religious groups. It's a long-standing policy."
It appears Ms. Sewall and the rigorous enforcers of ABC's ad policy didn't read -- or simply ignored -- the Focus on the Family "Mission Statement" -- conveniently located at the top of thier web site:
"To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in disseminating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible, and, specifically, to accomplish that objective by helping to preserve traditional values and the institution of the family."
But just in case anyone thinks they didn't really mean that, the next item is Focus on the Family's "Guiding Principles." The first sentence states: "Since Focus on the Family's primary reason for existence is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through a practical outreach to homes, we have firm beliefs about both the Christian faith and the importance of the family."
Here is the first sentence of what the UCC web site has "About the United Church of Christ": "Welcome to the United Church of Christ -- a community of faith that seeks to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed."
If we compare the statements of the two groups, would we say that either one of them is not a religious organization? By the standards of the ABC advertising department, if Focus on the Family is not a religious organization, then the United Church of Christ is not a religious organization either -- and ABC should apologize and accept their advertisements.
posted by Frederick Clarkson at 2:43 PM
3 Comments:
You're full of it, Clarkson! The UCC was taking a shot at all churches. Not all churches are backwoods in their thinking. We accept anyone as they are, we just let the Holy Spirit do the changing. What the UCC is doing is what I call Spiritual Prostituting, saying they accept anyone, and they can stay that way, as long as they give an offering. Why don't you hit on the real issue here? The fact that the UCC has forgotten its first Love: Christ. It seems to me that whenever Jesus confronted the woman caught in adultry, he did say, "neither do I condemn you", but He follows that with, "go and sin no more." What is the UCC doing? Simply facilitating the first part of Jesus' statement for their own gain and ignoring the second part. So many people say that the Bible says nothing about homosexuality, but maybe because of its silence when it comes to that specific word means that it is a no-brainer! Maybe the intellect God gave us really can determine right and wrong, huh? Maybe you should try it, its quite liberating.
Evan:
How ironic that you would use the words "no-brainer" in your diatribe. Go do something useful.
So many people say that the Bible says nothing about homosexuality, but maybe because of its silence when it comes to that specific word means that it is a no-brainer!
Perhaps you should pay attention to what you're saying, Mr. Casey. Use of the word "maybe" defeats the entire purpose of your comment. According to your presented argument, anyone could infer anything they want from a written piece of work. "Maybe" it's justifiable that the hijackers of 9/11 killed thousands of innocent civilians, because neither the religious books they were reading nor the Christian bible explicitly referred to the act. "Maybe" Adolf Hitler didn't read anything that mentioned he shouldn't kill millions of Jews in an attempt to exterminate their race; therefore it was perfectly fine that he did so.
It is absolutely incomprehensible to me that a human being could not see the danger and ignorance in what you have just stated (although I haven't ruled out the possibility of mental illness).
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