(Liberal, Pro-Gay) Church Says CBS, NBC Reject Ad Spot

[Khephra]

CLEVELAND -- A liberal-leaning church said CBS and NBC rejected a national spot because it alludes to condemnation of gay relationships by some churches.

The 30-second spot launched Wednesday highlights the Cleveland-based United Church of Christ's welcoming stance toward gays and anyone else who might feel shunned elsewhere.

The networks said the spot was too controversial to broadcast because it implied exclusion of gay and lesbian couples by other groups, according to the UCC.

A CBS spokesman said gay relationships were a matter of public debate and "we have a long policy of not accepting advocacy advertising." Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday at NBC's New York and West Coast offices.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-church-advertising,0,5835595.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[yardwork]

1. I am roaring with laughter! It implies exclusion by other groups?

Like, say, the U.S. Congress?

[LSparkle]

2. No "advocacy advertising"?

What about those Administration ads about the Medicare drug discount cards? What about political ads? Ludicrous ...

[Rose Siding]

3. Here's a link to the ad

It's very good.

http://www.stillspeaking.com/default.htm

[Rebelry]

4. Another article

A longer article at the United Church of Christ website (along with a link to see the ad):

http://www.ucc.org/news/u113004a.htm

excerpt:

"It's ironic that after a political season awash in commercials based on fear and deception by both parties seen on all the major networks, an ad with a message of welcome and inclusion would be deemed too controversial," says the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president. "What's going on here?"


The only thing I can figure is that they are so afraid of backlash from the conservative churches.... or from anti-gay groups. But I've looked at the ad, it's pretty subtle. The embrace at the end is pretty sisterly and subtle.

I don't get this.

Reb

[Logansquare]

5. It is a completely inoffensive advertisement

I was outraged by this decision, esp. the memo from CBS mentioning the support for an anti-gay marriage amendment by the President. What a bunch of snivelling little curs running our media.

[Just Me]

17. Compassion, tolerance and inclusivity is "bad",...

,...in the new right-wing Republican USA.

Rationalization, character assassination, bullying and berating is all the rage.

I sure miss the days of "random acts of kindness".

I sure am distressed at the path this country is travelling.

[magdalena]

26. you are sadly mistaken

Watching a woman lightly drape her arm over the shoulders of another woman is absolutely disgusting and highly offensive!!! Oh, and so are those colored kids.

/sarcasm

[wryter2000]

6. So,

Does this mean they're going to stop using fundie ministers as "pundits" on the political talk shows?

[Rose Siding]

13. NBC's MTP had Falwell on last Sunday

dressed respectably in suit and tie (I don't know if he had pants on. ew) saying something about how no Christian could have voted for Kerry.

There are a great many UCC churches in my area. It will be interesting to see where this goes. The feeling of being persecuted for your beliefs is a powerful motivator. The freaky right sure rode a trumped up version for all it was worth.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Why is this surprising to anyone?

If it has 'fags and dykes' in it, then it is too controversial. Unless of course you are investigating a 5 year old hate-crime in order to blame the fag for getting what he deserved and garnering sympathy for the poor people who murdered him!

I swear if I hear another person claim the media is liberal, I may just snap!

[Ima]

8. Hhmmmmm

"The networks said the spot was too controversial to broadcast because it implied exclusion of gay and lesbian couples by other groups, according to the UCC"




IMPLIED!!!

[salin]

9. Makes me proud

grew up in a church that merged a baptist (American, not southern) congregation and a UCC congregation. Years later attended and joined a liberal UCC church. Back then the Church's notices and calls to worship in the paper included that it was "an open and affirming" congregation. :thumbsup:

[Joy Anne]

10. "open and affirming"

means the congregation as a whole has pledged to welcome gays. About all UCC congregations welcome gays, but most don't go through the process to qualify as open and affirming because it's stressful--you're apt to lose some members who don't mind gays but freak out over making it official.

[salin]

11. Indeed - it is a national level statement that local congregations

may or may not take on (or so I understood it to be in the early nineties). The local church I joined (when I officially jumped UCC) did indeed lose a few long-time members over that strong of a statement. But, to their credit (the main family that left), they stayed for awhile and wrestled with it... after quite some time the wife, and many times with the wife (who had the issue) speaking at length with the minister... the wife finally found she couldn't reconcile her feelings with this - but she really worked at it. That was 12 years ago... The Congregation lost a few - and those lost gave deep thought (and I would bet due to struggling - were less than receptive to the crass cavalier treatment of the issue by the far religious political right have shifted somewhat) to the issue.

Is there any Christian demonination who has pushed the issue at the national level (eg church wide adoption - even if the choice to adopt is congregational) - thus making it safe for local congretations to do this? Just heard on NPR on Monday of a United Methodist minister facing sanctions for coming out (sexuality and a committed relationship) in Philly... now she, and the congregation (who appeared to be accepting) face a long and intimidating battle.

[noonwitch]

19. The UCC church I attended as a kid was one of the first to vote

for open and affirming status. The congregation had lost most of it's conservative members, due to the UCC's support for various peace issues in the Reagan years, or due to old age and death. The vote was what finally managed to get rid of the one fundie left-a man who purposely started attending the church to "witness the true message of Jesus" to us liberals. The funny thing is this church is in a most conservative community-Grand Rapids, MI.
Most of the pastors in the denomination are liberals who were educated at UCC seminaries. Even if the congregation is more conservative, the minister will likely support gay and lesbian issues, along with a segment of the congregation, if not a majority.

[gaia_gardener]

16. Our church voted to

be open and affirming unanimously. I wasn't a member at the time, but it gives me "warm fuzzies" about the congregation. When the city had a gay pride parade (shocking for OKC), the church van participated. The first sunday I attended, the minister read an open letter to Thad Balkman (the OK legislator most active in restricting any civil rights for same sex couples) and he received a standing ovation.

[Joy Anne]

22. thanks for the open and affirming commentary

We've had a couple of sermons that affirmed same-sex marriage, so maybe we're headed that way, I hope.

[magdalena]

25. I'm proud as well

I was raised in a UCC congregation, and although I've moved away from the church and Christianity altogether, I'm finally old enough to appreciate how lucky I was to have such an upbringing. It was an oasis of tolerance in an otherwise close-minded town. I clearly remember having substitute ministers that were openly gay running our services at times. During the two years of confirmation class (which took place from about age 12-14) our congregation decided we should receive sex education which did emphasize abstinence, but also promoted masturbation and made us aware of various birth control and how to protect against STD's if we did choose to have sex. Confirmation classes also required a survey of religions in which once a week we attended services of other Christian denominations and different faiths (including Judaism and Islam), we even explored Buddhism and Paganism. The kicker though was the 5page "statement of faith" we were required to compose before we "graduated" which forced us to critically examine our personal religious /spiritual beliefs. This may have been a little too advanced for young adolescents, but still a good gesture IMHO.

:yourock: UCC

[faithfull]

12. Contact them

Someone else in a different forum posted this...

If you want to contact ALL of the national CBS affiliates, use this tool the bushers made for a different purpose

http://www.rathergate.com/emailaffiliates.php

:donut:

[Dr Fate]

14. They will play that Swiftboat shit in a heart-beat though.

Darned Liberal media!!!!

[zbdent]

15. No, THEY DID SHOW THE ANTI-KERRY MOCKUMENTARY

The UPN station in Cleveland is WUAB channel 43.

Right before the election, 43 did show the Kerry bashing mockumentary.

43 also has the Sunday morning wasteland of religious programming quite a lot.

It is NOT a Sinclair broadcasting group, it is a Raycom.

Also, it is pretty much a Siamese Twin with the local CBS station, WOIO-19.

[Dr Fate]

20. I know they did. Its cuz they are so Liberal I guess.

The Liberal Media shows that lying Swiftboat shit but not a pro-tolerance commercial.

I cant believe folks still say the media is "Liberal"- what freaking shows are they watching to get this idea?

[GOPBasher]

18. What a cool church UCC is.

I'm an Episcopalian, but if I ever wanted to go to a Protestant church, UCC would be my home.

[VolcanoJen]

21. Kick!

K I C K !

[proudbluestater]

23. Here's the BEAUTY of it all!!

This was a multimillion dollar ad campaign by the Church of Christ. To date, they have spent 0 since nobody has enough guts to run the ad; however, it has been the talk of the town all day long! Free publicity! Just like the Swift Boat liars, only this time for us it's a positive!!!

We had CNN on at work this morning. That ad was run repeatedly. I heard about the ad also on NPR and my evening paper did an article. If they had just run the ad it would have cost them $$$ and garnered them must LESS publicity! Win! Win!

[Patiod]

28. Excellent point - I had the same thought last night when I saw it

on ABC news. More free exposure than they possibly could have paid for.

At least ABC's excuse was somewhat plausible, that they don't run any religious advertising (but Desperate Housewives is fine....)

[hippywife]

24. cbsdiversity.com

Husband emailed all of them this morning over this but took great pleasure in pointing out CBS obvious contradiction to their own diversity statement:

"As broadcasters, we aim to ensure that our national viewing audience is reflected in our programming and our people.

We recognize that a work force comprised of a wide variety of perspectives, viewpoints and backgrounds is integral to our continued success.

This is not a campaign, but rather a fundamental way of doing business at CBS, and we continue to be steadfast in our goal to become more diverse and more representative of the public we serve."

-Leslie Moonves
Co-President & Co-Chief Operating Officer of Viacom
and Chairman, Chief Executive Officer of CBS

http://www.cbsdiversity.com/index.shtml

Buncha raging hypocrits. :grr: :grr:

And yes, the UCC rocks! We have a great UCC pastor here that is cut from the same cloth as all the civil rights defenders that marched with MLK. He is outstanding!

[eagler]

27. If the whole story about Falwell's connection to Rev. Moon

could just be told by the 'liberal media ' I'm certain he'd be losing tons of followers.

[gorbal]

29. That's it, I'm going to stat attending a UCC church

I'm going to start attending a UUC church if I can find one im my area.

Perhaps going to our local UCC church at least once to show support would give the media and the world second thoughts:)

Some of the personal stories on the UCC site made me cry-

http://www.stillspeaking.com/about/brooke.htm

http://www.stillspeaking.com/about/stories.htm

My favorite quote from the bible-

“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” — I John 4:16.

[skypilot]

30. I suspect that I'll get flamed for this.

I haven't seen the ad, although Al Franken played the audio of it on his show today, but frankly, in our present political climate, I would rather not see ANY ads for ANY churches on TV--unless it's on one of the channels dedicated to religious broadcasts. I really appreciate what this church is all about but I personally don't want to see it advertised on major networks most especially because the floodgates will be opened for other not-so-inclusive churches to demand equal time. I don't want to see this country going even futher in that direction--although it's starting to seem inevitable.

[gorbal]

31. Good point!

Although I am not sure I agree.LOL! I guess we will see what happens.

.

[sonicx]

32. other churches can't demand equal time. they'd have to pay for ads too

i do see your point, but anti-gay church 'leaders' are all over the air waves already. These couple of ads are just the beginning of balancing things out for equality side.