Thursday December 02, 2004

A scandelous welcome mat

Chuck Currie posted yesterday about a story involving a church's struggle to get its own commercial aired on CBS. To many of those who believe that the American media has a liberal bias, this would hardly seem surprising. After all, many believe that CBS is anti-Bush, anti-conservative, and consequently anti-Christian. So it naturally follows that it would also be hostile to the Christian message, right?

Well, yes and no.

Personally, I don't believe that the media is generally liberal or anti-conservative, CBS included. Let's keep in mind that Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, and Brit Hume are all part of the media, and that virtually all of the major outlets are owned and operated by the most conservative men in the country. So, considering this, it would not naturally follow that CBS is hostile to the Christian message because it has a liberal bias.

In reality, CBS is hostile to the Christian message because it fears offending the conservative powers that be.

The advertisement in question was a spot promoting the United Church of Christ, a socially progressive Christian denomination that accepts everyone that walks through their doors, including people who are gay. The message of the inappropriate ad was, "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." The commercial was intended to highlight their unconditional welcome, but was apparently too scandelous for CBS to air. Currie quotes CBS:

"Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations, 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 networks."

In essence, since the Bush administration is in favor of changing the Constitution to deny gay couples marriage rights, CBS believes that it's inappropriate to run a commercial showing a church welcoming gay people. The message of inclusion is as scandelous today as it was in Christ's time... That's no surprise. But why would an alleged bastion of liberalism refuse to run such an ad? It doesn't make much sense according to conservative logic. Sure, the ad is produced by a church, but it runs contrary to the conservative ideal of exclusivity. This is a liberal ad from a liberal church. What is CBS so afraid of?

Is it the Christian content? The Bush administration crack down? The scorn of conservative media pundits? All of the above? What?

I am neither a member of the United Church of Christ, nor do I care about running television commercials. If it were my money, I'd use it on something other than dramatized television ads aimed at boosting church membership. But such an example of aversion to inclusive Christianity begs the question, is it possible for the media to be both anti-liberal and anti-Christian?

Or is it inevitable?