Come One, Come All

The United Church of Christ made an ad. In the Ad, some people going to church are denied entrance at the door. The message of the UCC: everyone is welcome with us.

Now the three major networks are refusing to air the ad. ABC gets let off the hook here; they have a policy that they don’t air any religious advertising. Fair enough. But NBC and CBS have no such policy, and NBC refused to air the ad because it is “too controversial.” CBS has a policy barring advocacy advertisements, and they consider this message to be just that.

Baloney.

“You are welcome in our church, whoever you are,” is not a message of advocacy. It is an invitation to inclusion in god’s love (not capitalized as this is a broader context). Making pageant contestants eat nasty things is more controversial.

So why did the networks refuse to air the ad? Is UCC money no good? Are marginalized people actually not welcome in the house of god? Maybe the networks are afraid of the publicity they will get? Ahh, I think we’re on to something…

I think the networks are running scared. I think they think there’s good reason to be scared. I think they’re right.

See, they could be fined boatloads of money by the FCC if they air the ads (or so they think). They think that the FCC will crack down on broadcast content that it finds offensive or inappropriate. They think this ad is exactly what the FCC is referring to when they label content “offensive or inappropriate.” Again, I think they are right.

But it isn’t the FCC that is making the call. I think the networks know that. They think the real content standard-bearers are the religious right, specifically conservative Christians (I don’t think they deserve a capitalized “Christ,” but I think Christ does). But it’s not just me. Rev. John H. Thomas, president and general minister of the United Church of Christ, quoted in the Washington Post, thinks so too; “Rather than uphold a kind of freedom of the airwaves, they're deciding it's wiser to censor some perspectives than to court reaction from the right.”

Meanwhile, since the controversy began a week ago, the UCC has had 70,000 online inquiries from visitors to locate a nearby UCC congregation.

And every one of them is welcome.