"Why Can't I Bash Your Church on TV?"

I hadn't payed too much attention to the decisions of CBS and NBC not to broadcast a new commercial from the United Church of Christ. What little I had heard of the issue made me think that the networks were being a little arbitrary. But then I read this from Leonard Pitts: CHURCH'S CALL FOR UNITY TURNS OFF NETWORKS. Now I'm convinced that the networks did the right thing by their stockholders.

A key moment of the ad shows:

It shows two bouncers working a rope line in front of a church. They turn away a gay couple and what appears to be a Hispanic man and a black girl. A white family is allowed to pass. The text onscreen says, "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." A narrator closes the ad, speaking over a montage of old people, white people, black people, Hispanic people, lesbian people, human people.

The message is clear: If you belong to another church you are a racist, a homophobe, hate old people, and basically "white bred" trash. No wonder the networks didn't want to touch this drivel with a ten-foot poll. What is more surprising is that Pitts and others cannot see how such an ad could be viewed as deeply divisive.

Or maybe it isn't so surprising. Early on in his piece Pitts relates:

I joined the UCC -- a little-known denomination out of Cleveland -- about five years ago. It was the first church I'd ever seen that seemed to take seriously the idea that inclusion is a Christian value. It was also the first that actively sought to resolve divisions of culture, class, race and sexual orientation.

It seems that Pitts views his choice of Church as an extension of his personal ideological world view. In short he didn't want a church that might challenge his political beliefs but only confirm them. One result of this effort is to view everyone elses choice of church as a de facto political statement. So an ad that plays more like a MoveOn.org ad than anything else shouldn't come as a great shock.

I have to wonder how Pitts misses the irony here. The church he praises for seeking to "resolve divisions" has launched an attack ad against other Christian demoninations. How loving.