Christianity banned from cinemas

[jeremyp]

Because they allow adverts for violent videos and others unsuitable for children to view.  Do they not consider those might give offence?

No they don't. If you go in to see a 12A film, you will see no advertising that is inappropriate for the certificate. You will also see no trailers for films above 12A.

[BashfulAnthony]

... which is precisely what many find objectionable in itself.

Most people aren't as bothered as you, and the other obsessive atheists on here.  And as you suggested earlier, people are quite capable of making decisions for themselves, and such a video is hardly likely to sway them much.

[Gonnagle]

Dear Jeremyp,

I would have thought the CofE would have to pay top dollar for that Star Wars slot. If not, the advertising company needs new management.

I didn't quite catch what the CoE rep on the Jeremy Vine was saying, but I think he said that the CoE had wangled some kind of a discount, and I suppose this could be something that upsets me, how much did this little venture cost, but that could be that I don't see the big picture.

The big picture Star Wars, never have got what all the fuss is about.

Gonnagle.

[Rhiannon]

... which is precisely what many find objectionable in itself.

Liberals and middle-of-the-road Anglicans tend not to believe that you need to believe in order to be saved (not sure about Welby but it certainly wasn't part of Rowan William's theology). What they regard as their duty is 'growing the church' - having enough people coming in each week in order to keep going.

[jeremyp]

... which is precisely what many find objectionable in itself.

There are plenty of adverts that I find objectionable for various reasons, including, probably, the one we are discussing, but as long as they don't lie, I put up with them because they make my ticket a bit cheaper.

[Shaker]

I didn't quite catch what the CoE rep on the Jeremy Vine was saying, but I think he said that the CoE had wangled some kind of a discount, and I suppose this could be something that upsets me, how much did this little venture cost, but that could be that I don't see the big picture.

A discount on a huge amount of money still stacks up as a lot of money, which is certainly not going to where the tenets of Christianity say it should go. Rather than criticising a company for having a policy, sticking to it and calling this "hypocrisy, " Bashers should be looking to this as a prime example.

[BashfulAnthony]

No they don't. If you go in to see a 12A film, you will see no advertising that is inappropriate for the certificate. You will also see no trailers for films above 12A.

Do you naively believe that only children need to be protected from violent images?  It is adults who are affected enough to be swayed by advertising into committing violent acts.

[Shaker]

Do you naively believe that only children need to be protected from violent images?  It is adults who are affected enough to be swayed by advertising into committing violent acts.

Evidence for this?

[Outrider]

Because they allow adverts for violent videos and others unsuitable for children to view.  Do they not consider those might give offence?

Those issues are reviewed by the ASA and the BBFC before the adverts and trailers are approved for use, so that decision on 'offensiveness' are taken by the regulators.

The DCM, for whatever reason, believe that violence (of a particular level) isn't likely to cause offence to the Star Wars audience, but overt religious sentiments might.

They might be wrong, they might be generally right but unfortunately incorrect on this specific instance, but neither of those equates to hypocrisy.

O.

[floo]

The Bible is full of violence, maybe that should have an over 18 rating!

[Outrider]

Which is precisely what they do!  You ought to check before you post!

No, I don't think they do. I think they have a pretty good idea of the sensibilities of their customer base who are prepared to accept a degree of artificial violence in the name of entertainment, and a degree of hyperbole in the name of selling consumer goods, but who aren't interested in being preached at in an entertainment event they've paid for.

That you might be more offended by one than the other does not make this a general rule. More importantly, of course, they might be restrained by the law: they might not believe THIS religious message would upset people, but that SOME religious messages might, but they are not permitted to discriminate between religious messages: they either take them all or they don't take any, and they've chosen not to take any.

O.

[Gonnagle]

Dear Gordon,

As I said they are a failing organisation, and this campaign show some aspects of why they are failing - I wonder which bright-spark thought that this idea would ever resonate outwith the CofE's existing (and declining) customer base?   

From a Christian perspective, I doubt any Christian on here will disagree, if only one is saved.

But I would like to echo Bashers thanks, a big thank you for banning this little video.

Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching as to War, alls fair in Love and War

Gonnagle.

[Outrider]

Do you naively believe that only children need to be protected from violent images?  It is adults who are affected enough to be swayed by advertising into committing violent acts.

Has there ever been any evidence that films - or video games, or books - encourage people to commit violent acts? I've yet to see any, I've seen numerous studies which suggest that the data don't support a link...

On the other hand, I think I could probably find a link between the people who commit suicide bombings and people who pray...

O.

[Shaker]

Ouch ... 

[jeremyp]

Do you naively believe that only children need to be protected from violent images?  It is adults who are affected enough to be swayed by advertising into committing violent acts.

I love a good violent action movie. I could watch Die Hard on hard rotation. I laughed out loud the first time I saw the scene in Pulp Fiction where Vincent Vega accidentally discharges his firearm.

In spite of this, I have never felt the desire to commit a violent act of the nature portrayed in those films. When i was five, I loved Tom and Jerry, but even then, people like you were saying the violence was a problem and I used to think "it's a cartoon. Can't grown ups tell the difference between cartoons and real life?"

[bluehillside Retd.]

Just to note that the title of the OP is typically muddle-headed.

First, "Christianity" hasn't been banned at all. Rather the company concerned has a policy of not accepting religious or political ads of any type. 

Second, nothing has been "banned" in any case; rather a commercial business has decided not to accept a business opportunity from a potential client is all.

As for the policy itself, it makes sense to me. If they accepted an ad from one religious (or political) quarter, on what basis then would they say "no" to a different religious (or political) ad from another - the Fred Phelps outfit, or ISIS maybe? Unless those ads happened to break the law - by inciting violence for example - they'd have a much bigger problem trying to rationalise which they would and would not accept.

I like to think that if I was a more thoughtful Christian type I'd think the same thing by the way, albeit that that's something I'm unlikely ever to be able to test.         

[Outrider]

From a Christian perspective, I doubt any Christian on here will disagree, if only one is saved.

Do you really think that anyone who doesn't already believe will be swayed by the lies of a 'ban'? It's an attempt by the CofE to appear like they're the rebellious outsiders, pitching themselves as the victims of a breach of their freedom of speech, and so they're reaching out to the youth via... Jeremy Vine's radio show. Really - how far out of touch?

Are we going to see the 'War on Christmas' bullshit spread across the Atlantic in the wake of this, legions of Christians martyred by the absence of snowflakes from coffee cups and the tendency for open-minded people to say 'happy holidays'?

But I would like to echo Bashers thanks, a big thank you for banning this little video.

Didn't figure you for a 'liar for Jesus', Gonners. Who's banned anything?

Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching as to War, alls fair in Love and War

"I am the way, the truth*, and the life..." * except when it helps, when maybe the truth is a little malleable.

O.

[bluehillside Retd.]

Yo Gonners,

But I would like to echo Bashers thanks, a big thank you for banning this little video.

You're heading towards falling into BA's mistake here - they made a commercial decision, and moreover one that would apply to ads by any other religious groups. If their policy was to refuse ads from car manufacturers and so they turned down an ad from, say, Toyota, would you suggest that they had "banned Toyota", or instead just implemented a commercial policy?

Whether more or fewer people turn up at church following the brouhaha is I suspect something to which the company concerned is entirely indifferent. 

[jeremyp]

Are we going to see the 'War on Christmas' bullshit spread across the Atlantic in the wake of this, legions of Christians martyred by the absence of snowflakes from coffee cups and the tendency for open-minded people to say 'happy holidays'?

The last people in this country to have a serious war on Christmas were....

... the Christians! Yay!

http://www.historytoday.com/chris-durston/puritan-war-christmas

[Gonnagle]

Dear Outrider and Blue,

Refused to screen, happy

Gonnagle.

[Samuel]

I'm just amused at the irony of an organisation that decries consumerism and commercialisation using those tools to try to claim that the real message of Christmas isn't those tools...

O.

I quite agree with that.

[ippy]

Dear ippy,

Not an it, a he.

Gonnagle.

For something that's so unlikely to have ever existed other than in the mind, does it really matter?

If there is any credible evidence that makes me wrong, let me know?

ippy 

[Samuel]

If I knew absolutely nothing else about a new film other than that Bruce Willis is in it, my expectation that it would be a light, frothy romcom would be low and my expectation that there would be some guns, shooting and a fair bodycount would be quite high.

Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker

[Shaker]

Well, quite.

[Samuel]

Although I couldn't honestly care less about this advert I do think its interesting how it highlights our attitude towards religion ad the CofE specifically in this case.

there appears to be a strong feeling that the CofE should be held to a higher moral standard those organisations typically found advertising stuff, and that says something both about our attitude to religion but also to advertising, I think.

It looks like, from this thread, that there a feeling that non-Christians want to see the CofE behaving in a moral way. And that we care enough to be upset when we find that it doesn't match that expectation. Whether it is right to have that expectation is another discussion, but that fact that it exists at all is interesting. At the very least it shows that many of us see the CofE (or religion in general parhaps) as having some definable roll in society, even if the details are hazy.

hmmmm......