Billboard Mocking Christianity Banned for Inciting Hatred

The bold campaign had plans to comment on Christianity and Islam, but the advertising agency shut it down, claiming the ads intended to incite hatred. 

One of the billboards took shots at the Messiah: “Jesus Christ — who, as it turns out, was born of a virgin, cheated death, and rose bodily into the heavens — can now be eaten in the form of a cracker.”  

Another aimed for Islam: “We are now in the 21st century. All books, including the Qur’an, should be fair game for flushing down the toilet without fear of violent reprisal.” 

The white lettering on black background were quotes from author Sam Harris, who plans to tour Australia next year.  

“The one about Muslims is really offensive and that is the intention of it,” Faith Communities council secretary the Rev Ian Smith tells the Sun Herald. “And the one about Jesus, 90 percent of the church would be offended, it is belittling, cheapening and shallow. “I am all for freedom of speech, but not when it is designed to have a violent or negative reaction.” 

Best-selling author Harris is perhaps most known for his works The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation and The Moral Landscape. 

On his Facebook page, Harris called the decision to reject the billboards “interesting.” 

Think Inc., Harris’ tour sponsor, released a statement online regarding the rejection: 

“As many know, central to Sam Harris’ work is the critical examination of religion,” reads a portion of the statement. “The quotes on these billboards are taken verbatim from Sam Harris himself, who has consistently asserted that it is necessary to bring under scrutiny socially detrimental ideas, and the sources from which they are derived: in this case, the focus is on religious texts and ideologies which may pose opposition to peaceful coexistence with socially progressive ideals. A necessary distinction needs to be made between the critique of ideas, and the critique of individuals/groups. Just as it is important not to conflate one with the other, it is important not to conflate promotion of criticism with the promotion of vilification (the grounds on which APN has rejected these posters).”