Controversy Swirls Around Church Easter Commercial
At a time when movie theaters across the country are featuring blockbuster hits promoting murder, drugs, sex, corruption, and the like, is there anything ‘too controversial’ to be shown on the big screen?
Compass Bible Church, in Aliso Viejo, Calif., found out first-hand that when it comes to promoting Easter, the answer is yes. The 30-second ad features short one-liners about what some conspiracy theorists believe may have happened to Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, and ends with “find out what we believe about the resurrection at Compass Bible Church.”
It wasn’t the conspiracy theories, or controversy with the actual spot that threw red flags for the theaters. It was the fact that religious deity was promoted and the name of Jesus Christ was used. Using completely subjective terms, since there are no official written policies about such usage, the agency for the national theater remarked that its constituents might be offended by such an advertisement.
“We were told we could promote our Easter services with a commercial that featured the date, time and place with some fun bunnies and eggs thrown in,” says Mike Fabarez, senior pastor at Compass Bible Church “But for us, Easter isn’t about springtime fun, it’s the most important day in Christian history, and we won’t water that message down. It’s unfortunate that what our country was founded on has now become ‘too controversial.'”
After watching the video, what’s your take?
