ChurchAds: Mary’s Ultrasound
ChurchAds have developed this poster for Christmas:
I rather like it, but not all agree. Here’s miserable Terry Sanderson’s – Director of National Secular Society – criticism;
“If they are hoping to stop the secular drift away from Christmas as a Christian festival, they risk doing the opposite. It gives the impression that it was politically motivated, that they are trying to put across some sort of subliminal message. The image is too specifically associated with pro-lifers to be seen in a benign context. They should go back to angels and cribs.”
Hey guess what Terry, Jesus is pro-life!
There’s a couple of radio advertisements:
You can find out more here.
Tags: Christianity, Media
November 15th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
I suspect that Terry Sanderson is himself pro-life.
I’m sure he’s against that evil US crowd who have appropriated the title. You know, the ‘pro-life’ crowd who shoot doctors, terrorise the vulnerable and support the death penalty, torture, denial of medical care to the poor and the war for Iraq’s oil. You know, the sort of thing Jesus was against.
November 15th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Hmm. Well, as an atheist myself I really can’t agree with Terry Sanderson. I think it’s rather sad to make such a killjoy bah-humbug comment on this poster. One can read a different story into almost any advertisement, but that does not mean one has to do so.
By all means use the power of advertising to recapture Chritmas as a religious festival. I’m as sickened by the gross commercialisation as anyone.
November 16th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
@ Simian: My response is to wince. Having a baby is painful enough without the addition of that resilient looking halo!
November 16th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
It’s so strange you know, as this poster is like Marmite, whereby, folks either really like it, or really don’t and there’s no in-between.
That includes in the US, but of course they wouldn’t ‘get’ my Marmite reference….
November 16th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
@ webmaster: It’s OK, it’s just not very appealing. When you think of the choice of imagery they have it lacks charm. Ultrasounds always look a bit weird, odd when you think how cute babies are.
Also, I think it’s a bit risky to stress the “biological reality” bit when many of us would admit that the Nativity is the least authentic part of the Christian narrative. There’s lots of legend mixed in with the historicity.
November 16th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
I disagree completely with Sophie of Surrey’s assessment that the Christian Nativity narrative is the least authentic part of the Gospels. The stories of Jesus and his mother that we know today in the New Testament were protected by the Holy Spirit, as were all the documents that came to be known as the New Testament. (They were passed down through the generations and preached everywhere by priests and bishops who could prove their relationship to the Apostles through the laying on of hands.) Many stories of Jesus’ childhood were NOT accepted into the Canon of the NT when it was eventually put together at the Council of Nicea. They were not accepted precisely because in the Church Tradition of the Early Fathers there was no record of these stories being preached by the Apostles and the first men they consecrated into the priesthood or as bishops.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
@ Marcella: I’m sorry you disagree, but I have it on good authority. Perhaps you could take it up with the Archbishop of Canterbury?
November 16th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
To get in the festive mood, here’s a list of the 10 worst Christmas cracker jokes:
1. What is Santa’s favourite pizza?
One that’s deep pan, crisp and even.
2. On which side do chickens have the most feathers?
The outside.
3. What kind of paper likes music?
(W)rapping paper.
4. What’s white and goes up?
A confused snowflake.
5. What do you call a woman who stands between two goal posts?
Annette.
6. Did you hear about the man who bought a paper shop?
It blew away.
7. What’s furry and minty?
A polo bear.
8. How do snowmen get around?
They ride an icicle.
9. Who hides in the bakery at Christmas?
A mince spy.
10. What do you call a penguin in the Sahara desert?
Lost.
November 16th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Hi again, Sophie. I am not surprised the dear A’bishop thinks this. It has become common among far too many churchmen to pooh-pooh the Apostolic Tradition of the Early Fathers regarding various beliefs. My question is, what makes them so sure that they know more about the origins and authenticity of the Nativity narrations than men who lived close to the time in which they happened? In my view, they are either presumptious with a capital “P” and do not have a solid faith, or suffering from invincible ignorance. In my experience, churchmen who deride the Nativity frequently also deny the reality of Satan. What are Rowan Williams views on that entity I wonder? Do you know?
I am going to digress, is that OK, but only a small digression as it is on the subject of believing/not believing texts in the Bible. Jesus said, “Deliver us from the Evil One.” Some bright spark changed this in English to the generalised “Deliver us from evil.” But anyway, would you like to read two books by Fr. Gabriel Amorth, an exorcist, on that subject? You can find them both on the Internet: “An Exorcist Tells His Story” and “An Exorcist: More Stories.” They certainly gave me food for thought.
November 17th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
@ Marcella: I can tell we hold very different views, but there’s no point arguing about it. I’m not a literalist and I don’t share your interest in exorcism. I usually agree with the A of C – about this, about evolution. Still, takes all sorts to make a world.
November 17th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Hi, Sophie. Re evolution, I say God invented the rules and all things happen within His plan for the world. It is interesting how the process of creation in Genesis seems to follow the model of what science is learning even though the language is different. The OT does say somewhere that 1000 days with us are but 1 day for God, so allowing for the fact that huge numbers were beyond the scope of the knowledge of the people who wrote Genesis, I would call it an inspired book worthy of respect. I read a few years ago that DNA findings have shown that apparently we all go back in time to one couple….Awesome if that is true. One of these days, I will look into it more thoroughly. I don’t trouble myself about the subject; this or that theory on evolution won’t change my world.
But believing or not on the role of the Evil One in the world could change it! However, we’ll agree to disagree about the necessity for the occasional exorcism of people and places. I believe there is a never-ending battle in this world for the souls of men. I think it very sad that it is this is not taken seriously in today’s “developed” nations. I think the lack of understanding about demonic attacks leaves us tremendously vulnerable psychologically as well as spiritually. Do you know about Pope Leo XIII’s dreadful vision during a Mass in 1898? He saw the devil confronting God and telling Him that, if He would give Satan just one century to himself, Satan would show God how unworthy of salvation is Mankind. The Pope heard God assure Satan differently, but all the same the 20th C. was granted to Satan. The Pope was then shown various wars to come, and also shown the state of men’s souls; sights and sounds so terrifying that he collapsed. When he had recovered, he wrote the Prayer to St. Michael – not the puny thing that was adapted to be said in RC churches at the end of Mass, (and wrongfully removed after Vatican II), but a long, heartfelt imploring for divine grace to save the world from itself. Today, so it seems to me, Mankind is being dragged through the effluent of our deeds and lack of love for God for these past hundred years, the most wicked in the history of the world – because we have forgotten the necessity to protect ourselves from the Evil One of Christ’s prayer! If I wrote for too long and irritated you or anyone else, feel free to do the same back : ).
November 17th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
P.S: I like the cracker jokes! I am thinking of typing them out and inserting them into my very, very, very cheap crackers. At least each one will have two jokes inside.
November 17th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
@ Marcella: My favourite joke atm is
Q: What’s the fastest cake in the world?
A: Scone.
You need to say it out loud.
As for Satan, my experience of life is that most evil-doing is down to simple human failings. There’s a lot to be said for the phrase “to understand all is to forgive all,” though that’s not so easy when other people are being hurt.
Most people try to do their best as they struggle through life, but abused children often grow into adults who can’t make decent relationships, over-burdened people let their tempers get the better of them, depressed people turn to drink or drugs… That sort of thing. We stumble. And of course you get violence caused by mental illness (paranoid schizophrenia, for example) for which, as a medical author, I attribute physical causes.
I consider that anything one might attribute directly to Satan – and the need for exorcism – is far from usual. It would, in a way, be easier to attribute Nazi horrors to Satan, but I’m afraid they’re just a particularly vile example of an all-too-common desire to demonise a sub-group, anyone we classify as “other”. We see it throughout history – look at the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda.
The few times I’ve felt that real “evil” – as a force outside human nature – existed were on reading about certain murderers. Fred and Rosemary West for example. Nothing could explain the unbelievable horror of daily life in that household. But that’s probably just because I don’t understand the psychopathology. I expect a forensic psychiatrist could explain it all.
I wouldn’t rule exorcism out or Satan but the bloke you quote got his knickers in a twist about Harry Potter, which makes him too much off beam for me.
November 17th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Me again. It took me at least five minutes to twig the ‘scone’ joke. I must be tired. In fact, I know I am, but enjoying our chat which makes me use my thinking cap, and that acts as a restorative. I tend to keep away from online discussions because of a couple of nasty experiences I have had…eg: apparently nice people becoming unexpectedly and violently rude! One person seemed convinced I was a member of the Royal Family and shocked me by a string of expletives accompanying the accusation.
The need for exorcism of individuals does seem to be rare, thank God, but is that just because it is rarely considered as an option today? What suffering the possessed endure, you have only to read the Gospels and certain famous cases to pity them if they became possessed because a psychological or mental weakness permitted the devil to enter. I asked an exorcist whom I knew what guilt do the possessed have for their condition and he said it varied. Some victims would have run a mile had they realised what their silly games were getting them into – ouiji boards and the like. That kind of victim suffers deep anguish, and wants to be exorcised. I believe Hitler was truly possessed but he was not innocent; he hated Christianity with a passion especially the RC Church, loathed the Jews from whom Christ was born, and was an enthusiastic partaker of seances and the like and invented his own pagan religion. We have a family of satanists 50 metres away, they boast of it, and all their children are violent and angry. A few years ago, I officially complained about the one, aged about 10 or 11, who chanted satanic curses at me one day when I stopped him jumping about in our hedge that was so carefully pruned and nourished by hubby. I cannot consider his anger that was getting him into so much trouble to be a mere coincidence. I told him I pitied him and all his family and I prayed for them. It was that, actually, that prompted the cursing and calling me a “holy b—-”. He seemed genuinely non-plussed when I replied that his silly chants did not frighten me at all, as I was protected by God. We haven’t been bothered by them since.
I really believe the need for places to be exorcised should be done much more often than it is. Do you know the story of St Francis ticking off the bishop of a small town who called him in despair to help the town? Francis reminded the bishop that it was one of his duties to do such exorcisms, and “to remember he had the God-given power so jolly well get on with it!”. The whole town watched in awe as hundreds of demons raged out of it. Giotto painted the scene in the Basilica of Assisi and I have seen it. If you ever get a chance to visit that beautiful town, I recommend it. Blessing a place is easy, just make the sign of the Cross while praying the Gloria and scattering Holy Water around. Only Catholics still do this (I think). Demons hate blessed water – the blessing made over it by a priest is the exorcism – and the water is the means of taking the prayer throughout a house or place.
I have not only read Fr. Amorth’s books, but also his commentary on H.P. I know it upset a lot of people but many of the criticisms I read seemed to be made by people responding to superficial commentaries by journalists and they had not actually read Fr. Amorth. What he says makes sense to me as I had previously read, “A Landscape of Dragons” by a wonderful writer called Michael O’Brien. In it, he shows how the darkness of evil has invaded children’s literature in the past 100 plus years and I think he makes a good case for his theories. Before I had heard of Fr. A’s views, I skimmed my granddaughter’s books and I noticed a subtle sneering against “everyday” families that I disliked but I did not know why. Also, of course, the ideas about spells and magic etc as the be-all and end-all for a contented life perplexed me. Have just finished O’Brien’s, “Theophilus”, a novel based around a character by that name to whom St. Luke addresses a letter and I enjoyed it very much. O’Brien has poetry running through him as well as a deep love for Christ and it shows.
Now, I will say goodbye, at least for a few days, but I will answer you eventually if you want to respond.
November 17th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
To the webmaster:
Thank you for the picture of the ad that started a discussion between Sophie and me developing. The picture made me smile, and Sophie’s witticism about that “resiliant looking halo” made me laugh.