Progressive church sign of the day

Via UCC on Facebook

I love this sign in front of Toronto's Jubilee United Church. While I don't believe in god, I sure do believe in my family's sect, The United Church of Canada, and their determination to remain relevant in the secular age through social justice and progressive faith.

Well done!

Christian church ditches "Christmas", goes with pagan holiday instead

It's Halloween, sure, but The Bay put up their Christmas decorations in September. And when I was out for a walk near my office, I saw this banner on the side of Dominion-Chalmers United Church:

I belong to the United Church of Canada, even though I no longer attend. And I had never heard of anyone being afraid of calling "Christmas" by name.

Sure, there are places where name-checking a religious holiday is considered inconsiderate to those who do not follow the same gods and/or prophets. But I would have thought a Christian church, even a very liberal one, would be okay with putting the "Christ" in the whole thing.

Even stranger is the use of "Yule". I like the term, but it's a religious holiday too. It just happens to be a pagan German one that few today observe.

I'm not at all offended that a church I sort-of belong to (and Canada's largest Protestant denomination) decided to go this way. All I can figure is that they are trying to be welcoming to the diverse community of Centretown Ottawa. The UCC, after all, is the affirming church that welcomes people of all sexual orientations, and often holds religious weddings for people from other churches and religions that are no longer accepted in their own places of worship. It is also the church responsible for this ad:

But it still made me go "hmmmmm..." You?

I have no faith in this campaign

Adrants posted this item from an article on canada.com headlined, "Christ meets Big Foot: more irreverent atheist ads to hit Canadian cities":

All I can say is, "Jesus Christ, guys!"

The organization behind the campaign, which will hit Toronto streets after Xmas, had this to say:

"I'd love it if everyone saw the ads and know the point of the campaign is to emphasize not the kind of knee-jerk debunking to anything suspicious but that we're interested in a genuine debate, a conversation about so-called extraordinary claims. We're not here to mock people who believe in these claims."

Let me change my response to, "JESUS TAP-DANCING CHRIST ON A CRACKER!!!"

I was raised going to church. I stopped going to church. I changed from liberal Christian to agnostic (in the true sense of the word) while still respecting the role progressive Christian beliefs can play in filling a void in many people's lives.

I hate fundamentalism of any stripe and I despise totalitarianism, sexism, oppression, regression and hate perpetrated in the name of religion. But as an unbeliever, I also recognize those things as human flaws. If there are no Gods, then it's important to understand why people would want to do those things to each other.

I won't wax philosophical any more here, except to say that I find this campaign provocative in all the wrong ways. It's like one of those sarcastic trolls you see online who make nasty jokes for their own amusement — or at most, a small circle of like-minded douchebags. Talk about preaching to the choir.

But there was some salvation here, and it came from the very people the group was trying to offend: a church.

This isn't just any church. It's the largest Protestant congregation in Canada. And unlike its literalist and fatalist counterparts (especially in the U.S.!) The United Church of Canada is not treating the ad as a declaration of culture war, but lovingly providing a broader perspective.

Rev. Bruce Gregersen, UCC general council officer:

"Conversation is welcome and invitational to all people to think about the meaning of faith. It's a fair question that goes to the heart of what you count as proof. There are millions of people who have sense of the mysterious . . . deeper within our spirits...

"Our perspective is that Christ is able to stand in that kind of situation and not be ridiculed. Our belief about Christ is much bigger than anything related to Zeus, or psychics or homeopathy, so in that sense it's trivializing the nature of faith. On the other hand, it's not enough that I'd want to raise issues."

In fact, the UCC is all about questioning and discussing things. They've even made it part of their sect brand with Wondercafe, an open community for thought-provoking discussion. And one which was launched with ads like these:

(See the whole campaign at Osocio)

This was my church, and to some degree still is. Perhaps you can understand now why I am not as "angry with God" as the Centre for Inquiry.

Mmmm... Sacrilicious

One thing I try to do in this blog is bring up current social issues as they apply to advertising.

Well, here's one for you to chew on: In a secular society, are some people's sacred religious icons fair game for satire?

These transit ads (via IBIA) by Ogilvy in Aukland, New Zealand, for a local pizza joint are pretty cleverly irreverent. They are sure to offend some, and amuse others. But is this a socially responsible move at this point in history, where the religious divide is becoming more and more polarizing in politics?

Not that I would want to actually stop anyone from gleefully offending in this way. It's their right, at least in some countries. But I am also a little uncomfortable with mocking people's most closely-held beliefs, even though the pizza nimbus is pretty chuckle-worthy.

I should add, though, that the Chapel Pizza ads are not nearly as tasteless as this gelato ad that got banned in the UK:

That one made news all over the place, which I suppose was the intent. But how does it make you feel about the brand?

There is a Canadian campaign from a few years ago, though, in which I feel irreverence was entirely well-placed. And that's because it was a campaign from a church that wanted to spark discussion about religious issues for their own sake.

For the United Church of Canada's online discussion site about faith and religion, this campaign challenged viewer's opinions about sexual mores, biblical literacy, religious symbols, social justice and more. Check out the whole campaign. It's fascinating.

Now, I am biased because the UCC is the church I grew up in. But I still think there's a big difference between challenging the sacred to sell pizza and ice cream, and challenging beliefs as an invitation to philosophical debate.

What do you think?