From Yahoo News, courtesy of Nicole. Apparently both NBC and CBS have banned an ad from an American Church group which encourages Gays and Lesbians to attend services.

From NBC: "[the ad] violated a long-standing policy of the network not to allow commercials that dealt with issues of public controversy."

What exactly is controversial about saying that gay people can attend church too if they want to?? I'm assuming (just to mix things up a bit) that the army are still running recruitment ads are they not; now why aren't they being banned on grounds of 'public controversy'.

"Are you young? Poor background? Education looking too expensive? Then be all you can be : Help George W build a New World Order and get to drive really big tanks at the same time. Joining-the-army-may-have-unexpected-side-effects : media-scapegoating,depression,suicide,injury,disfigurement-and-death"

And as for CBS : "[CBS] said the fact that the Bush administration had proposed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman made the advertisement "unacceptable for broadcast"

I have no idea what that even means. They seem to be saying that they are unwilling to promote, advertise, even talk about anything that W doesn't like. That seems to me to be pretty much an admission of total craven acquiescence to the right wing agenda.

Everything is completely FUBARED, *especially* the Rev Albert Mohler. I'm no theologian but I'm fairly sure that one of the central planks of Jesus's ministry was to say that helping people to God is the most important thing, and let him worry about who's guilty and innocent of sin. if you must worry about sin, worry about yourself.

But then nothing gets me going quite as much as supposed men of the cloth who can somehow pervert the Gospels, surely one of the most tolerant and anti-establishment pieces of writing ever, into a mandate to seek and destroy all those around them who disagree with their own rigid, codified, twisted little world view.

I may not be going straight to heaven myself, but at least I'm not standing on a podium pointing my finger at all the 'sinners' around me. Honestly, if these guys seriously think that they can promote discrimination, militarism, elitism and (lest we forget) the fucking death penalty and also be welcomed by Jesus with open arms they are so, SO mistaken.

Guys - if you think Jesus would have ever even contemplated voting Republican you are just flat out plain old crazy. Oh hang on a sec . . .