<Theofragen>

I was speaking to my friend, Eric, last night and he told me about the new United Church of Christ commercial that has been rejected for viewing by CBS and NBC because it is "too controversial." This morning my buddy Wes already had a blog post about the controversy. I watched the commercial (click here to watch it) and I'm having a hard time understanding what all the fuss is about.

I find it interesting that these networks will air shows like Ellen and Will and Grace but will not air a commercial from an ecclesiastical body endorsing openness. It seems that the networks would want to embrace the notions of tolerance, diversity and inclusion. Furthermore, I find it abhorrent that any church would EVER turn someone away because of anything (be it race, sexual orientation etc). The issue for me is not whether they should air the commercials...They should (in fact I think I read something about that in, hmmm the Bill of Rights). Plus, I have seen hundreds of Mormon commercials over the years, which are clearly advocating a religious group.

This debate makes me wonder. In our post-colonial, post-Christendom world it seems that we need to understand that people disagree and that is okay. I find nowhere in the church's history any point in which their was unanimous agreement on anything. The question regarding homosexual ordination is still open for debate, for me. I continue to wrestle with this issue theologically. I respect those congregations that have stepped out in affirming the homosexual lifestyle as well as those churches that, having wrestled seriously with the issue, are still opposed to it.

My buddy Adam just put up a great post on embracing the other. I'm curious, does embracing the other necessitate absolute agreement? In other words, must we embrace every alternative lifestyle unequivocally in order to truly embrace the other? A big issue in the news up here lately involves a United Methodist pastor who, as a practicing lesbian, is in danger of losing her credentials (you can learn more here). I find this intriguing, given that the slogan for the UMC is "open hearts, open minds, open doors." Are this issue and the UCC commercial discussion essentially the same debate? Is this discussion merely about power and control? I'm not sure. Sadly, I know that if any denomination would consider having bouncers at the front doors of the church it would be my own. In order to be like Jesus must the church bow the knee to the vox populi on every controversial issue? How do my emergent minded friends feel about this?

Questions about the UCC commercial

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