61 Frames Per Second by John Constantine Today in Nerve's videogame blog: Friedrich Nietzsche, River City Ransom, angry nerds, and the horrors of time. So, you know, business as usual.
The Remote Island by Bryan Christian Veronica Mars returns (maybe), RuPaul is haunting us (definitely), and the Dexter "Pscyho Therapy" quiz (creepy.)
You can't really blame NBC, CBS and UPN for refusing to air the United Church of Christ's "gay-friendly" television spot. In this political climate, it would be crazy to show two women tying the knot.
Oh, wait. That wasn't the UCC ad. That was an episode of NBC's Friends, circa 1995.
But there is that scene in the ad where God takes the form of an effeminate male secretary.
Or was that on CBS's Joan of Arcadia this season?
Maybe the networks are refusing to air the UCC commercial because it shows lesbian teenagers kissing. Unless I'm thinking of UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yeah, you know what? I am.
Clearly, I need to take another look at this controversy-baiting ad. Those of you with swift internet connections can watch here. For the rest of you, I'll provide a play-by-play: two "bouncers" stand at the entrance of a Thomas Kinkade-esque church. As potential worshippers approach, the bouncers start to turn them away, letting only a select few past the rope. Then the titles come up: "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." The ad then cuts to a beaming group that had been rejected by the bouncers, as a narrator declares, "'No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here."
Did you miss the naughty parts? If you pay close attention, you'll notice that the first people bounced from the church are two guys holding hands, and the crowd at the end contains a cozy female couple.
CBS and UPN declared the spot "unacceptable for broadcast." They cited "the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman." So CBS is rejecting the commercial because of the gay marriage controversy. But not once does the ad in question mention gay marriage. It never mentions marriage, period. It doesn't even say anything about homosexuality– except that gay men and women are welcome to attend UCC services.
If you think this is a radical notion, I encourage you to find one staunch conservative — short of antichrist knock-off Fred Phelps — who thinks gay people should not attend church. The whole point of evangelical Christianity (the variety that currently dominates national politics) is, um, to evangelize. That is, to preach the message to as many people as possible. They may believe that homosexuality is a "sinful lifestyle," but they still want gay men and women in the pews.
What makes the United Church of Christ different, of course, is that they don't see homosexuality as a sin. Currently, the Congregationalists (as they're commonly known) are the only mainstream Christian denomination to ordain openly gay pastors and — yes — perform church-sanctioned gay marriages. But unless you're familiar with the policies of the UCC, you wouldn't know this. So how does this make their ad campaign controversial?
Well, it doesn't. The only controversial thing about the spot is the suggestion that homosexuality and Christianity can co-exist. As the network's nightly line-ups show, none of these "concerned" entities have a problem putting gay people (preferably young, attractive gay people) on television. As long as there's no implication that Jesus loves and accepts them.
And that's where I have to hand it to the bouncers: at least they're not hypocrites.
n° — Gwynne Watkins
