Censoring religious speech
The United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant denomination with 1.3 million members and 6,000 congregations nationally (and at least seven congregations in and around Greensboro), today launched a TV ad campaign, "God Is Still Speaking," which will run through the 26th and is aimed at reaching 60% of the U.S. population. You can view the debut ad in the series here.
Just one problem: Viacom, the parent corporation of the CBS and UPN television networks, is refusing to run the ad, as is NBC, on the grounds that it is "too controversial."
The "controversial" part is the part where the church says it "welcome(s) all people, regardless of ability, age, race, economic circumstance or sexual orientation." One brief shot in the ad linked above shows a pair of women, apparently a lesbian couple. The denomination said it received a statement from CBS that read in part:
CBS/UPN Network policy precludes accepting advertising that touches on and/or takes a position on one side of a current controversial issue of public importance. ... Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations, and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks.
Blogger Josh Marshall has communicated with CBS, which is now adding other reasons for its refusal to run the ad: that it "proselytizes." Perhaps, but look at the ad for yourself: It proselytizes no more (or less) than similar ads run by other religious groups -- the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints comes immediately to mind, and I know there are others.
Moreover, if we're to take this "controversial-issue" argument seriously, well, then I'm sure CBS has never run any political advertising whatever, because that would be advertising that "takes a position on one side of a current controversial issue of public importance." Right? Besides, I'm not a lawyer, but to the extent of my research, political speech appears to have been granted the widest possible deference by the courts -- in other words, in a self-governing society, it's considered to be the most important speech of all.
So what, exactly, is Viacom really afraid of? I don't know; its executives don't regularly communicate with me. But I would guess that it has nothing to do with the question of whether exclusion of "other minority groups" is controversial, because exclusion of "other minority groups is illegal, by and large.
No, I would guess that this is based on the part in the statement about the "exclusion of gay couples" and the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage: Viacom does not want to offend the executive branch -- the Bush administration, which opposes gay marriage and has proposed the amendment -- because it, through the Federal Communications Commission, could retaliate, perhaps thwarting Viacom's business interests (e.g., acquiring additional properties).
I await the outcry from religious groups across the theological and political spectrums regarding this suppression of religious expression. And if you want to call CBS and protest -- I doubt they'd pay attention to e-mails -- you can reach them at 212/582-1149 or write them at 51 W. 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019. You can call NBC at 212/664-4444 or write them at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112.
