United Church Of Christ "Ejector Seat" Ad Unveiled; Major Networks Refuse To Air It
Rejection Hurts: Stories Of Being "Ejected" From Church

United Church Of Christ To Networks: Stop Playing Favorites

One of the primary reasons that I started to publish this blog was my frustration over the fact that whenever religious leaders were interviewed in the mainstream media on public issues the source was always some right-wing fanatic (Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell come to mind). I figured that maybe a blog might in some small way be a tool for spreading the Gospel message as many mainline Christians read it. Robertson and Falwell (add Albert Mohler to this category) don’t preach the same Gospel message that Jesus did and it continues to be a source of frustration to me and many others that the mainstream media continues to use those same sources as “the” spokesmen for all things Christian. It has to stop. Maybe now it will. J. Bennett Guess from United Church News reports:

Have the religious “mainlines” been sidelined? That’s the view of the Rev. Robert Chase, the UCC's communications director, who today announced a new blog-focused advocacy campaign to draw attention to ways in which the nation’s historic, mainline Christian denominations have been “silenced” by network and cable news programs.

Accessibleairwaves.org has placed ads on dozens of internet blogs, drawing attention to the UCC’s new effort to lift the public voice of the old “mainliners.” The announcement came on the same day that another of the UCC’s 30-second television ads was unveiled for the media, even though it has been rejected by the broadcast networks as “controversial,” therefore “unacceptable.” The newest ad, known as “ejector seat,” will begin airing April 3 on cable networks only.

The major networks’ silencing act is not only affecting the UCC, Chase said, but other mainline churches as well. According to Media Matters, a public-interest research group, you’re far more likely to hear from the head of Focus on the Family or the 700 Club, than you are a United Methodist bishop or the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

“What do James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Richard Land and Gary Bauer have in common?” asked Chase at a press conference in Cleveland. “Together, they have racked up 36 appearances on the Sunday news talk shows, including Meet the Press and Face the Nation, during the past eight years.”

“But what do the principle leaders of the United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), American Baptist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Reformed Church in America, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, among others, have in common?” he further asked. “They haven’t appeared once.”

“Increasingly,” Chase said, “millions of U.S. Christians have grown weary of having their more-inclusive, more-progressive values silenced.”

Accessibleairwaves.org encourages mainline Christians to note and share how their denominational leaders have been left out of the public discourse. Moreover, the website -offers opportunities for persons to share their concerns with network news producers.

Visit the site and send a letter to the networks telling them to include progressive Christians on their programs.

For the record, I'm running the blog ad at no cost to my denomination. 

Related Link: Are Christians Being Silenced? How about the United Church of Christ? from Frederick Clarkson at Talk To Action   

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