Anti-Christian Ad in U.K. Results in Gov't-Applied 'Hand Slap'
by Jeff Johnson
October 24, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The quasi-governmental body that regulated advertising content in Great Britain has ruled against an anti-Christian newspaper ad published by the "Gay Police Association" there.
The ad bore the headline "In the Name of the Father" and featured a photograph of a Bible beside a pool of blood. It claimed that the Association had documented a 74 percent increase in "homophobic incidents, where the sole or primary motivating factor was the religious belief of the perpetrator." The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which fielded more than 500 complaints about the ad, declared the ad "untruthful" and determined that its anti-Christian claims were "unsubstantiated."
The Independent, the newspaper that published the ad, apologized to its readers, saying it regretted any offense the ad caused. But despite instructions from the ASA to ensure future campaigns were not presented "in a way that could cause undue offence" and a reminder not to use imagery that could send "misleading messages to consumers," the Gay Police Association (GPA) refused to promise not to employ a similar tactic in the future.
Among the groups complaining about the ad was the U.K.-based group The Christian Institute, whose spokesman points out the ASA agreed with his members that the ad was untruthful. "It does mean that the GPA cannot publish the advert again," notes Mike Judge. "However, I'm sad to say that the Gay Police Association have refused to give an undertaking not to place a similar ad in the future."
Judge admits he finds it ironic that the Gay Police Association will face no penalty.
"What upsets Christians in Britain is that the Gay Police Association can seemingly place such a hostile ad like this and not have much sanction -- and yet Christians in Britain are being arrested and even prosecuted for handing out Bible leaflets at gay rights events," he states.
Among its arguments, the GPA said it failed to see how the ad could be interpreted as a call to violence towards Christians, and reiterated that it simply highlighted "homophobia" motivated by religious belief. The ASA agreed with that argument.
British Education 'California Style'?
Meanwhile, a new "anti-discrimination" law being considered by the British government could lead to schoolbooks that endorse homosexuality being forced on children as early as kindergarten. Books promoting the homosexual agenda are already on the recommended reading lists that the British Department of Education distributes to primary schools.
The Christian Institute's Mike Judge warns that new laws designed to ban discrimination against homosexuals in education could result in those recommendations being requirements.
"At the moment in Britain, each headmaster at a school has the right to refuse to use whatever materials he wishes in his school," he explains. "But we fear that if these regulations come in, gay rights groups can use these laws to sue schools that refuse to use gay-friendly literature."
Judge is hopeful the law will be amended to mirror a recently passed statute against religious discrimination. "Very similar laws that the government introduced just last year on discrimination on grounds of religion deliberately did not include the school curriculum because they did not want religious arguments over what was taught in schools," he shares.
The Christian Institute spokesman warns Christians in America that legislation passed in the name of "tolerance" can easily be used against biblical values.
In September, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have changed textbooks in the state's public schools to require that they include positive presentations of transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality.
Jeff Johnson, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
