God is a hard act to follow

God is a hard act to follow

by

Published on December 17th, 2009, 11:52 am
Rift: Religion

Provocative?

Funny?

Blasphemous? -

This billboard wasn't the brainchild of naughty disrespectful atheists, but was put up by a Christian Church to challenge literalist stereotypes about the birth of Christ.

The church's vicar, Archdeacon Glynn Cardy, said the aim of the billboard had been to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story.

The billboard was defaced within hours of its unveiling

"What we're trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about," he told the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA).

"Is it about a spiritual male God sending down sperm so a child would be born, or is it about the power of love in our midst as seen in Jesus?"

But strangely Catholics and fundalmentalists agree that suggesting that Mary might have been a good Jewish wife and actually have had sex with her husband, or that screaming "Oh God" while in the throes might have annoyed Joseph, is going too far.

"Our Christian tradition of 2,000 years is that Mary remains a virgin and that Jesus is the son of God, not Joseph," she told the New Zealand Herald. "Such a poster is inappropriate and disrespectful."

Source

Rule #1... if you're going to buy a controversial billboard... put it up on the tall ones!!!

So who pays to fix it? The billboard company or the church?

Why do people choose such silly things to worship, like the life-long virginity of Mary? The Bible clearly states that Mary had other children besides Jesus, and they weren't mentioned as being born of a virgin. Seriously... people ought to be better able to decide what is important in life.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8417963.stm wrote:An unholy row has broken out in New Zealand over a church billboard aimed at "challenging stereotypes" about the birth of Jesus Christ.

Interesting, I half suspected it was a message from the Christian community.

It's poking fun at the belief that Joseph never got to get with his wife after the birth of Jesus.

Mary had more kids. The Bible even says so. These kids were Josephs children.

Matthew 13:55 - "Is not this the carpenters son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?"

If your interested read more:
http://www.carm.org/did-mary-have-other-children

While I agree with them I feel that their has to be a better way to send this message.

This seems a little crude.

ecofox wrote:While I agree with them I feel that their has to be a better way to send this message.

This seems a little crude.

I disagree. I think it's a big crude.

One group of Christians poking fun at another -- totally not entertaining. Not for either group or for the disinterested masses.

Liv wrote:Rule #1... if you're going to buy a controversial billboard... put it up on the tall ones!!!

Wouldn't work. If people got upset enough, they could use flaming arrows.

There's a very tiny billboard on 62 out by Julian... like maybe 12' across which local businesses always rent out... I've always been tempted to check the price since it's like a micro billboard...