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Public square is the public square
Q: The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family is sponsoring a pro-life ad, featuring football star Tim Tebow, during Sunday's Super Bowl. Should CBS show the ad? Should CBS allow other faith-based groups to buy Super Bowl ads promoting their beliefs on social issues? Is a major sporting event, or a TV ad campaign, an appropriate venue for discussing such vital and divisive culture-war issues like abortion?
The public square is the public square. In an open society, there needs to be freedom of the press, and freedom of expression. If you looked at the moral standard for Super Bowl TV ads 15 years ago, and then look at the ones displayed this Sunday, you will find a strong change in moral content. This is reflective of our society, which is seeking a greater sense of "openness." So if you ban an ad promoting life issues, are you in fact creating a double-standard, where one group of people's views are represented, but not another?
It concerns me that in what is supposed to be an "open society" such as America, that we would disallow people the right to pay for commercial airspace because it conflicts with people's personal views.
By
Matt Maher
|
February 3, 2010; 11:05 AM ET
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Posted by: HCBerkowitz | February 3, 2010 9:20 PM
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The issue is not just the airing of an anti-choice ad, but the fact that CBS has turned down other points of views in the past saying that they don't air advocacy ads of any sort. The point is that they have done exactly what you say they shouldn't do, namely to "...disallow people the right to pay for commercial airspace because it conflicts with people's personal views."
A few years ago they refused to air an ad that featured a church that welcomed gay and lesbian couples. This year they refused an ad for an all male dating site.
The point is that CBS is refusing to play fair. They are allowing only certain viewpoints to be heard, which, one can assume, are the viewpoints that they happen to agree with. In other words, CBS is taking sides on controversial issues with regards to what ads they will air during the most watched TV event in the US. THAT is the problem.
Posted by: pulseteresa | February 3, 2010 4:21 PM
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The comments to this entry are closed.
As far as was known in the public square prior to the news of the Tebow ad, CBS was rejecting "controversial" ads such as the welcoming, to the United Church of Christ, LGBT people. CBS appeared to change the rules, outside the public square, and is still rejecting selective controversy such as the gay dating service ad.
Now, had CBS publicized its changed policy before it signed any controversial ads, such that groups other than Focus on the Family might have chosen to spend their dollars putting out a message on the Super Bowl, you wouldn't see me complaining about public square and fairness issues. I wouldn't be addressing reproductive morality issues in this particular discussion thread, because those aren't the issue here.
Are those issues, for me, in other threads? Certainly. Am I responding to those trying to leverage additional publicity about the matter, using discussions about the controversy? Yes.
Incidentally, if this is the public square, Mr. Maher, will you respond?