The new United Church of Christ commercial is airing though (again) the major networks won't carry it because it's too controversial(!)

The commercial shows a number of people being excluded from a church by means of an ejector seat. An African American woman who may be a single parent, a gay couple, an Arab American man, and several others are shot out of the church in Wile E. Coyote style to leave a homogenious congregation. (The ad can be viewed at www.rejectionhurts.com/ejectorpew in it's entirety.)

I'm not sure what the controversy is, never having heard it clearly expressed. I haven't seen any statements this time around. The last commercial that was refused broadcast was called "too political" apparantly because it shows a church accepting gay people in a time when there is a great deal of controversy about gay marriage.

The other complaint I've heard is that the commercial is pointing a finger at all of the other denominations out there to accuse them of rejecting people who are different.

That's not the intent at all. The commercial is not an accusation, it is an invitation. It is meant for everyone who has felt unfairly judged or rejected by a church. (There is a It is a message that there is a place that will not reject them. It's an attitude we're proud of in the UCC. We believe we are following the model of Jesus who reached out to people the soceity of his time considered outcasts and offered the same compassion, dignity, and justice as anyone else.

This kind of equal treatment seems so fundamental to our faith that it baffles me when people see it as controversial. Fear of, and anger towards, people who are different are two of the most destructive forces in our nation and our world. Faith, decency, and common sense all suggest to me that we have to stop hating and begin to rebuild relationships. I don't see any other way to live if we are going to have a world that embodies the vision of justice and peace we claim to long for.