So apparently it’s not politically appropriate to preface mainstream films with the Lord’s Prayer (Report, 23 November). What about all those ear-threatening prayers to the capitalist marketplace that we are obliged to endure? What, exactly, counts as politically motivated advertising when all this stuff is designed to indoctrinate consumers into propping up a bankrupt neoliberal consensus about how to live the good life? I’d prefer to have society organised around the principles of secular humanism, but in context it’s hard to see how the Lord’s Prayer deserves to be banned when so much ideological propaganda is used to oil the wheels of such a badly damaged lifeworld.
Dr David Wragg
Clipston, Northamptonshire
• Offended by an advert about prayer? I’m offended by most of the adverts I see at the cinema, with their suggestions that my/our life would be better/sexier/happier etc if only I/we bought their cars/drinks/TVs etc, but that doesn’t stop them being shown. Some ads for counter-cultural values like prayer would be a refreshing change.
Liz Bebington
London
• The Church of England’s director of communications is bewildered at the refusal of leading cinema chains to screen a film version of the Lord’s Prayer, saying that the “multigenerational cultural event offered by the release of Star Wars” was too good an opportunity to miss. A week after The Force Awakens” is first screened, Christians will celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, a man who opposed the Roman empire’s practice of achieving peace only through war, rather than through justice. I think the Jesus who inspires me would also be bewildered that his church today is happy to see war and violence on screen as a “cultural event” and an opportunity to promote his kingdom prayer. Might this Jesus dare to hope that Christians would be counter-cultural, in challenging our addiction to the enjoyment of war and violence, when seen as entertainment, in a world that is suffering its reality?
Adrian Alker
Chair, Progressive Christianity Network Britain
• The Church of England advert featuring the Lord’s Prayer, banned by UK cinemas, is an excellent idea badly implemented. Jesus’s message of unconditional love and inclusion was to all humankind, and initially came with no such label as “Christian”. In a world torn apart by tribal warring between different religious groups, we need this message more than ever. I suggest the church remakes the advert celebrating spirituality in all its forms: eg Buddhist chanting, the dawn cry of the Azan, the blessing of the Easter fire, and an atheist (maybe Richard Dawkins) gazing open-mouthed at the fathomless mystery of the cosmos. Such an advert would, in the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, serve to bring people together in a spirit of love.
Daniel Emlyn-Jones
Oxford
• The C of E should be careful what it prays for. If religious advertising is allowed in cinemas the best-funded cult will win. Does Justin Welby really want screens wallpapered with Scientology messages?
Julian Wells
Principal lecturer in economics, Kingston University
• I do hope the people who might be offended by the Lord’s Prayer being recited are not planning on giving or receiving Christmas cards, eating a Christmas lunch, or singing carols anytime soon.
Miriam Williamson
Buckley, Flintshire
• The advertising industry tells us that most people love adverts, so why not show them after the film, rather than before, and those of us allergic to them could head for the exit, while the advert lovers stay behind.
Richard Ross
London
• As the president of the Spiritualists’ National Union, I am surprised that such an advert could possibly be viewed as “offensive” to anyone. Prayer is a powerful force for good in our world and any attempt to make people stop and consider both their link with God and the needs of others has to be positive.
Sadly, the Lord’s Prayer is said by many without any thought to the implications and meaning of the words they utter, if we recite prayer out of duty or because we feel we ought, it can lose the force of its message and detract from our link to God.
Contrary to popular belief, prayer does not always need to follow a familiar pattern of words to contain meaning and purpose; sometimes in the silence we can equally find our relationship to God, which many of us do. To use prayer as a means to open people’s minds, and make them see the reality and responsibility of their actions in this world, may just bring our faith groups and society together as a whole to transcend the hatred, terrorism and intolerance we all too often witness in our world today.
I pray this may become a reality and support the Church of England in its efforts to bring prayer into the lives of everybody.
In order for this to happen, cinema chains should be able to show such adverts – not with the intention of “offending”, but merely to encourage people to bring our society together as a whole in our daily lives.
Minister David Bruton
President of the Spiritualists’ National Union (SNU)
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