Controversial ad shows God as a vegetarian

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Controversial ad shows God as a vegetarian

Pulled in 5 Prairie cities: 'Say no to meat' message not popular with farmers

 

Finbarr O'Reilly

National Post

http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20000720/348861.html

 

A billboard ad promoting vegetarianism that shows God wielding a handful of

carrots and asparagus, along with the phrase, " I said, 'Thou Shalt Not Kill,' "

will not be displayed in five Canadian prairie cities.

 

Part of an ad campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA),

the billboard urges meat eaters to become vegetarians and will not appear in

Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Regina or Saskatoon. It did appear yesterday on

billboards in Toronto and Ottawa, however, and will soon be displayed in

Vancouver, Victoria, Thunder Bay, London and Halifax. Montreal would allow the

ad, but had no English-language ad space available.

 

" We're a community-based advertising company even though we're national and, if

there are things that don't meet the community standards of certain areas, we

try and abide by them, " said Ron Barr, a spokesperson for Pattison Outdoor,

Canada's largest outdoor advertiser. " Because of the situation with the farmers

in the prairies, that may have been the reason we pulled it. "

 

The Canadian Cattlemen's Association has referred to past PETA campaigns as

" tasteless publicity stunts. "

 

Bruce Friedrich, PETA's vegetarian campaign co-ordinator, said although the

message may not be popular in such agriculture-based provinces as Alberta,

Saskatchewan and Manitoba, people should be allowed to decide for themselves.

 

" Obviously we're disappointed that we're unable to place the ad in the area of

the country that arguably needs it most, " he said. " It's a very simple message;

if you're eating meat, you're promoting animal abuse and making a mockery of

God. "

 

Gordon Dirks, an ordained minister and president of Rocky Mountain Christian

College, told The Canadian Press that the ad is objectionable because it implies

God is vegetarian and that meat-eaters aren't good Christians.

 

" There's no evidence from scripture that Jesus was a vegetarian, " he said.

" Jesus was a practising Jew, and, of course, the Jews sacrificed animals as part

of their religious system. There are also accounts of Jesus eating fish. "

 

PETA, known for stirring up publicity with controversial ad campaigns, was in

the news last summer due to its billboard ads. One showed a bikini-clad woman

holding limp sausages with the tag line, " I threw a party, but the cattlemen

couldn't come, " and the claim that " Eating meat can cause impotence. "

 

The billboard was supposed to appear in Calgary and Regina last August, but

media reports led to a flood of protest calls to Mediacom's head office in

Toronto and the outdoor advertising company cancelled its deal with the

Virginia-based animal rights group. Billboard companies in 13 American states

refused to post the ad.

 

PETA also raised a strong reaction in 1993 when k.d. lang, a singer born in

Alberta's ranchland, endorsed a " meat stinks " commercial. Ranchers and

politicians railed against the advertisements, which they said potentially

threatened the livelihood of many Albertans. PETA won a public battle last month

over an Internet domain name against another group with the acronym PETA, which

stands for People Eating Tasty Animals. This PETA was created to poke fun at the

animal rights group and its Web site claims to be " a resource for those who

enjoy eating meat, wearing fur and leather, hunting and the fruits of scientific

research. "

 

Yesterday, as the American Meat Institute held its annual hot dog lunch on

Capitol Hill in Washington, two Playboy bunnies, Kari Kennell and Julie

McCollough of Growing Pains fame, wore lettuce bikinis as they and other PETA

activists served vegetarian " Not Dogs " to promote a healthy and humane diet.

 

PETA mailed invitations to each member of Congress with the message: " You would

probably lose your lunch if you knew what actually went into a wiener. "

 

http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20000720/348861.html

 

Also:

Let us eat meat

http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20000721/349809.html

 

Revelation

http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20000721/349967.html