August 8, 2018

USA: Pastor Greg Laurie Forced to Remove Billboards In Orange County Because Ad Company Received Several Complaints Over "Offensive Image". Wow Wow Wow. This Is So Wrong! 😧

Islamic sharia blasphemy law being IMPOSED on AMERICANS
in America!!! 😠
This is a canary in the coal mine.
The Right Scoop
written by Staff
Tuesday August 7, 2018

This is insane.

Christian pastor Greg Laurie was forced to remove his billboard ads because the company he hired to run the ads received complaints. Why? Because the ads showed Laurie holding a Bible.

Totally not kidding:
CBN NEWS – Evangelist Greg Laurie has been forced to take down a series of billboards depicting him holding a Bible at a popular mall in Southern California.

Laurie and Harvest Crusade contracted Irvine Company, a real estate company in Southern California, to advertise the upcoming SoCal Harvest. The event will be held August 17-19 at Angel Stadium and is expected to draw tens of thousands of people. The company agreed to post large billboards promoting the crusade at Fashion Island, a prestigious outdoor mall in the center of Orange County.

However, after claiming the religious imagery on the ads provoked multiple complaints, including a “serious threat,” the Irvine Company reportedly mandated the billboards be modified. Harvest complied with the request and resubmitted new ad artwork without the image of the Bible. Ultimately however, the changes were not enough to resolve the situation as the Irvine Company’s decided to completely remove all the advertisements and billboards for the crusade.
He’s a photo of the ad:

How do they know it’s not a Webster’s dictionary? Or a book on gardening? It’s not even marked:
“There was nothing overtly religious about it,” John Collins, Harvest Executive Director told CBN News.

The Bible depicted in Laurie’s hand did not have a cross, religious symbols, or even the word “Bible” on it.

“We changed it to a more simplified ad that simply said ‘Harvest,’ giving the dates and some of the musical artists that are going to be with us. Then they came back and said they just wanted the ads completely removed and they refunded us,” he explained.

CBN News attempted to contact Irvine Company officials for comment on this story, but did not receive a response back prior to publication. However, the contract between the business and Laurie reads, “Management reserves the right to not display any materials that could be constructed as vulgar or offensive.”
I mean seriously, who complains about something like this? It’s a Christian pastor holding a Bible. That’s it. There is absolutely nothing offensive on the ad whatsoever. And nobody is forcing anyone to go to Laurie’s SOCAL Harvest. Just ridiculous.

And even more seriously, what kind of crappy advertising company backs down because of complaints about something that is just as American as apple pie? I just don’t get it. It almost makes me think a big client for Irvine Company complained or something, because what else would be taken this seriously?

I know this may not rank very high on the cultural rot totem poll, but as CBN News suggests in their title, I do agree this is a sign of the times. Pretty soon, Big Tech is going to be banning people for having pictures of crosses and Bibles on their social media sites or something. I know, that sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s probably not.
While Harvest is disappointed that the billboard ads were removed, Collins says this has less to do with the company and more to do with the culture.

"We're certainly not upset with The Irvine Company. Obviously, they're catching heat for allowing us to run these ads. We feel it is just unfortunate that people are complaining," he emphasized. "It's sad that our culture is at this degree of intolerance...There's such intolerance against Christianity that we aren't allowed to state that or to publicly advertise this event. That's amazing."

Collins says the billboards were simply meant to invite people far and wide to an event that could change their lives. This year is the 29th anniversary of SoCal Harvest, making it the longest-running large-scale evangelistic event in America's history.

The crusade typically draws 90,000 to 100,000 people, all of whom get a chance to hear the gospel.

"We typically have about 9,000 to 10,000 people make a profession of faith," Collins shared. "That's 9- or 10,000 people coming forward and saying, 'I want to know more about what it means to be a Christian. I want to give my life to Christ. I want to rededicate my life to Christ.'"

This year, the SoCal Harvest team will be holding food drives for needy people at home and abroad.

"There's many positive things that occur throughout the weekend and we're just mystified that we can't advertise this event,” Collins said.

CBN News published on Aug 7, 2018: Billboards Advertising Christian Event and Featuring a Bible Removed Amid Complaints

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 11:44 AM

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