Eugene Gerber – 5 Feb 2012
I first saw the Rivers Church billboard on 26 Oct 2011. Had it not been for an Axe commercial being pulled off air a few weeks earlier by the Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) of South Africa, Rivers Church might well have been allowed to continue disseminating their mindless propaganda. The aim of the ad still eludes me; were they luring hapless infidels into their web of lies, deceit and money grabbing? Perhaps the message was aimed at their devout flock, reaffirming the absurdity of atheism. Regardless, their message would have remained untouched.
With the Axe episode fresh in my mind, I got that familiar feeling that religion is once again receiving the benefit of unjustified favor. I can only imagine what the response would have been if a billboard quoted Dawkins’ apt description of the Old Testament god. Or perhaps a quote from the 16th century Geneva Bible branding the Pope as the Antichrist.
Reactions to the ASA ruling banning the Rivers Church billboard ranged from praise and worship to absolute scorn. A hero for atheism – a villain for free speech. Further confusion arose when I commented that my action was an attempt to further the free speech cause in our country. Hopefully this article will shed some more light this aspect of the debate.
Atheists in South Africa are disorganized. No member organizations, limited social networks and most importantly, no funding. Some bloggers did comment that a billboard of my own would have been more appropriate. But money talks, and I have limited means. Even if I had the means, approval would have taken months if not years, and once erected it would have been taken down through the same channel I used. Fire with fire was not an option.
Another option would have been to lobby for an amendment to our constitution, essentially the foundation of the ASA codes. The right to dignity (section 10) and freedom of religion (section15) is protected, which were explicitly referred to in the ASA ruling on the Rivers Church billboard. Once again, funding and a lack of numbers would render such an attempt futile. I suppose I could have expressed my views regarding the billboard on the net, and I’m sure that we would have had a good laugh at the Christians. But how would this change anything in South Africa? As much as free speech needs to march on, religion needs to have its wings clipped. I dismissed the option of doing nothing, much to the dismay of some free speech activists on the net.
Ultimately I decided to lodge a complaint and have the billboard removed. Given the ludicrous fiasco with the Axe commercial, success was virtually guaranteed; ditto for widespread reaction on the net. I doubt free speech is even aware of the blow thrown her way. The reaction I was hoping for was an outcry from millions of Christians in South Africa, condemning the petty absurdity of our advertising code. If lady luck was on my side, I might even have succeeded in getting the Christian establishment to put their ill gotten gains to work in promoting free speech. As it turns out none of this has come to pass, which was disappointing. If Rivers Church had any grit they would have debated the issue, but they know better.
With the benefit of hindsight I have to ask myself if I would do anything different if a new billboard should pop up. Perhaps I would. I might approach the church and suggest that we work together to allow unbridled free speech, the alternative being a complaint to the ASA to have their billboard removed. Perhaps this is something I should do in any event.
Taking Down a Billboard
Taking Down a Billboard
Posted by , Published at 5:45 AM and have
