Lord’s Prayer Branded ‘Offensive’, Banned From U.K. Cinemas

In what will be seen as madness by many, the Lord’s Prayer has been banned from U.K. cinemas. Christians in the U.K. are outraged by the decision to ban an advertisement featuring the Lord’s Prayer from all three of the country’s leading cinema chains. The 60-second advert containing the Lord’s Prayer was intended to encourage prayer in the days before Christmas. It was to be screened before the new Star Wars movie, which is due to launch in the U.K. on December 18.

The Church of England commissioned the Lord’s Prayer advertisement, which was cleared for screening by the Cinema Advertising Authority and the British Board of Film Classification. It is the cinema chains themselves who have decided that they will not screen the advertisement.

According to the Guardian, the Odeon, Cineworld, and Vue chains, who control over 80 percent of U.K. cinemas, have refused to show the advert because they believe that the Lord’s Prayer “carries the risk of upsetting, or offending, audiences.”

https://youtu.be/vlUXh4mx4gI

As can be seen the advert features a variety of people, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, reciting the Lord’s Prayer and is designed to encourage prayer. The BBC reports that the Church of England is “disappointed and bewildered” by the cinema chain’s decision to ban the advert.

Digital Cinema Media, an agency who handle advertising for the three cinema chains, made the decision to ban the advert because they claim that the Lord’s Prayer might be offensive to people of different faiths or who have no faith.

Cinemas with policy of not advertising religion won't show religious advert: https://t.co/0T5xwEIpGS #NotNews #LordsPrayer

— The Occupier (@OccupierNews) November 22, 2015

In a statement, Digital Cinema Media denied that they were singling out the use of the Lord’s Prayer and said that it had “a policy of not accepting political or religious advertising content in its cinemas.”

“Some advertisements — unintentionally or otherwise — could cause offence to those of differing political persuasions, as well as to those of differing faiths and indeed of no faith. DCM treats all political or religious beliefs equally in this regard.”

According to the Telegraph, the ban on the Lord’s Prayer has been branded “silly” and as an attack on free speech by Church officials.

Speaking to the BBC, the Reverend Arun Arora, director of communications for the Church of England, said “we find that really astonishing, disappointing, and rather bewildering.”

“The Lord’s Prayer is prayed by billions of people across the globe every day, and in this country has been part of everyday life for centuries.”

He encouraged people to watch the video and judge for themselves whether or not the Lord’s Prayer is offensive in this context. The decision to ban the advert encouraging prayer may even see the Cinemas taken to court by the church. Stephen Slack, the Church’s chief legal adviser, has warned that the decision to ban the Lord’s Prayer may be in breach of the U.K.’s Equality Act, which bans commercial organisations from refusing services on religious grounds.

Some of those involved in the making of the advert say that they are worried that people have lost sight of the role of Christianity in an increasingly secular society.

Weightlifter Ian McDowall says that “sharing the Lord’s Prayer in a cinema environment would make people think.” Of course, not everyone agreed with the church’s views on the decision to ban the advert. Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, supported the decision to ban the Lord’s Prayer from cinemas and branded the church arrogant for attempting to “impose their beliefs” on cinemagoers who had paid for a different experience.

What do you think about the decision to band the Lord’s Prayer from U.K. Cinemas? Would you be offended by the Lord’s Prayer in this setting, or do you think that this is a case of political correctness gone mad?

[Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images]