Outspoken
atheist Richard Dawkins has added his voice to the chorus of disapproval
over an advert showing the Lord’s Prayer being banned from British
cinemas.
The
60-second recording of the Lord’s Prayer was scheduled to be shown
ahead of screenings of the new Star Wars film before Christmas.
But
it was pulled after the company which sells advertising at the Odeon,
Cineworld and Vue chains said the Church of England film could be seen
as offensive.
Angry: Justin Welby, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, said the advert 'is about as offensive as a carol service
or a church service on Christmas Day'
Lord’s Prayer: The 60-second video was scheduled to be shown ahead of screenings of the new Star Wars film
Professor Dawkins, an evolutionary
biologist who is an outspoken critic of organised religion, said that
the grounds on which the advert is being censored is ridiculous
Professor
Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist who is an outspoken critic of
organised religion, said that the grounds on which the advert is being
censored is ridiculous.
He told The Guardian:
‘I strongly object to suppressing the ads on the grounds that they
might ‘offend’ people. If anybody is ‘offended’ by something so trivial
as a prayer, they deserve to be offended.’
The row intensified as it emerged that:
- The commercials for alcohol and violent video games are being shown before films aimed at children;
- One 12A-rated film, which children of any age can watch with an adult, showed a sexualised perfume advert featuring naked models posing as Adam and Eve;
- The prayer advert was pulled even though Digital Cinema Media, which sells screen advertising, had no written policy against it;
- The CofE is considering legal action under the Equality Act.
Justin
Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: ‘This advert is about as
offensive as a carol service or a church service on Christmas Day.’
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