Britain’s Equality Commission has criticised a recent ban on a cinema ad featuring the Lord’s Prayer and has announced a full investigation into a matter described as “a slippery slope to censorship”
Reacting to the ban, enacted late in November by the Digital Media group, which controls advertising for some 80% of cinema outlets across Britain, the commission’s chief executive, Rebecca Hilsenrath told The Christian Post that the ban had “generated significant public concern about freedom of speech”.
“We strongly disagree with the decision not to show the adverts on the grounds they might ‘offend’ people,” Hilsenrath stated. “There is no right not to be offended in the UK; what is offensive is very subjective and this is a slippery slope towards increasing censorship.
“We also understand why people were confused that a commercial Christmas can be advertised but the central Christian prayer cannot. We will therefore examine the issues raised by this case as part of our major review into the law protecting freedom of religion or belief, and publish our findings in the new year.”
The Church of England advert, which features people in everyday settings – including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby – reciting the Lord’s Prayer, was due to be shown in cinemas before screenings of the latest Star Wars film. Digital Cinema Media, however, argued that it could not screen the footage as it was prohibited from doing so by a bar on adverts promoting “any religion, faith or equivalent systems of belief”.
The Church of England responded by describing the ban as “bizarre”.