Reflections

New Zealand Billboard Of Mary And Joseph In Bed Is Disgusting

Posted by on Dec 17, 2009 | 6 Comments

A billboard in the New Zealand town of Auckland is causing quite a stir, since it depicts Mary and Joseph in bed with the caption that says “Poor Joseph, God was a hard act to follow. ‘ The billboard has been defaced with brown paint to prevent people from seeing the image and the quote. But what is disturbing is the reason why the billboard was placed on a city street.

A news article stated the reason that the billboard was erected:

St Matthew-in-the-City Church in Auckland, which erected the billboard, said it had intended to provoke debate.

With a response from a Catholic church:

But the Catholic Church, among others, has condemned it as “inappropriate” and “disrespectful”.

This is what the billboard looked like before it was defaced:

I personally find the billboard disgusting and offensive to Christians. There are other ways to conduct a debate without being  insensitive to others and displaying this type of trash in a public place.

Source.

  • peter aspen

    … in poor taste, yes. But ‘disgusting’? Not at all. There are many Christians, such as I am, who have a faith strong enough to see this for what it is – edgy, that’s all.

    … more to the point however, is who is J. Schenone? Nothing on this web site provides that information.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/theoracle/ the oracle

    Since the billboard was put up by a church, I tend to think any debate they might want to provoke runs far afield of anything that should find itself in a church setting, and the deacons (or whatever the governing body is called there) might take a look at the way church funds are being spent.

  • leftystrat

    The church should know, above all others, that this would not provoke debate. In fact, it will completely derail debate, as people simply shoot the messenger, not the message.

    I believe that a serious student of religion would seriously debate this, rather that wasting time taking offense (especially as it was put up by a church).

    That aside, I think it’s kinda clever. It’s also pretty funny, as black humor goes.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/reflections/ reflections

    peter aspen,
    I am just a Christian like yourself.

    Thanks for the comments.

  • conor hogan

    poor taste? no
    funny – yes

  • http://twitter.com/tyler_k_rauman tyler k. rauman

    Seriously, religious people need to stop being so damn sensitive. It is a joke. Sure, in bad taste, but whatever.