So we have arrived at yet another American High Holy Days here in dead of winter-the Super Bowl. Some of those in this room, like myself, will be glued to the actual game and all of its details. Others will use the time to party and chat with friends. I know that there are others though who are most interested in the innovative commercials which will be aired for the first time. I want to comment about one aspect of the commercials which has gone under the radar but which is actually quite important in terms of American religious life including Jewish religious life. I refer not to a commercial which will air on Sunday, but to a commercial which FOX Sports - broadcasting the game - rejected. It’s a commercial submitted by an Alabama based Christian group called Fixed Point Foundation. The ad pointed the viewer to the words of a sign which for years has been waved by some fans at football games, and could sometimes be seen on TV broadcasts as the crowd is panned. It‘s a quote from the Christian Bible John 3:16. That reference in the Book of John proclaims that Jesus is the only path to eternal life. FOX Sports turned down an ad because according to its website it contained “religious doctrine.”
As a practicing Jew who is also an avid pro football fan, I’m nevertheless troubled by what has happened on several grounds. (And I’ve communicated my concern to FOX Sports.) First of all, religion already permeates most of professional sports including football. Those of us who attend games frequently see the players on both teams after the game bowing and praying together in the center of the field. I am not sure what they are praying for but they are praying! Some of you may remember a few years ago when the popular and clean cut quarterback Kurt Warner – a practicing and church going Christian - in winning the Super Bowl as the most valuable player in his post game interview attributed his victory to his belief in Jesus Christ. Players when scoring a touchdown point to the heavens acknowledging that god is their partner – or Blocker. And all know the stadiums themselves are our great secular cathedrals. In the mid-west where I came from, my own rabbinic father’s religious services on most Shabbatot had to end promptly at a certain hour or the congregation dissipated and dwindled so as not to miss the kick off at Ohio Stadium at Ohio State University. Religion already saturates the game on so many levels. So why the commotion over an ad containing “too much religious context”?
Secondly, won’t a lot of the commercials that we will see tomorrow have mild or not so mild sexual content or violent content – simulating the accepted violence on the field. Why then is an ad of religious content rejected? I don’t think that the exclusion reflects a bias against faith. I think that the ads exclusion reflects a feeling that commercials with religious doctrine are too controversial. They are commercials which meant to persuade and convert. As if ads with sexual content are not controversial and not meant to influence.
But I think that there is something else going on too more overarching which touches each of us in a very real way. I think that FOX Sports expresses an even deeper attitude shared by many that religion and advertisements are inappropriate mix because. religion should not “sell itself” in commercial space like a beer or a man’s drug.. But religion does advertise itself in other venues in the United States. For example, there are buses in Dallas itself which contain ads for religious events. On the NJ Turnpike a billboard advertises Islam. Our town and many others bear signage at the entrances pointing the driver to one church or synagogue. And that is valuable. Religion should not be so timid that it is afraid to enter the free market and compete. Do you know that the United States has the highest percentage of "religion changers" -- people who switch their religions? So let’s have an honest competition by facilitating religions in commercials! I for one would welcome, if we Jews could afford it, a large billboard in our town saying “we have a lot to offer -- come and join us.” I know that would be uncomfortable to some. Even an innocuous sign that we had in the front of the temple “let us help you walk your Jewish journey” was objected to by some long term members of this temple as too forward. But why shouldn’t religions compete? Why should the Jewish/religious enterprise be the only one that is prohibited from saying in ad space “we have a product that we think you will like”?
I am intrigued in the sidrot that we read these six weeks which describe the architecture and building materials of the ancient Mishkan, and the elaborate clothing worn by the ancient Kohen in Israel. One of the items on the head of the kohen was a “Tzif Zahav” golden headband. Its purpose was not to catch the sweat of the brow, as a headband worn by a football player. It’s purpose was seen in the words according to the Torah that were written on the headband- “Kadosh Ladonai”- “Holy to God.” Now, did not the ancient Israelite deduce from the work that the Kohen was doing in the Mishkan that the Kohen was “kadosh ladonai?” -- “Holy to God”. I would assume so the public wording on the headband served as a kind of announcement, an advertisement, so to speak.
So for those of you who are interested in the commercials tomorrow on the Super Bowl, I remind you of the one you will not see from John 3:16. It contains too much religious doctrine. A pity on FOX Sports for being so unimaginative and so unaccepting of healthy religious innovation and competition.