I admit. The two things that I remembered regarding the commercials about Jesus during the Super Bowl were both my shock and the message that Jesus loved those we hate. (The official wording was “Jesus loves who we hate,” but that’s grammatically incorrect.) It took me back, and I thought about what I write every day about the MAGAs, just a pinprick about what I’m doing. And then, all too human, I thought about whether the evangelicals would get the same message.
After all, if we’re talking about unbridled hatred, it primarily goes in one direction. Ask a MAGA. We’re godless people who are destroying the country as it “goes to hell,” as Trump likes to say.
Overall, I thought it was a net positive. Even back when I was 100% agnostic, I always said one doesn’t have to be religious in any way to find a lot of beauty in Jesus’s teachings. The Sermon on the Mount and “Above all else, love one another,” seem like a good way to live.
Despite the beauty of the message in the commercials, there is a dark force working in the background. A perfectly cooked USDA prime Prime Rib is a net positive, but it can also be considered “bait” if it’s served by a company wanting your money or your agreement to something, and, weird as it is to say, that is akin to the commercial. What else would you call an ad that, through long cables and around corners, is tied to Hobby Lobby and other people who are notorious for those they hate? Were the commercials meant to lure us, the hated ones, in?
“He Gets Us,” a campaign to promote Jesus and Christianity, is running two ads during the game as part of a staggering $100 million media investment. To many, the spots will be nothing new: “He Gets Us” content has been peppering TV screens, billboards and social media feeds since a national launch in 2022.
I suspect most of us missed it until last night, so it couldn’t have been that prominent and not peppering the television screens focused on MSNBC and ESPN.
I cannot go beyond fair use, so I’m limited to three paragraphs from the article, which you should read. But two stick out:
According to research compiled by Jacobin, a left-leaning news outlet, The Servant Foundation has donated tens of millions to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group. The ADF has been involved in several legislative pushes to curtail LGBTQ rights and quash non-discrimination legislation in the Supreme Court.
And if that bothers you, here it comes:
While donors who support “He Gets Us” can choose to remain anonymous, Hobby Lobby co-founder David Green claims to be a big contributor to the campaign’s multi-million-dollar coffers. Hobby Lobby has famously been at the center of several legal controversies, including the support of anti-LGBTQ legislation and a successful years-long legal fight that eventually led to the Supreme Court allowing companies to deny medical coverage for contraception on the basis of religious beliefs.
Well.
As a practicing liberal Christian, I do know that Jesus didn’t teach anyone to hate anyone, and he didn’t hate the people who rejected him. He did note that they’re taking their chances.
Okay.
I also know this. Jesus didn’t spend a lot of time at the wealthy temples teaching the rich, and he didn’t raise a lot of money as a means to help anyone or establish a church or institute. In fact, the one time he went shitstorm insane, tossing tables into the air, was at the temple with the moneylenders. If you actually read the gospels, Jesus spent most of his time around the people that society hated, lepers, the sick, the poor, prostitutes, children, and foreigners. In that way, he did love the people who society hated most.
But can the same be said of the people above, Hobby Lobby et al., the same people behind this movement? No, I don’t see it. I see a lot of “We will force you to do it our way…” and thus, I question the purpose of the commercials that seemed beautiful. It appears to me that they might be bait, unlike the prime rib that I ate during the game.
More analysis below.
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, SUBSTACK: MUCH LEFT ADO
This was certainly a good reason for me not watching the s.b. Not the only one since I haven’t seen one in years.
I’ve seen the “he gets us” commercials through the year, on various cable channels. Interesting to know the source of them and I agree, it’s dark and disturbing.
Talk is cheap. Walking the walk is what matters. That was Jesus’ message. Otherwise it’s empty hypocrisy. I’m afraid the asshats will read that as He gets my point of view, and therefore it’s OK to hate ni**ers, mexicans,(all brown people), those dykes, cross dressers, democrats, those who change their gender, foreigners, WOMEN, etc. That message is just PR propaganda. I also wonder how many of those tear stained cheeks at the national anthem voted for a fascist pig determined to end democracy? At least Rihanna made pregnancy sexy again.
‘He gets us’ ads look good. Say what we want to hear. Is it manipulation? Yes. For me…what’s the end goal? What the hell is the reason for putting this on t.v.? It actually scares me. I was in a cult for 15 years.
I “cut the cord” years ago and never watch the super bowl, so I have never seen this ad.
It would seem I’m not missing much.
I’ve seldom watch much of Super Bowls for years now. Long story but it’s the championship game, one which players and coaches have spent decades of their lives working their butts off to play in. And over time the actual game is at best on equal footing with all the other goings on from way too long halftime shows, pre-game ceremonies and of course the commercials. I tend to check in, more often if a team I like is playing and especially if it’s one of my two favorite teams. The Bears haven’t been a factor for longer than I care to remember, but the Chiefs? It’s awesome they are gaining consideration as a dynasty. So I checked in some in the first half, including just as Mahomes was limping off the field. I felt going in Philly had the edge, and so I didn’t check in again until I figured the game was close to the end to see if the Chiefs had hung in somehow to make the final score respectable. I’m glad I did because those last five minutes or so were great!
Anyway, I didn’t see the commercials in question but I saw plenty of talk about them beforehand. Here’s what I think:
Those things were a cultural/culture war Rorschach Test. People who actually try to live up to what Jesus is said to have taught, people of other faiths and even non-religious people (for the records I was raised Christian but turned agnostic over two decades ago) could take away one message. But the people Hobby Lobby et al were targeting could take away an entirely different one. As an insult that Jesus would love the people they dismiss or outright hate. It’s the “he gets us” that gives it away.
Again, there are way too many commercials, too much pre-game shit and too long halftime shows all of which detract not only from the attention a championship game deserves, but affect the quality of the game itself including and especially the safety/well-being of the players.
Not to mention the bullshit call that ended the game. Given all they let go, they could make that call on both teams all game long. I’m not a fan of either but let the players decide the fucking game unless it’s egregious. Not to mention it didn’t alter his route and the ball was uncatchable…also a rule. The refs in every sport are sucking. The dook team got screwed the other day when it was clear the man was fouled before the clock expired and should have been given foul shots instead of going to ot. We only shot 3 foul shots in Durham although we attacked the basket and kept getting knocked to the floor. Refs should overrule their mistakes. Seems they are afraid to do their job, then they suddenly determine the superbowl. Maybe Garland should have been a ref.
Gonzaga lost the NC to UNC on what an announcer – the next year – called “the worst he had seen in any NCAA championship.”
My New Orleans Saints were going to get the game winning kick to beat the rams when a receiver was hit so badly before the ball got there that the NFL changed the rule. The Rams went on to win the Super Bowl when they had lost to New Orleans
So, there have been worse.
Any time I see an organization with “Freedom” in it’s name, I know it’s a hard right and/or religious group who wants freedom for themselves and no one else. The very word freedom has been usurped and bastardized by the right, just like the American flag.
RainyJ, I used to see an American flag flying in a house or a farm place and it brought me to tears thinking of all the people showing their dedication to the United States. After tRump was elected, I began to get uneasy seeing those same American flags. As the MAGA movement emerged, I almost resented anyone who flew the flag because I was no longer sure I could trust them. Broad, sweeping opinions, surely. But the same thing happened with my faith in Christianity. Soon the self-described “evangelicals” were spewing hatred in between their supposed “worship” of God. It really put a dent in my faith for awhile. But not for long. I’ve concluded that GOD DIDN’T MOVE. THE MAGAts AND THE EVANGELICALS MOVED. And definite in the wrong direction. I find it incredibly sad. I hope some day we find our way back.
Not a,Christian, but a,Wiccan who spent 25%of her life in the South as an adult. I wouldn’t survive if this were a,Christian Nation.Neither would most mainstream Christians.
one correction: When did Jesus hang out with prostitutes? He told those preparing to stone a,woman guilty of adultery to cast the first stone only if they had never committed a sin. He told the Samaritan woman she wss guilty of adultery.
This likely comes with confusing Mary Magdalene with a different Mary. Mary M.was cleansed of 7,demons ( more likely a physical disability,),_and was not a prostitute. She contributed financially to Jesus’ support. stood with his mother at the foot of the cross and was the first to learn that the tomb was empty. Early church leaders conflated her with that other woman as early as 6,th c. under Pope Gregory the Great. This,was done to.make her less important–especially if she was Jesus’,wife. Cannot have uppity women competing with men, can we?
Of course you are correct. The evidence is far stronger that he hung out with tax collectors at a time when the collection of taxes was done by what we today would call a RICO operation. There was plenty of actual reason for people to hate them.
Besides the multiple women all rolled up into Mary M, there is the fact that is was just not done for a respectable man to speak to a woman outside of his inner circle. The earful he gave to the unknown woman who he met at a well caused quite a stir – and the way the word “prostitute” and its synonyms have been inaccurately used in every language, she might have been considered one – twice married but now living with a man she was not married to.
Goes to show you Gillian how the perservers of ‘history’ interject and alter what happened which leads to all kinds of righteous ignorance. I refer to the Life of Brian by Monty Python. At the sermon on the mount the scene focuses on the crowd at the back. A fight breaks out because they thought he said blessed are the cheesemakers. Funny stuff that rings true knowing how people are.