Billboard Provokes Christmas Controversy

I've been to Christchurch. It's a beautiful looking city... although it’s incredibly boring. This would be front page news there.

Oh, sorry, Auckland. My sister lives there, I'll have to see how big the stink actually is over there. I don't see what the problem is, it's like taking as much offence at the representation of god being an old man in a robe and sandals. I probably wouldn't understand anyway.

This church is a joke.

"We would question the Virgin Birth in any literal sense" ?

If I understand this correctly, this church then believes Jesus is not God but is a man. And therefore His death is pointless in terms of 'salvation of mankind'. If they believe Jesus was a nice dude with some nice ideas, fine. But that's not Christianity. That's not even a religion. Church FAIL.

"We would question the maleness of God in any literal sense"

Apparently, they don't read the Bible either? Or did they miss the countless references to God as Father, He, or Daddy (Abba)?

What morons--and I doubt they are actually Christian.

The only thought this inane billboard provokes is "exactly what sort of cleric feels the need to 'lampoon' (or outright insult)the beliefs of his own religion?

Another Tim,

So does god have spirit testes? spirit XY chromosomes? a spirit phallus?

If not, in what literal sense, would the god of the bible be male?

Wow. That is completely tasteless. And yes, what other religion has clerics in good standing that openly ridicule key tenets of the faith?

I love it. Let's point out a few more logical fallacies in standard religious doctrine. The fact that a church is doing it makes it all the sweeter.

This is pretty amusing, but they CANNOT be surprised by controversy when they intentionally set out to challenge peoples' assumptions.

Amazing how humourless most religious people are. It's just a billboard. A comical billboard.

Also, the billboard was defaced within 5 hours of it being erected - in broad daylight no less. Intolerance must be a virtue among the religious.

As usaul, liberals exposing their complete ignorance of anything realistic. They should all go to the globull warming conference and freeze.

The church was hoping to get people to question a literal interpretation of the Bible, as well as using the Bible to justify hate and cruelty. People spend more time arguing about literalness, than focusing on the importance of the message of Jesus, sacrifice, and redemption. The church argues that not only is a literal interpretation of the Bible a distraction, but that it is impossible to reconcile the various stories of Jesus's birth without performing mental acrobatics which lead to intellectual convulsions (same thing with the Easter story- I challenge anyone to tell me reconcile the differences in the four Easter stories presented in the Gospels.

If we are ever to mature as a culture, as human beings, as rational adults, we must move beyond literalness, and grow-up.

@felixthecat, good call.

Woohoo! The atheists can't be blamed for this one! *high fives all around*

I'm surprised no one else feels sorry for Joseph. If someone else impregnated my wife in any kind of way i would be pretty upset to say the least.

"Auckland Catholic Diocese spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer said the billboard implied the Virgin Mary and Joseph had just had sex and was inappropriate, disrespectful and offensive to Christians."

In the eyes of the Catholic Church sex between spouses seems to be disrespectful and offensive nowadays. Makes you wonder how Auckland Catholic Diocese spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer thinks she was conceived herself... hopefully not in such an inappropriate and disrespectful manner for the church she represents -- imagine the scandal!

If sex between a couple is a sin, why do they even bother being pro-life?

I don't see what the big deal is - if we are made in his (human) image as the Bible says, then he is either male or female.

But if he is an all-seeing, all knowing, all-over-over-the-place kind of God, then he isn't human so he can not be either human male or female.

Of course the above do not preclude a non-human God from momentarily taking over or creating a human body to use temporarily for impregnating, which makes the question even more fun if we are still made "in his image"...

The problem is in the idea that Mary had sex with God, and not just average sex, but female-orgasm-wow sex.

11@scot

>As usaul, liberals exposing their complete ignorance of anything realistic. They should all go to the globull warming conference and freeze<

Non-sequitur. (look it up!)

Time to get back in the rocking chair, gramps.

I don't know what they are all on about It is not offensive to me and I am pretty full on as a Christian

Personally I think its a scream. After 2,000 years, its hard to come up with new material.