Sunday, April 17, 2011

Controversial Billboards - I love them!

My friend just sent me a text with an amusing photo attached.  Despite the three menu screens and no small amount of finger trouble I went through to get to the picture I found myself chuckling at the image.  It was of a billboard outside of (and especially for) the St Matthew In The City Progressive Anglican Church.  I have downloaded it onto my computer and uploaded it onto the internet so that you, too, may enjoy the humour.*



Upon my reply to the friend about the style of the billboard he replied that the joke posted there last week was a good one too.  After sharing the picture with my flatmate and his sister we proceeded to use the fancy interwebs to find out if there had been many more.  Turns out there had:


(enlarge to read the small print on this one)









Unfortunately this last one was a bit too much for some devout believers. They were incensed with the idea that Joseph and Mary might be portrayed as being in bed together (!!). Well that's my take of the hatin' that followed. Maybe I have the wrong end of the stick. Either way, while most of the city chuckled and agreed, some felt the need to respond in a different way. Kiwis might remember the public outcry:


I seeing all these photos on the internet reminded me that I often pass by this very billboard - perhaps once a week or so.  I'll be paying more attention now which I think is their aim.  So: "Well done St Matthew in the city."


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* Since posting this the billboard has made it into the NZ Herald newspaper. (Again.)

9 comments:

  1. BaltagalvisApril 17, 2011 at 10:22 PM

    Religion is like penis. It's not bad to have one. normal to be proud of it. But please don't wave it in a public, and PLEASE don't try to cram it in to my kids mouth and ears... Normally I tolerant to all religions until they try to force their beliefs on me. I live in a country that last took christianity(1387). So there is still a lot of people(and I one of them) that don't like church attempts to show us "the real moral values" and get in to country politics.(although the formally separated from government and have no right to do it)

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  2. SezApril 17, 2011 at 10:41 PM

    That is a wonderful analogy, I love it :) I hope you didn't feel that I was trying to cram anything down your throat.

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  3. UnknownApril 17, 2011 at 10:49 PM

    No, I didn’t. :) I just red that analogy on Thursday and it make me laugh. And now I red your blog and again I laughed. :) Here I think this might be funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o

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  4. MaalieApril 18, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    A wonderful post Sez! Good to see you back in the blog community :-)

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  5. SezApril 18, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    Thanks Maalie, it's good to be back :D

    Happy to make you laugh Baltagalvis!

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  6. DougApril 19, 2011 at 7:52 PM

    I don't know which was funnier - your post or Baltagalvis' comments! :D

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  7. SezApril 19, 2011 at 8:01 PM

    Definitely Baltagalvis!

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  8. sempreApril 19, 2011 at 10:20 PM

    Jeebus you have been blogging lots!!! Sorry I don't have the patience currently to delve through stories of Perth and Fremantle. Have much enjoyed your other commentaries - although much surprised you had not heard about St Matthew in the City's billboards earlier.
    Anyway, kinda just wanted to say yay for blogging.
    :)
    P.S. Maybe a billboard deal with the church is how Hell's pizza get away with making these 'special' hot cross buns:
    http://hellpizza.com/nz/

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  9. SezApril 19, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    I always thought they were Hot Crossed Buns!
    I do know about the billboards really, but there's knowing about it and actually paying proper attention to it!
    Stay tuned :D

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