“Until the lions can tell their own story, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” — African proverb

Which is to say, media consolidation matters (excerpt from a United Church of Christ pamphlet For faith groups [PDF]):

They had had enough. No longer would an ecumenical group of ministers from Arizona be lumped together with preachers spouting venom in the name of Christianity. No longer would they allow Christianity to be hijacked by hate mongers.

So the Arizona ministers formed “No Longer Silent,” but found that their message of unconditional love was a harder sell than one of hate. “We tried to buy a billboard in a prominent, well-traveled area of Phoenix,” says the Rev. Eric Elnes, No Longer Silent member and pastor of Scottsdale (Ariz.) Congregational United Church of Christ.

Elnes says that more than 150 local pastors wanted to proclaim that God loves everyone, including gay and lesbian persons. But Clear Channel and Viacom, who owned the billboards, labeled the message “too controversial,” effectively telling the pastors to shut up.

No Longer Silent couldn’t overcome the censorship, but its energy was already created and, as the rules of science teach, energy can’t be destroyed: it only can be transformed.

So Elnes rallied help and formed Cross Walk America, a 2,500-mile pilgrimage from Phoenix to Washington, D.C., between Easter Sunday and Labor Day weekend 2006. The pilgrimage would include speaking at local churches and interviewing with local media along the way, and would conclude with the posting of 12 affirmations on a Washington landmark — affirmations of unconditional divine love, justice and respect for all God’s creation. The grassroots effort is “a voice from the heartland that can’t be ignored by the media,” says Elnes, “a voice of hope for those who are spiritually homeless.” Elnes says he hopes Cross Walk America continues as a catalyst within the Christian mainstream.

“We need to make sure that the average person knows that there is more than one thought out there,” he says, “that the public voice of Christianity isn’t only fundamentalist.”

I found this pamphlet through a new group that just launched called the StopBigMedia.com Coalition.

Posted: 06|20|06 at 12:38 pm. Filed under: media.

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