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Vatican Prepares to Sue Over Benetton Pope Gay Kiss Ads

Posted by on Nov 17, 2011 in Separation of Church & Prostate | 13 comments

Yesterday’s story about the United Colors of Benetton’s controversial Unhate Campaign had tails wagging here on UB. The campaign, an effort to raise awareness about homophobia and a global shift in the balance between love and hate, employed the use of photos of prominent world leaders of differing ideologies locked in kisses, many of them between two men.

Despite the campaign’s literal interpretation of the second commandment, the Catholic Church is having none of it. It seems they would rather sue the pants off of Benetton than even consider ending their own systematic hate.

“This is a grave lack of respect for the pope, an offence against the sentiments of the faithful and a clear example of how advertising can violate elementary rules of respect for people in order to attract attention through provocation,” spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Wednesday night.

Oh please! Was Betty White disrespected by Snickers that time Mike was accused of playing ball like her? Of course not. White understood that the candybar company was raising an important topical issue to the forefront of cultural consideration, namely hunger-induced poor football performance.

Likewise, nobody truly believes that Lindsay Lohan’s personal paparazzi unit dipped out on her to catch Pope Benedict with his tongue down a revered Islamic leader’s throat. And it’s not like we’re talking about an image of a zombie Pope with a bullet in his head here. That the Vatican would rather bully the message of acceptance into nonexistence than endure a single Photoshopped image is telling.

It’s worth noting that the Pope is meant to be the infallible word of God here on earth. Surely this temper tantrum will go a long way in making Catholics question how that could possibly be the case.

After all, Who Would Jesus Sue?