Sony kills 'blasphemous' PlayStation advertisement

Um...well...I guess. I mean, it is good that they took it down, but sometimes people should look more closely in seeing what the ad REALLY was about. I am sure that when they were creating it, they didn't purposely or willfully TRY to offend anyone. I mean, it IS a historical landmark and they should be proud of it. Oh well...in any case, congrats to Sony for creating such a fine piece of equipment.

Well what can i say... Msg can sometimes be a bit 2 hard for peoples to understand...and misunderstood too... But congrats again on Sony for just killin it b4 it really would of got out of hand... Congrats again :)

While I don't believe Sony meant any offense, I'd still have to say their advertising team showed an alarming lack of sensitivity and common sense when they portrayed Jesus with a crown of thorns in their advertising. Perhaps even more deplorable, is the corporate management who allowed this gaffe to pass. It was a fearful mistake on Sony's part. John Lennon once (quite innocently, if perhaps a tad recklessly) quipped that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, which prompted a wholesale burning of Beatle albums. While I don't see an equivalent burning of Playstation 3's, I DO think Sony needs to be ashamed of itself. (And I love Sony!) Booooo to you, Sony. Major Boner, my friends. As penance, Sony should bump up it's projected Playstation 3 introduction by one month, and give an across-the-board $1.00 reduction in price for its initial group of released blu-ray movies. :=)

i think 1. it was a bad adverstisment, stupid almost 2. I dont believe in Explioting the Image of Christ for money..its wrong (never seen passion of the christ either) so, with that being said, im suprised the catholic church hasnt sued sony over their Licensing rights (jk)

this is not the first time something of this nature has happened.... remember that xbox ad?? the 'life's to short' one? where she has a baby and it flies through air, and keeps evolving until it becomes an old man and lands in a grave. i thought that ad was kool. i'm not sure why it was banned... could be linked to religion.... anyway, i'm a Christian (well i've been Christened!), and in all fairness, it was correct to be banned. when they make ad's, surely they must think these things through...

I would never personally be offended by something like that, but I do see how some people though that was unappropriate.

Once again fanatics got to get offended last time I checked the bible was full of wars, smoting, and killing firstborn sons, but the people that scream about violence and sh*t in video games seem to overlook that. Hmmmmm...........

jesus christ is universal u can't claim it ok. by the way i don't go to church cuz only devil would ask people to go to on saturday or sunday just plain waste of time.

fknhstile u're right if i recalled my old memories i think back then in the church they used to teach me some war songs and killing the cruasders and sh!t like that.

fknhstile, Many people consider the Bible to be historical fact. This means that any violence, smoting, etc... would be ok, since to them it is basically a History book. Video games are fantasy violence and thus parents fear it can possibly lead to creation of new violence. Also, ask any 15 year old which is more influential in their lives The Bible or GTA:SA, and they will say GTA or they will say the Bible, but they still spend 0 hours a year with the bible and 300+ hours playing GTA. How many people actually read the Bible? Not really that many. Most people are just aware of it and know what has been said about it and now some of the more famous stories. I understand what you are saying about people, fantsy violence is just that, but you have to realize that there are idiots out there that want to become a video game or movie. However there are also people that want to becoe Stalin and Hitler. Your logic is correct though, what's next, eliminate History or out thoughs?

Fu** the Christian Right

Oh... Jesus Christ... come on :)

That doesn't make sense... what right are you talking about?? the christian right??? what about the christian left? are you ok with that my nazi friend?

Ummm.... I submit that the advertizing dept at Sony Computer Entertainment Italia is probably not peopled by a bunch of idiots. They knew they would get MUCH more exposure and "bang for the buck" by publicizing a controversial advert, full well knowing they would probably have to to pull it. Would a regular old Playstation ad have gotten any coverage on AD if it were not somehow sensational? Look at how much ink they have gotten by "offending" a religious group. They, pull the ad, apologize profusely, and walk away with better advertizing than money can buy. Very clever.

what i never understand about these posts (the religious-divided ones) is a christian says "ya, i am offended by that" (they have the right, so do non-believers ya know) then someone like Fckinhstle (with a name like that no wonder you so f**kin hostile lol) comes on here, and curses out people for their beliefs, and acts like because of a belief we are bad people. enough of that garbage, we dont attack you, you dont attack us. we can have adult conversations right?

Oh...My....GOD!!! @SgtSpanky

Quote:

---

Fu** the Christian Right

---

Quote:

---

Oh... Jesus Christ... come on :)

---

i suggest sony get the sh** sued out of them this stuff should be illegal . ive been noticing more and more shows/cartoons/movies/ tv in general/radio shows/ slander the bible or make fun of it. i dont go to church i dont read the bible but this stuff is starting to really get annoying its just going to far. you let one comercial slide by then you get tons of copy cats then it just gets stupid and becomes offensive. why not just another topic to revolve your ad around ? becuase they know people will get pissed just like the guy above said its for pure attention no way a regular ad would get this much attention . i hope they burn in h3ll and pay.

i suggest sony get the sh** sued out of them this stuff should be illegal . ive been noticing more and more shows/cartoons/movies/ tv in general/radio shows/ slander the bible or make fun of it. i dont go to church i dont read the bible but this stuff is starting to really get annoying its just going to far. you let one comercial slide by then you get tons of copy cats then it just gets stupid and becomes offensive. why not just another topic to revolve your ad around ? becuase they know people will get pissed just like the guy above said its for pure attention no way a regular ad would get this much attention . i hope they burn in h3ll and pay.

JaguarGod, I understand what u are saying and I agree with most of it, you make a very good argument, but there are some people that would also argue that GTA:SA is also a portrayal of real life in some places and therefore fact to a certain extent, besides that I still can't in good "faith" tell my children they can't play a game, then tell them a story about a angel killing first born sons because of what the king did, I think the concept of blaming video games for violence, is a cop out, in the 50's they blamed rock-n-roll music and elvis presley for kids rebelling, when I was a kid it was metallica and ozzy osborne and pot, rather than ineffective parenting, video games are just coming under fire because they are convienient, but like u said what can we do about the unstable ones out there that do this dumb sh*t and blame it marlyn manson or gta???

i bet in 15-20 years from now, things like what Sony tried to pull will be common place.

not a christian at all, infact i hate religion, but by "passion" and a crown of thorns they are OBVIOUSLY mocking the "passion of the christ" film, which, in a christian country (assuming this was played in the us and britan) is a VERY VERY STUPID IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! dont want to get flamed just puttin my 2 cents on the bar

Oh no, not the improper use of religous figures or symbols omg, what are we to do? How could they possbly put a commercial like that in between my immoral sex and drug driven, foul mouthed sitcoms!!!? How Dare They!

reasons?: Its the fact that what that image represents means a christians salvation, eternal life, and peace with our lord. if someone airs liquour, sex, drugs, violence, or whatever else...thats on them, and those watching and partaking. If someone goes out and defiles christ, its much different. a christian can deal with someone's lifestyle (*for the majority, not counting the fanaticals) if you drink, do drugs, advocate violence, then thats your life, we wont force our ideals on you, we wont edit what your allowed to watch but if someone take what we hold as our saving grace, and mocks, and defiles it...then it becomes personal, hurtful, and alienating.

I'ed say GrayArea is right on the money about the add , they knew it would raise a stink LOL and get them even more ( free press ) I'm just offended I didn't get to see it LOL :o)~

@SgtSpanky

Quote:

---

Fu** the Christian Right

---

Quote:

---

Sony Computer Entertainment Italia released a statement in which it expressed regret that the advertisement received such a reaction. The company acknowledged that the "spirit of the message was misunderstood" and promised that the advert campaign would not continue.

---

being PC is so 90's

There are some good points made here on either side of the argument, but for me the best part of the article was Antonio Sciortino's assertion that "This time they've gone too far," and that "If this had concerned Islam there would have been a really strong reaction,". I just laughed myself silly over the thought of those poor Christians with their 1 billion+ membership being victimised by the combined forces of the heathens and the Muslims!

(Hmmmmm....) I don't think that's the case, GrayArea. (Launching an ad with the express intent of pulling it later after a suitable amount of contraversy had passed under the bridge). Remember - this is Italy -- home of the Pope -- a worldwide respected icon. Sony's comments were bound to cause a most negative stir - and with Sony, right now, fighting to become the next-generation High Definition format of choice, cannot afford any negative press. Besides, they really don't have to stoop that low in regards to the upcoming Playstation 3 - it's already a most eagerly-awaited item. No, I just think Sony's advert people mucked up on that one. Sgt. Spanky: Watch your mouth, or I may boot your ass out of here. In fact, explain your comment to us, as one has already requested of you, or I may be tempted to boot your ass anyway.

A_Klingon Well, you may be right. It's hard for me to believe that the people who designed the ad could not forsee the backlash from Christians. "Alarming lack of sensitivity" is an understatement if that's true. IMHO they would have to be pretty dull as well (also hard to believe). The world may never know... The moral of the story? If you don't want to get hit by a train, don't make camp on the tracks.

Don't really think my comment needs an explanation, I think it pretty much speaks for itself. But if you can't understand that then I will try to calrify it for your small brain. I hate republicans, I hate christians, I hate little old ladies who think if you do anything against the bible or anything to offend god you should burn in hell for eternity. Sorry no, im not ashamed of anything i've done in my life but you want to commit me to burning in hell forever because of something you think is sinful? There is nothing wrong with that commerical, but the people who hold the bible over ethics, science, culture want you to believe that an imaginary parent figure is going to punish you if you make fun of it. See the republicans today want you to think that the media is controlled by immoral democrats/liberals, when in fact the exact opposite is truth. So when a commercial like this comes out they can say see it's those godless dems who mock our religion and who want to lead you down the path of sin. So this grabs the people's attention makes them vote republican and in turn helps their party. really try to find any media that is not conservative nowadays, excluding the new york and LA newspapers. You can't, how many radio stations in your state are owned by clear channel. You have fox news in every home in america. Hell even cbs is conservative now. Republicans try to discredit everything that is thrown at them, that's why dan rather got fired because they want you to believe that him and his staff forged those documents on bush skipping military service so he wouldn't get re elected. I love how the republican right calls themselves christians. They are against abortion because they belive little tiny cells, called stem cells, are life. Well here's a fact there called stem cells because they havn't even decided what type of cells they are going to be, which means life begins just when your thinking about fucking somebody. which is just the way george bush and the republican right would like it. So finally let me get this staight you can't kill an unborn child, but soon as that child is born they can be sent off to fight a war, which i think jesus would frown on, die in that war or live through the war comeback and commit a minor crime and be put to death by the death penalty and serve eternity in hell. Yeah you christians sure understand the teachings of your bible.

yeah, i see what you mean... and i agree. I mean, I'm catholic, and I wasn't offended by the ad. But i understand most people that get offended by it, I mean most of them are like "nobody mocks the muslims or the jews, but they can make fun of Christ" and stuff like that. But what pisses me of, is how people start supporting one side or the other making it more of a big deal than it is. I mean, it's just an ad, it's a symbol. How come people don't protest or get angry or have the same reaction when they see the killings that are going on in Irak, the war in Palestine, what about children dying in Africa, South America, what about the hurricane Rita.... i mean there are more important issues in the world, and yet people come here and start insulting each other, insulting religions... i mean, ideas don't kill people, religions don't kill people, symbols don't kill people... people kill people.

@SgtSpanky

Quote:

---

Well here's a fact there called stem cells because they havn't even decided what type of cells they are going to be, which means life begins just when your thinking about f**ing somebody.

---

my last post, then i will unsubscribe. this is directed at sgt spanky: you have issues. and for saying a mod has a small brain, well..im sure you wont be here anymore. Its your ignorant thought process that hinders other people. regardless if someone believes a certain way, its not your call to say if they are right or wrong. You are insensitive. Truly a rude person. you need to either grow up (assuming your a young teen) or..heaven forbid you are an adult, you need to see someone in mental health, because the aggression youve displayed, is very dangerous and unhealthy. to the rest of the board: i see alot of good points made. I think had they portrayed Buddha or something, i doubt i would blink an eye at it...this whole thing goes to show that with how diverse the world is, and how technology has allowed cultures to intertwine, you cant poop without going against someone. the end.

SgtSpanky If one looks past your seething you make some good points. One thought, don't waste so much energy on hate. It improves nothing and only increases your own anger and stress. Anyone (but God?) who would damn you to hell does so out of hate and fear. Don't lower yourself to their level. One more bit. IMHO these days most high level conservatives invoke Christianity because it gets votes, not because they believe it.

does anybody have a link to a clip? :)

I would think that the crown that Jesus wears in the ad is not one that would hurt rather like a winning crown. Nonetheless it was the Romans who put the Crown of Thorns on Jesus Christ. Is it the Italians that are targeted in the ad? It is nice though to have Sony reconize He is alive ie resurrected.If is dead no harm being done but since Christians believe in a living God this ad is hurtfull to see there God reduced to a gameplayer.He probably would be a good player.

it was the jews who put the crown of thorns on him. not the romans.

Actually it was the Roman soldiers, it's in matthew 27. Anyway.... for all sake this is not a religous site, please no, don't go here.

WOW!!!!! Such hostility! Well, guess I'll add my $.02...I read most of the posts. I've come to conclusion that the old-timers were right...religion and politics is a conversation killer. People, very often on the 2 subjects, tend to speak with emotion rather than forethought and intelligence. Usually it becomes more about them than the actual subject of discussion! I believe in Christ. I believe he lives. I believe in a person's right to not believe in what I believe. If I'm offended by something, I don't spend my money on it. If I've unwittingly done so, I'll return or sell it to someone who is not offended. Having the age of an adult to give you the maturity of an adult. If I were a moderator, I wouldn't have wasted time replying to SgtSpanky. I'm sure he knows the rules. Just cut him off! You're in time out buddy! You put your nose in the corner and don't come out until your told! You're grounded until otherwise notified!

Statement correction: Having the age of an adult doesn't give you the maturity of an adult.

reasons? thank you for the correction

Bye Bye, Sgt. Spanky - don't slam the door on your way out. Hope you can find a nice conference somewhere where they'll tolerate your senseless, uncalled-for, inflamatory remarks. You won't find it here with me. It's amazing to me sometimes how one can harbor such a death wish as yours. You really are your own worst enemy. I take it you really don't want to be here despite your voluminous Soap-Boxing, or else you would have thought more about your words before you opened up your mouth. I hope that the loathing which you are filled with, will pass. I won't delete your hateful rhetoric (above), but I am denying you any further audience. Your membership is hereby revoked. -- A_K --

I see alot of good points being made in here, but I can't belive everyone is ripping SgtSpanky. Hell he has the balls to say what I wish most democratic leaders would say. For 40 years the democrats controlled the power in the house and senate and off and on the presidency. Now a fanatical christian movement has swept the country and the dems have no idea what to do to stop it. Well here's a start. Stop being pussy's. Just because your next presidential canidate is a woman who's last name just happens to be clinton doesn't guarantee you a win. For god's sake in the next debate when a damn christian republican canidate says well I'm against gay marriage because it's sinful. Don't cower in the corner because he took the moral high ground and impressed everyone who even remotly believes in jesus. Stand up and take even a higher moral ground by saying your tolerant of gays and lesbians and think they should have the rights of everyone else and what they do in their private lives is their business and not yours. hell even go so far as to call the republican a homophobe. Jesus preaches peace not war. Christians preach war and not peace. Jesus preaches forgivness of sins. Christians preach send 10,000 volts of electricity through them. "just look at Texas." Hell look at Florida, did you hear that the republicans there just passed a law giving anyone the right to shoot a person if they feel threatened. Republican Gov. Jeb Bush didn't even try to veto it. But he's mad at the democrat antigun activists for handing out flyers at miami's airport telling tourists about the law. Jesus preaches help the sick and ailing. Christians preach don't use stem cells to improve someone who is suffering from ms, parkinsons, etc. Jesus preaches be tolerant of others and their beliefs. Christians preach if their a jew or black then they shouldn't be living. Anyone see the sports segment with Bryant Gumbal? may have mispelled his name, on hbo? where the far right extremists were doing monkey chants everytime a black soccer player touches the ball. Anyway im rambling. So here's the point, The republicans now that they are in control are willing to do anything to keep it. They are greedy liars who will even distort the bible's teachings to gain popularity. If Jesus came back today I think he would once again be put to death for blasphemy by the republican right. The Christian movement that has taken a foothold in america and is slowly spreading to other countries, germany, france, russia, etc., I think is actually the Antichristian movement in the bible. And it's lead by the Antichrist himself George W. Bush and his unholy trinity of rush limbaugh, ann coulter, and Fox News. So if the republicans arn't going to follow the teachings of their lord and savior why should they care if his image is portrayed negativly in a commercial?

1 more thing, Sgt. Spanky. loved your opinion but you know that stem cell rant that you wrote? Nice try as passing it off as your own, It aired 1 year ago on Real Time with Bill Maher during his new rules segment on HBO and is also in his book New Rules. oh well glad to see a Maher fan on here. See his monologue last friday on why new orleans should be moved to kansas? Freaking hilarious, I almost pissed my self I was laugning so hard.

I apologise for taking the topic even further off course but I have to agree with FlakMNKEY when he says that maybe some people have overreacted to what SgtSpanky said. Perhaps Spanky could have polished his language a bit more but I feel that referring to his posts as "voluminous Soap-Boxing" and revoking his membership are unnecessary and verge on censorship (especially in a thread that was already littered with religious and political rants from various viewpoints), and i'm not talking about the very necessary censorship that is required in public forums to weed out those who make inflammatory comments out of spite, but rather the censorship of a person or their ideas simply because they don't happen to gel with our own. Anyway, to try and keep things on topic, something else FlakMNKEY said got me thinking. If Christ were resurrected today, what would his opinion on the whole subject be? Would he be offended by the use of his image in the advert? Would he file a lawsuit against Sony to get a share of the royalties? And more generally, what would he think of those who claim to be the guardians of his ideals and philosophies, i.e. the Christian right? And what exactly is it about the use of Jesus' image that Antonio Sciortino finds so blasphemous? Is it the misrepresentation of Christ as a Playstation fan that offends him so? If so, then he certainly has a point. In my bible studies I don't remember Christ making a single mention of Sony or it's goods, but I also don't seem to remember him speaking out against Stem Cell research, abortion, or gay marriage so surely right-wing groups like Famiglia Cristiana are equally guilty of blasphemy when they use Christ's image and name to promote their own ideals. What we do know about Christ's first appearance on the political scene, from the Gospels, is that those who were most opposed to Him were precisely those people who considered themselves the protectors of His father's views, the Pharisees and the Scribes, and when the Messiah dared to suggest that these self-appointed moral guardians had corrupted the teachings of Jehovah for their own gains, they conspired with the Romans to have him put to death. Surely it seems reasonable to imagine that if Jesus Christ were resurrected today and proceeded to give an encore to the Sermon on the Mount, the current generation of Pharisees, the Christian right, would denounce him as a tree-hugging,bleeding heart, hippy liberal who didn't have [insert name of country here]'s best interests at heart. To conclude, I whole-heartedly apologise for the length of this post, but in my defence I would have to say that this is what you get when their is an absence of quality television of a Wednesday night.

there is a fine line between arrogance and insight..sgtspanky blew past that line with his comments, and then when told to tone it down, he mentioned how the mod had a "little brain"...last i checked, this site isnt ran by a democracy, its a dictatorship (as well it should be) word of advice..dont piss off the dictators...duh. oh, and one more addition to the last 2 comments...this thread isnt about politics, its about sony's marketing

GSUSCRAZY.......This Bud's for you! Drink up!!!

Thanks chickenb, I do think the right today would consider jesus a godless liberal and would try to get him locked up or put to death in someway. That is if though jesus was real. Gsuscrazy, Everything can be politicized nowadays if you havn't turned on the news in the last 4 years I would suggest doing so. Dictatorships are liberal/socialist democracy's. The right never gets a say in them.

Except for the Nazi's. Thats a right wing group. Everyone knows Bush is Hitler.

Quote:

---

Fu** the Christian Right

---

Quote:

---

Everyone knows Bush is Hitler.

---

"Bush is Hitler" No offense to anybody, but I think Hitler would not agree, I mean... he was a far better public speaker than Bush... PS. To all those CIA agents reading this post, it was just a joke... (I don't want to end up in a trash bag).

Link anyone?

I was interested too, jcase, if I could scrounge up an image of the pulled advert, but couldn't find a thing. (Supposedly, no one saved the image anywhere.) I did a Google search for "jesus+sony"; "jesus+sony+pic"; "jesus+sony+jpg"; etc. etc., and although there are 18,000,000 links to articles about the recalled advert, I cannot locate the image itself.

Why do you have to go and pick on Hitler now? :)

At least hitler could win his wars (Most of the time)

I scarcely can think of anything of substance to add to what I believe to be the most intriguing thread I've read on this or any other similar forum. As much as I abhor the comments of Sgt Spanky, he did provide a pivotal role in the discussion. I think he inadvertently added more religious rhetoric to the converstion than would have otherwise occurred and he evoked the wrath of most of the members purely because of his antisemitism (here I mean hostility in general, not only to Jews as the literal meaning states) towards christians, old ladies, the moderator, etc. As a purely moral issue you don't enter someone's house as a guest and conduct yourself in such an arrogant and insolent manner. I think the comments of Gsuscrazy are noteworthy(all kudos to you) and the Moderator did what I think was the fair thing to do. For any who believe that the punishment was not commensurate with the crime, you will recall that he was infact warned prior to the execution of his Afterdawn demise. We have a responsibilty in fact an obligation to maintain a standard which is not morally reprehensible to say the least and even moreso, not inflammatory or offensive. I think the goodly Sgt exeeded that line. I personally have not seen the advt so I cannot comment on it but from what I have gleaned from this scintillating discussion I believe that Sony ought to have exercised more discretion. I am a Christian, maybe not a very good one because I was given a key chain with a small Buddha figure on it and I have kept it for years. This may be perceived as duplicity on my part but I'll say this in my defense. I have never used it as a key chain. I have hung it in my office as on ornament and if that offends anyone then please hastily admonish me and I'll remove it. I have always been or at least try to be respectful of other religions, beliefs etc and I think that it's a useful virtue to have in this diverse world of ours. I know I have digressed tremendously but if you can pardon my youthful enthusiasm(ie Newbie) you might find something of worth in my epistle. BTW here's a passing thought, what if the goodly Sgt decides to re-gister as the 'Goodsamaritan ', is there anyway to deny him further access?. I really would appreciate a response to this.

Hello, jamzbond; That very subject had (has) been broached before - (re-enrolling under a different alias) - and for the life of me I can't remember what the final general consensus was. I suppose Sgt. Spanky could attempt rejoining under another name - and in truth if he has learned a basic, common-denominator simple courtesy for other members' beliefs, I would not personally be opposed to this. I take no joy in banning people. Not one single smidgeon. Although I have been with AfterDawn for some three-plus years, it may surprise you to know that Sgt. Spanky is the only member whose account I have terminated; whose contribution has ever left me with the concrete belief that I had no choice. I would never ban a member friviously or simply because I got up on the wrong side of the bed one morning. Terminating a member is loathesome to me, but over the years, Oh! Have I _ever_ been tempted to put (other) certain people "out of their misery". Further.... I try to be tolerant of others. So often I have scanned the various threads and nearly bit my tongue in utter disbelief at how many blatant liberties some people will take with putting their ideas across. Some posts border on slander. Others are so disrespectful of others members and the Administration alike, that it appalls me they have not previously been axed. And some members - for about 1000 different personal reasons, want only to hurt others because they themselves are hurting. For them, the public Forums provide an easy way out to accomplish this. But doing so is UNFAIR and unacceptable. For those of you who may think I'm on some misguided power-trip acting like Jesus himself - perhaps you should view some of the other threads in the "News Update" sections from time to time. Very often, the topics ultimately being discussed bear little-to-no Earthly resemblence to what the thread started life as. As such, I believe that ALL of AfterDawn's moderators show far more tolerance than should humanly be expected of them. People very-nearly get away with "murder". In truth, I believe there are many members currently posting who really should not have been permitted to remain here. Unfortunately, there are only a relative handful of Mods in comparison with the thousands and thousands of active members. That, undoubtedly accounts for their continued - often deplorable - participation. When you let someone routinely "get away with" ignoring the simple forum rules we ask members to respect, it only encourages them to continue to alienate others. Regardless of what anyone's personal views are on religon, politics, governments or society in general, they MUST show the same basic courtesy to others that - fortunately - the lion's share of our membership do indeed show for each other. I have learned SO much from Afterdawn since I first came here. I have learned SO much from all of *you*! That is what these forums are supposed to be all about. Helping each other - solving conflicts, posing questions, offering solutions and trying to keep each other abreast of upcoming technologies and how we might best take advantage of them. It might also surprise you to know, that I myself was once temporarily banned from this board. (Yes me, a Mod!) I too must adhere to the common respect I ask of you, or else pay the price. I'm no better or worse than any of you. Re. Sgt. Spanky, -- hurtful, hateful comments like FU** THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT simply don't qualify; in this case, they have nothing to do with Sony, blu-ray discs or the thread in general, and are - to me - unacceptable. Sgt. Spanky's subsequent explanation only served to seal his fate. I do not apologize for attempting to provide a comfortable atmosphere for our membership to paticipate. Sorry, that's just the way I see it. For what it's worth, A/D *has* provided an outlet-of-sorts for non-thread-related postings. Aptly named "Safety Valve" you can find it here: http://forums.afterdawn.com/forum_view.cfm/17 -- Mike -- (A_K) --

Yes, it was the Roman soldiers who put the crown of thorns on Jesus. At least two of the four Gospels state this. Matthew as was already mentioned, and Mark 15:16-20 as well: "16: And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the praetorium); and they called together the whole battalion. 17: And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him. 18: And they began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19: And they struck his head with a reed, and spat upon him, and they knelt down in homage to him. 20: And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him." But Jesus forgave them as he did every person who hurt him. I do think the advert was likely in poor taste, especially in Italy of all places to run such an ad. I don't think Sony is gonna do that one again. ;) As far as politics go. There have been what some folks would consider to be 'fanatical' christians as president and in every office of government in the US since it became a country. Everyone has some sort of belief system, even if their belief system is NOT believing in any God. The Declaration of Independence itself was written by Christians who believed strongly that people were granted, by their creator, certain inalienable rights. So was the Bill of Rights. No system of government is perfect. No president (or any other country's leader is perfect) and certainly not this one, but it is not because he's a christian, IMHO.

This has been a very interesting discussion, so I will put my final thoughts in and be done with it. I hate this guy, And now it appears we went to war in Iraq because he heard voices. I have 2 links here that will prove my case about why bush and the christian right should not run this country. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051007/pl_afp/mideastbritainusiraq_051007131357 This next one is a video, Hey bush why don't you learn to talk and actually learn what soveirgn actually means. http://www.dumpalink.com/media/1128506422

Oh if for some reason the video doesn't load, just click the download button.

Ok I thought that would be my final thought but after reading that article. I must now do a rant. Motherf***er I hate you!!! Die!!! First you go after Afganistan and Bin Laden which i had no problem with because they were the one's responsible. Then you quickly lose interest in Afganistan just like everything else you do. And tell us that we have to go into Iraq, not because your dad didn't accomplish it, or oil, or saddam tried to assasinate your dad. but because they are harboring terriosits and have weapons of mass destruction, bullsh*t, so when that story didn't work. You tell us it's because the Iraqi people need freedom from a oppresive goverment. Well guess what the Iraqi people were free. If you didn't know Iraq was the only middle east country when ruled by saddam that did not follow Islamic Law. Meaning women didn't have to wear there full out head and dress garb. you didn't have to get down on your knees and prey to allah if you didn't want to, etc, and women did have the right to vote, no other middle east country had that right. But now with the new goverment that your putting in they are requiring Iraqi's to follow islamic law. I can't even name the other excuses you lied about in going to iraq because there were to many. So now it's the only obvious thing left to believe. your a dillusional lunatic hearing voice. I don't care if your white house is denying it, it's the only thing that sounds like the truth and makes since. Plus I don't believe your fake press anymore or the whitehouse. After Rafael palmero took the stand at congress to testify that he didn't take steroids period. Then it turns out that he did. I will not belive your lying asses again. Not until there's a democrat back in office.

I am no longer even sure that either the Republicans or the Democrats deserve to be in office anymore. From where I sit, both sides have lied beyond excuse, and it appears that there is something seriously flawd with both sides' extreme philosophy. They have both managed to take this great nation and polarize it to the point where there seems to be no way to bring it back into balance. There doesn't seem to be a single presidential candidate that has been discussed that worth his/her salt in the current political arena in the US. Personally, I am very disillusioned with the turn of events in the US. And I am a patriotic American and it hurts to say that. And I resent both the Democratic and Republican parties for doing this to our great nation.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,THIS IS ALL ABOUT RESPECT.............AND FREEDOM,,,,ONE'S FREEDOM'S STOPS AT THE POINT OF WHERE THE NEIGHBOUR'S ,,"STARTS"...AND....RESPECT THE OTHERS AS YOU WISH TO BE RESPECTED...Wich does not exclude one's right to express themselves also,,,mentionning that Adolph Bush is an A.H....is simply mentionning a fact of reality....as saying that the peoples of U.S.A. re-elected him on bases of fear of ridiculism beeing sound asleep ...also is a SAD reality,,,,,IF SONY who pays "BIG" money for these advertisements ...are not bright enough to name a number of persons to act as a review panel,,to visualize their new commercial,,,,and give a signed cheque to any "Come by joe" LETS NOT ARGUE AND LET THEM SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES AND PAY FOR IT IF NECESSARY,,,,SEEMS THEY CAN AFFORD IT AT THE PRICE THEY SELL THEIR STUFF,,as i mentionned before THEY should respect if they want to be a respected company....BUT IT ALSO IS OUR PREROGATIVE TO BUY PRODUCTS FROM COMPANIES WHO RESPECT "EVERYBODY IN A SANE MANNER"

FlakMNKEY you talk as if ISlamic Law is a bad thing.

A_Klingon thanks for the response. I couldn't agree with you more. After I exited this thread I decided to go strolling around in the safety valve for the first time. I'm still pondering the safety valve label for this forum coz I read a thread about some angry person who was previously banned and returned under a new name(yes I discovered the answer to my question but thanks for the clarification A_K)with 2 friends(??Nephater, etc) and was just ranting like a maniac. They were identified by a member and there was just a free for all mud slinging contest. I recall one of the offenders previously had the name 'killerc' or something like that. Can't recall the new name but he incensed everyone. It was about being banned by Neph before. Even Auslander who was being pretty cool seemed kinda miffed. Hey there are all kinds of ppl and we have to accomodate all their different personalities without escalating an already tense situation. You obviously have thought about your decision but from my stand point, have taken the absolutely correct stance. I think that the majority of persons on this thread are in agreement. Not that you needed any affirmation but it ought to be somewhat consoling. Keep up da good work.

Thank you muchly, Jamzbond for all the kind words, and taking the time to check out the 'Safety Valve' forum. It's a place where ALL (mostly) topics can be thrashed to death if that is what folks feel they need to do. We really should try to get back on track here, people. FlakMNKEY:

Quote:

---

Motherf***er I hate you!!! Die!!!

---

A_K twas my pleasure. For some uncanny reason I am still riveted to this thread despite the fact that we are soooo far of the topic of the thread. I'll still peep in to see what happens next. It's been a really good chat though.

Sorry to have taken so long to answer your PM, Jamzbond - I have now done so. Yep - we certainly cover a LOT of ground around here, eh? :=)

Quote:

---

I am a Christian, maybe not a very good one because I was given a key chain with a small Buddha figure on it and I have kept it for years. This may be perceived as duplicity on my part but I'll say this in my defense. I have never used it as a key chain. - Jamzbond

---

Expressing displeasure about President Bush is one thing. Constantly ranting, trying to equate Bush with Hitler (which is patently absurd) and generally debasing our President over and over is quite a different matter and boarders on the obsessed. I fail to see how President Bush or the Republicans in general have anything at all to do with the Sony advertisement.

Sorry for the tardy response myself. Been busy lately. Much respect A_K. Thanks for the PM. Hey Freshguy that's really hilarious. I'm still cracking up. BTW u r going straight to h*ll: Do not pass go , do not collect $200, lol. Been reading the political debate with interest but I'll restraint myself from commenting. This is way out of my league. Catch you all later.