UK Christmas billboard campaign showing
Jesus in the womb has drawn fire from secularists and praise from Christian
leaders and the pro-life lobby in Great Britain

LONDON, UK
- (ANS)- The “Ultrasound Jesus,”
a poster which shows a scan of a child in the womb with a halo above its head
with the slogan, “He’s on his way: Christmas starts with Christ,” has
provoked a storm of protests from secularists and praise from many Christian
leaders and the pro-life lobby in the UK.

According to Karen McVeigh, writing
in the Guardian newspaper in London, “The campaign, which aims to
reach 40 million people, shows a scan of a fetus with a halo above its head. It
will feature on billboards over Christmas and reads: “He’s on his way:
Christmas starts with Christ.”

Drawn up by the charity, www.Churchads.net,
the “Ultrasound Jesus” campaign is backed by a number of Christian
organizations including the Church of England, the Baptist Union, the United
Reformed Church, the Anglican and the Methodist churches.

The McVeigh story says that the
National Secular Society (NSS) has criticized the ad, saying it gives the
impression that it is politically motivated.

“It is an incredible piece of
naivety on their part,” said Terry Sanderson, director of the NSS.
“If they are hoping to stop the secular drift away from Christmas as a
Christian festival, they risk doing the opposite. It gives the impression that
it was politically motivated, that they are trying to put across some sort of
subliminal message. The image is too specifically associated with pro-lifers to
be seen in a benign context. They should go back to angels and cribs.”

However, says the McVeigh story,
John Smeaton, of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, welcomed
the campaign as a “wonderful help in changing people’s minds in the
abortion issue.”

He said: “The advert is saying
that Jesus was alive as a person before he was born. They have a halo round his
head and you don’t have a halo around the head of a blob of jelly or a cluster
of cells. This is not a cluster of cells but a human person and it just happens
to be the God man Jesus. It is about the humanity of the unborn. That is a
very, very powerful statement that will strike a chord with the general
population.”

Karen McVeigh’s story went on to say
that Mike Elms, vice-chair of ChurchAds.net, denied the ad was in any way
political and said that its sole purpose was to convey the Christian message of
Christmas in a modern, secular context.

“We wanted to convey that
Christmas starts with Christ. That this baby was on the way,” he said.
“Then we thought that the scan was a way of conveying that: it is modern
currency in announcing a modern birth. We put a halo on it because theologians
speak of Jesus being fully human and fully divine.”

Elms added: “People are
entitled to talk about it, but when the posters are put up, from the 6 till 20
December, it will be seen in context and its real message will become
clear.”

www.ChurchAds.Net,
previously known as the Churches Advertising Network (CAN), has a council of
reference which includes two Church of England bishops and leaders from across
the church denominations. The Roman Catholic Church is not part of this body.

“Ultrasound Jesus was created
with the help of Chas Bayfield best known for his award-winning blackcurrant
Tango advert. It follows a poster campaign last year, where paintings by artist
Andrew Gadd depicted the nativity scene in a bus shelter,” added the Guardian
story.

Also defending the poster is Andrea
Williams, Director of Christian Concern for our Nation (CCFON) who said,
“The amazing truth is that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. This
excellent campaign highlights both the humanity of Jesus and his divinity, and
if it also makes people think and talk more broadly about the value of human
life, that is a wonderful bonus.”

www.ChurchAds.net has
carried the following statements from members of its Council of Reference:

“For many parents pregnancy
gets real when you see the image from the ultrasound scan. It tells you
something is actually kicking off. We’ve got so used to the tinsel wrapped
coziness of the carefully packaged 21st century consumer-fest Christmas that
its astonishing reality – an actual pregnancy, a God come down to earth – is
easily missed. But this image demands attention. So does this child. He’s on
his way.”
Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Reading

“This poster is designed to
arrest the attention of the usually disinterested. It is aimed at awakening the
imagination, teasing the curiosity and provoking fresh consideration of the
heart of Christianity – precisely what Jesus did with parables, images and
stories. No, it doesn’t cover all the bases and deal comprehensively with every
theological nuance; but it gives a huge kick start to thinking about what
Christmas is all about”.
Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon

“Our society is trying to
airbrush Christ out of Christmas, but this imaginative poster reminds people
that Christmas is all about Jesus. I encourage every church in the land to join
me in supporting this exciting campaign, and buy a poster site in their
community to get people thinking about Jesus this Christmas.”
Mark Russell, Chief Executive, Church Army and Member, Archbishop’s Council

“I really like the ad and I
think the execution is strong; it’s a super ad.”
Mark Greene, Executive Director, London Institute of Contemporary
Christianity

“Christmas for me starts with
Jesus Christ, who is not just a historical reality but a present experience in
the midst of the contemporary world. As a scientist and a Christian, this
poster reflects in a brilliant and provocative way my belief that Christ was
born as a real human being, but is of relevance to every human being today. I’m
excited to be able to commend this campaign”
David Wilkinson, Principal, St John’s College, University of Durham

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About Dan Wooding

Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST
(Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service
(ANS).

Wooding was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books.

To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at amazon.com.

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