First the Auckland billboard portraying Jospeh & Mary in bed was controversial, scandalous to some. Then it was defaced, literally, as brown paint was applied across the words, "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow." and the faces of Joseph and Mary.
Then it was stolen! Yep. gone.
Another skin went up to restore the image for all to see only to have an elderly woman rip parts of it off the bottom, leaving it in tatters and raising the stakes to a whole new level. Later, it was totally ripped down.
The Bishop of Auckland, the Right Reverend John Paterson, says he is "disappointed" that St Matthew's has chosen to go ahead with displaying the replica.
"Discussion of theological perspectives and diversity is encouraged in a respectful way, but this approach is insensitive to communities across the Anglican Church as well as other denominations," he says.He says there are a multitude of other issues for a city and the wider church to focus on than a billboard.
But the Vicar of St Matthew's, Archdeacon Glynn Cardy, says having debate is always positive.
Worldwide attention
The billboard has gone viral with thousands seeing the billboard via the internet and overseas news broadcasts.
CNN's anchor and weatherman discussed whether it was amusing and emails are coming into the church from as far afield as Sweden, the Netherlands, Britain, Costa Rica and India.
People have been talking about Mary & Joseph as real people in a real place. That somewhat surprises me in the biblically illiterate age in which we live!
A letter on the church's website reads as follows:
Dear friends,
I regret to say that tonight our billboard was attacked by a knife wielding Christian fanatic who was then
apprehended by a group of homeless people who care about our church. Later in the evening another group of fanatics ripped it down.
When knives are wielded in the name of God I have two responses. One is to act to ensure the safety of the public and parishioners. We will therefore not be replacing the vandalised billboard with an identical one. My second response is one of deep sadness at those in the Christian Church who don’t want to offend any faith position, even the most literalistic view of a male god. By having unity as their priority they inadvertently feed fanaticism.
We have no regrets about bringing this discussion about Jesus’ origins and the nature of the Christian God into the public sphere – into homes, workplaces, universities and the internet. We are glad that discussion about Santa, food, and present buying was momentary usurped by a discussion about Jesus.
Thank you to the hundreds of people who sent us messages of support, encouragement, and respectful engagement from all around the world.
Merry Christmas
Glynn
Hmm. While we can all find points of agreement with Glynn, and with his critics, my sadness is due to the attitudes brought out by this controversy.
Controversy is good. Healthy discussion is excellent! People have been talking about Mary & Joseph as real people in a real place. That somewhat surprises me in the biblically illiterate age we live in!
Cardy's expressed intent was that people would be aware of real miracles all around them. That they would consider the relevance of Jesus today, that they would get their heads out of the Malls, and out of history, and get involved in living the gospel message in ways that benefit hurting people around them. I can agree with that whole heartedly. Whether he went about it in the right way will be discussed over many a table for a while to come.
LATEST: I just received a text from a friend who says she drove by and there is a picture of Noah's Ark on the billboard now. Wonder if that's just what was handy or another attempt at lampooning the fantastical!
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