Pilgrim Soldier

At what point did it become acceptable to use the Bible in advertising non-Christian products?

Yesterday as we left the corps I glanced at the airBaltic (Latvia’s national airline) adverts on the advertising board outside the hall and noticed that at the top of an advert for flights to Paris a Bible verse. I did the automatic thing and opened my Bible and there it was Exodus 20:14. Clever I admit, but not really very good in a society that has a high divorce and seperation rate, and where men seem to only be real men if they have a lot of notches on their bedpost.

Checking out the others on the same hoarding showed an advert for Manchester with a very confusing first half of Ecclesiastes 11:1. Now I lived in Manchester for over 4 years and have to admit that I do not begin to understand the connection. If someone could enlighten me I’d be grateful.

However, worst of all was the advert for cheap flights to Istanbul in Turkey. airBaltic have used the verse Exodus 1:12 with thge emphasis on “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad”.

Now what you have to remember is that Turkish immigrants are seen by many in Europe as a major problem. They are deemed to be coming in and taking the jobs of hard-working local people and bringing their large families with them. For a reputable company to use this verse in their advertising is therefore playing on the prejudices of society and whilst it might be seen as clever advertising it is without a doubt racist behaviour. By using a verse from the Bible in such a way is against everything I believe.

Last night I sent an e-mail off to the person who may be able to do something, asking for their reasons for using this campaign and that they remove the posters and rethink their strategy. Will anything happen? I don’t know, but I can’t sit idlely and allow someone to abuse the Word of God in this way.