Rolling Stone Rejects Bible Ad

Rolling Stone magazine at first accepted and then rejected an ad from Zondervan touting their new, "hip" Bible translation. Zondervan was evidently relying upon the exposure they would get with this ad and so are disappointed. Was rejecting the ad legitimate?

USA Today reports:

The rejected ad shows a serious young man, apparently pondering the problems of modern life. The text touts the TNIV as a source for "real truth" in a world of "endless media noise and political spin." A blue Bible peeks up from the corner of the ad. ... And that assertion of "truth" evidently triggered the rebuff from Rolling Stone.

Although Zondervan bought the space in July for a February ad, magazine executives first saw the actual copy only last week and concluded that "it doesn't quite feel right in the magazine," said Kent Brownridge, general manager of Wenner Media, parent company of Rolling Stone.

"The copy is a little more than an ad for the Bible. It's a religious message that I personally don't disagree with," Brownridge said, citing "a spiritual message in the text." But, he said, "we are not in the business of publishing advertising for religious messages."

This decision probably won't hurt the magazine's image with it's target audience, though it will strike a negative chord with civil libertarians who object to censorship even when done legally by private parties. Religious conservatives will, of course, treat this as one more example of the secular liberalism of the media trying to undermine traditional Christianity (never noticing that this is how business works and they have allied themselves with a political party dedicated to protecting business interests at almost any cost).

Personally, I think that maybe the ad should have run. I could see rejecting an ad because it is for a bad translation of the Bible (one that touts White Supremacist doctrine, for example), but otherwise they should take Zondervan's money and then run an article on how teens are leaving organized, traditional religion behind. Fair and Balanced, right?

Read More:

• Religious Right
• Religious Right News