What Were They Thinking!

I am usually able to ignore all the classless over-the-top sexual advertising in Vegas, but I am offended every time I see the billboard on the south side of Flamingo, just east of the Tuscany Casino. Advertising the Gallery Nightclub at Planet Hollywood, it is titled “Bring Your Disciples” and recreates that famous painting of “The Last Supper.”  The long table is set with much liquor.  The pious-looking  man standing at the middle of the table, with demurely folded hands, is flanked by 12 barely-dressed young women, 6 on each side.

If it isn’t politically correct to parody or in any way disrespect the  Muslim religion, why doesn’t that common courtesy extend to the Christian faith?

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One casino  advertised drink specials for Labor Day weekend with a picture of Uncle Sam saying, “I want you to work less, drink more.”  What a wonderful way to show they are a caring responsible and patriotic company.  The whole PR department should be fired!

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14 Responses to What Were They Thinking!

  1. Elaine says:

    I agree that the ad is distasteful and disrespectful to Christians. I am NOT Christian, and I would find it offensive.
    BUT – I disagree with you about your comment that it’s not OK to bash Muslims but it is OK to bash Christians. If this were in Iran or Pakistan, I would agree with you. But because Christians are the majority in the United States and wield a lot of political power, bashing them is more OK than bashing a minority religion. Just like it is more OK for African-Americans to trash whites than it is for whites to trash African-Americans, and it is more OK for women to criticize men than for men to criticize women
    As syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts once put it: “You can have the power or you can have the pity, but you can’t have both.”

  2. Jerry McEwen says:

    Keven, I am simply asking you to please not use this forum to put people down for believing in a higher power.

  3. Kevin Lewis says:

    Sigh. People have BELIEVED that there is a higher power. They have never KNOWN that, because no evidence (icky ol’ requirement) of such a higher power has ever been uncovered. In any event, I do believe in kindness (and I resent the implication in your question, that just because I don’t believe in the unreal, I don’t believe in human kindness). That’s why I object to religion and magical thinking–it has resulted in some of the most horrific acts of UNkindness in human history–not to mention in today’s headlines! You see, we seemingly can’t stop at simply holding our irrational beliefs–we have to shove them down other people’s throats as well. Were that tendency absent, I would have no problem whatsoever with others’ beliefs in God, Zeus, Odin, witches, elves, fairies, auras, etc.
    I also don’t have any problem with someone praying to a VP machine for a royal. See how this topic is relevant to the discussion???

  4. Jerry McEwen says:

    Kevin, this is not the place to debate religion, nor the place to put it down as magical thinking. From the beginning of recorded history, people have known that there is a higher power who brought order to this vast universe, no matter what you call it. One can sense this just by taking a walk in the woods, or watching a baby being born, watching a sunrise or sunset, or by gutting a deer recently harvested and seeing the intricate details of their insides. You don’t have to believe anything, but it would be kind of you not to put down people who do believe in a higher power. I do hope you believe in kindness.

  5. Kevin Lewis says:

    One responder: “Maligning any religion is unacceptable.” Why?????? If anything is a legitimate target for mockery, surely faith-based magical thinking and irrationality must qualify. Why is it taboo to criticize institutionalized stupidity? And yes, it’s perfectly acceptable to criticize the Muslim OR Christian OR Great Pooka Monster in the Sky religions. It’s called free speech, for one thing. But more to the point, given religion’s blood-drenched history and responsibility for vast, incalculable amounts of needless human suffering and misery, we should not only allow scorn and ridicule to be directed at religion: we should actively encourage it. Magical thinking is an idea whose time has gone.

  6. Good save, Tiki. Once again I am reminded not to depend too much on SpellCheck. For people reading this after I corrected the error: I changed muslin to Muslim!

  7. GURUPERF says:

    It seems that ALL of the moral values and principles that were once held in high regard are being trashed, although Christianity DOES seem to be singled out.

    Look at all your TV ads: parents are idiots, especially fathers; only the kids have the “answers”.

    Watch a week of Judge Judy: half the shows ‘star’ unmarried people cohabiting; the other half people on “disability” or welfare.

    Take a look at the percentages of births outside of marriage: 1940 – 5% 1970-10% 1980 – 20% 1990 – 30% Now 40%+. When Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then a top Labor Department official and later a United States senator from New York, reported in 1965 that a quarter of black children were born outside marriage — and warned of a “tangle of pathology” — he set off a bitter debate.

    Now, 73 percent of black children are born outside marriage, compared with 53 percent of Latinos and 29 percent of whites. And educational differences are growing. About 92 percent of college-educated women are married when they give birth, compared with 62 percent of women with some post-secondary schooling and 43 percent of women with a high school diploma or less.

    And would anyone really debate that a college graduate today, especially in such wonderful majors as “Community Organization”, “Star Trek” and “Surfing Studies” are MORE educated than the high school graduates of the ’50’s or early ’60’s?

    Ah well, people have probably been complaining that the world was going to hell in a handbasket since ancient Egypt, but this time, they may be right.

  8. Tiki says:

    Didn’t realize that people followed the muslin faith. Are they people of the cloth?
    Seriously, I’ve seen some ads that make me cringe. In February, a locals casino has been sending a mailer with a picture of Uncle Sam holding a big beer mug. The promo is called “Drinkin’ with Lincoln.”

  9. Terry Haile says:

    Just spent 4 days in LV and glad I didn’t see that particular billboard. For Matt I agree, Vegas is about fun but this is a slap into the face of many, including me, who consider our faith very sacred and precious. Like Jean stated it would never happen to another religious faith so why take a shot at mine. Just very poor taste and enough to keep me out of PH for good! I don’t want to start an argument here but why is it ALWAYS ok to make fun of the Christian faith but none of the others? How about being “tolerant” of my faith as well and don’t ridicule it or my God and Saviour Jesus Christ!

  10. Jeff Wong says:

    Totally agree with you, but then again, I don’t think advertising firms “get it” and may never “get it” without it hurting their pocketbook. I don’t think it’s generational either or a Las Vegas only thing.

  11. Arlene says:

    You are so right. It’s time for Christians of all denominations to stand together and boycott those institutions that think it’s open season on Christianity. Maligning any religion is unacceptable. In this case, there are plenty of other casinos to choose from. Walk away from this one – let your feet do the talking.

  12. skallis says:

    You are so correct!! I just don’t understand what they were thinking.

  13. Judy Allen says:

    These ads were just plain tacky. Didn’t it occur to these people that many would be offended? I, too, would fire the staff. Common sense just does not prevail any more.

  14. Matt says:

    Completely disagree.
    First, Gallery Nightclub in PH has been closed about 2 weeks ago.
    Second, the parody is just that. If someone doesn’t like it, they don’t have to go there, or think about it anymore.
    I am more concerned about real Christians at say Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, which is a hate group, than I am a tongue-in-cheek billboard here in Vegas.
    Third, try not to take things so seriously. Vegas is about fun.
    Fourth, love most of your columns 🙂

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