Whether you’re pro-choice, or you hate women and their right to decide for themselves about their own bodies, the Superbowl “Focus On The Family” ads are spurring controversy. Some left wing organizations have moved to block the ads from airing, arguing that the ads send the wrong message. Which makes sense given that they disagree with the message, however that is a problematic approach. Whether you agree or disagree with what someone is saying, if you want to live in a world that has free speech as a tacit part of it, then you have to accept the ability of people you disagree with to speak. Forcing “Focus On The Family” to not be able to be their horrible, misguided ad during the Superbowl would be just as bad as CBS not allowing a Pro-Choice ad to be played during the Superbowl.
Which they did in 2000.
Oh.
Well crap.
In fact CBS also, this year, blocked ads from Mancrunch.com, a gay dating website, and an ad from Godaddy.com that featured a woman in drag. So CBS is has thus far stifled the speech of homosexuals, the satirically transgendered, and pro-choice groups.
It appears as though CBS has taken a pretty clear stand against things that deviate from an orthodox judeo-christian norm. So I guess if you wanted to put up a commercial on CBS during the Superbowl advocating casting out your slave wife if she accuses you unsuccessfully of being unfaithful to her, or keeping your wife in a tent away from the house while she’s on her period (Leviticus), then you’re aces. But if you want to air a commercial where two guys hold hands and talk about how they like going to the park together, at CBS, you’re bound to run into some roadblocks.
Also, I think it’s bad form to have people without a medical background telling women to risk their lives (and that of their current families and future children) for a risky pregnancy. If I had to chose between my wife and my baby, I’d chose her, because she can’t be replaced but we can always have another kid between us. Did anyone else follow the link on the commercial to Focus on the Family’s website? That’s where the real controversy began, telling me if my wife has an abortion she fails as a nurturer and I fail as a protector, because, you know, I don’t care about my children beyond the money I can throw at them as the great and powerful male provider. And that’s the least offensive part of it.