Do you want to see a pro-life ad during the Super Bowl?

If you’re planning to tune into the Super Bowl next week, you’ll have more than just a good game and a few funny (or risque) halftime ads to look forward to. Focus on the Family plans to run a pro-life ad during the game. GetReligion has an excellent rundown on the back-and-forth over the ad and suggests some good questions journalists ought to be asking about the issue.

Do you think a pro-life ad during the Super Bowl is a good idea? Why or why not? Does the Super Bowl’s massive viewing audience make it a good place to bring up important religious and cultural issues, or does that spoil the fun experience of gathering with friends to cheer on your favorite team?

Share your thoughts!

27 Responses to “Do you want to see a pro-life ad during the Super Bowl?”

  • Yes, it is a good idea. Why? Freedom of expression.

    Those who applaud infanticide can always run counter-ads promoting promiscuity and the subsequent murder of innocent babies, right? Ads? They don’t need no stinking ads! because, surreptitiously, they use a subterfuge known as ideological indignation to stifle conversation.

    Sensing that someone is offended, the fringe media, and many in the blogoshpere, are being played by the Progressives who don’t want anyone to disagree with them. The [as yet unseen] ad and the resultant mass hysteria remind me of Bela Lugosi’s impulsive aversion to Crosses.

  • gena evans says:

    yes!!!!

  • Julie says:

    I take issue with the way your question is phrased because it clearly shows bias towards whomever disagrees. I think some important questions to raise is whether this is the best use of resources — will those who are not already pro-life be swayed by the message in the commercial? Would the resources be better used toward a commercial that promotes adoption, for example? I would love to see more spotlight given to Christians who show compassion towards orphans and abandoned children — this helps to encourage mothers who would otherwise consider abortion to instead give birth and it is a testimony to non-Christians of Christ’s love shown in concrete ways.

    • Andy says:

      Those are some great questions to consider, Julie. (And I’m sorry if the question sounded biased–it wasn’t intended to be. How can I word it better?)

      I have to say, while I understand the desire to reach a large audience during the Super Bowl, part of me resents using the big sporting event as another battleground in the culture war. What if pro-choice groups respond with their own ads next year? We get so much politics and culture war stuff in the everyday news, I think it’d be a shame if sports too was co-opted into the great debate over abortion or other highly controversial issues.

      At family gatherings in my family, there is an unspoken rule that for the duration of the visit, we generally avoid politics and controversial topics like abortion. That’s not because those issues are unimportant, but because sometimes it’s nice to enjoy a social occasion without the stress and bad feelings that often come up when those issues take center stage. I think I’d prefer it if everybody took a similar approach to the Super Bowl, and let it just be about sports.

  • teeek says:

    I would rather not watch the super bowl or it’s ads, because i can’t stand watching 50k+ people screaming and cheering wildly in misguided idolization, nor can i stand the delusional american business ads.

  • Drew says:

    Of course, it is a Great Idea! Praise Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I think its a wonderful platform to share Truth from. It is wonderful that Focus can afford to air it. I will be donating to help them fuel more of their efforts.

  • Ruth says:

    Isn’t an ad during the superbowl a highly inflated cost?
    Couldn’t that money be used in a more appropriate manner?

    • Andy says:

      Ruth, here’s a quote on the cost from http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/19/news/companies/focus_on_family_super_bowl/ :

      “CBS, broadcaster of the 2010 Super Bowl game, is charging about $3 million for 30-second spots, according to spokesman Dana McClintock. But CBS would not reveal how much it charged Focus on the Family for their ad.”

    • Terry says:

      Judas Iscariot said that same thing when Mary anointed Jesus with expensive perfume, that was worth a years wages adn the money could have been given to the poor. (John 12: 3-5)
      Any money spent to Glorify God’s kingdom is money well spent.

      • Chris says:

        I think Ruth’s questions were fair. Look at verse 6 and 7 of that passage. It’s revealed that Judas thought the action was foolish because he was a thief and wanted to have more money to steal.

        And in verse 7, “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” I think this passage was a pretty specific instance of an “inefficient” use of money.

  • I feel compelled to say that I think there are better venues than a sporting event in which to reach the target audience.

    In our pluralistic society I believe that we need to be cautious in our decisions to utilize the public airwaves (sic). I’m remembering the damage that was done by the SBC announcing during their convention in Utah that if wives just submitted to their husbands we would not have a divorce problem. The world laughed, mocked and scoffed; and rightfully so.

    I also would suggest that if we use the public airwaves (sic) that we use short proclamations (and not double them up back to back.) Get the message out quick, and come back around again later and hit em again with a different proclamation. This would seem to be most appreciated and welcomed in our era of media-brainwashing through our senses (volume, odd sounds, vivid and/or irrational imagery, and use of other manipulative tactics.)

    I say this because I have seen multiple examples of “Christian” ads that do all of the above, adopting the means of the world as the means of the Kingdom of God.

    The means determines the ends, so to speak. We need to speak the truth in love.

  • Lee says:

    Preface: I am a christian that believes abortin is wrong. Question: Why do pro-life activist seem to care so much for the infant before he is born,but seem to care so little for them after birth? Where is the love of Christ in caring for and redirecting the lost and misguided?

  • Rodney says:

    Mind Changers

    If the purpose of any ad placed in one of the most expensive broadcast television venues available (Superbowls) is to be persuasive for or against something, I’d have to say this is not a good use of resources. If I were a board member of Focus – assuming they have one, I’d question the fiduciary duty of using precious funds in such a time of great national and international need to place an ad here.

    The Bible chronicles that Jesus healed more than he preached.

  • qwerty says:

    The Tebows are merely stating their beliefs in a public venue. Trying to do this anywhere else in this society is also going to result in conflict, but yet we haven’t all become monks because of it. I think this is a great way to get the message out to a huge audience that gets so much of the other side all the time.

  • maria says:

    Could this not also be an ad for pro-choice? This mother depicted in the ad chose “not” to terminate her pregnancy, even when given a valid reason to do so. That is an awesome demonstration of pro-choice! As far as picking and choosing when and where to discuss “controversial” topics… it’s only controversial for those that defensively oppose the topic or those who offensively push it upon others. Speak your convictions and allow others to do the same. My take: Sit back, relax, and allow God to enter in through those that can’t help but to reveal His greatness through opportunities such as this. And P.S. To God, a million dollars is no different than ten–it’s a matter of the heart that counts :)

  • Rob says:

    Tebow is like Amos or Elijah or other prophet of old with an unpopular message. As Christians we are called to have humility and not to judge, but many of us have confused this with remaining silent and not stating the truth. Society has bought into the enemy’s lie that we should keep our faith private and accept sin. Christ calls us to love the sinner, but to hate sin. This is at the root of the homosexual debate.

    It is interesting that the women’s groups who oppose this pro-life ad have nothing to say about the objectification of women in many of the racey ads airing, for example the Go Daddy ads.

  • Linda Williams says:

    Think this is way past due. It is time for Christians to stand up and say what God wants them to say during events like this. I applaud Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family for being brave and standing up for the children that cannot speak for themselves.. Linda Williams

  • YES and YES, is about time we christians stand on our feet and proclaim the right thing done in this lovely Nation of ours. Yes many will say it’s a lot of money for this ad during Super Bowl. Have those people forgotten that it cost a lot of money for an abortion? The doctors don’t perform it for free.

  • Lu W. says:

    yay! this is awesome! there won’t only be cerial adds during the superbowl!! woo-hoo!!

  • Pat says:

    Yes. The abortion issue is a lot more important than a favorite team will ever be or any fun event with our fam or friends. If we believe in a Holy and Living God, it is time to face facts, think about where we are and get serious about our commitment to God, a God who we say we believe created heaven and earth and all that is on earth, and that includes human life. If we really believe it, we must live it with a holy life and holy thinking, and aborting a life is not living it. People need awareness of how important it is to uphold life at all levels.

  • Lynn says:

    Yes. The abortion issue is very important. People need to stop killing lives that can’t defend themselves. Life begins at coception. If this wasn’t true, then I wouldn’t be here. My son or daughter that would have been about 22 years old getting A’s and B’s in college right now… okay maybe b’s and c’s. Anyways, making something of hisself or herself. Let me tell ya… having had an abortion because I thought my boyfriend was telling me the truth when he said that our “relationship would be stronger and better without a baby right now”, I learned 1: he lied and started to cheat on me, 2: It has left a questioning within me from time to time, what would have my child become, a medical student, a law student, a drama major, a teacher, a janitor, a construction worker, a Pastor, a soldier in the army (or other branch), a …. when these questions come to mind, I just focus on my kids that I have now and hope to be able to live long enough to see them make a success of themselves doing somethig that they love. Let me tell ya’ll something, as a person who used to be pro-choice, having an abortion make seem like the end all cure to solving your mistake of having sex before marriage because you’re a teenager, not enough finances to even take care of yourself, or countless other reasons… but taking a life of one that doesn’t have a chance to fully develop and become something 9 months including a mom or dad some day themselves is wrong.

  • josh says:

    I think this is finally another way to get through to people who are thinking of aborting their baby, My wife and I aborted (murdered) our first child 15 years ago, and I was recently redeemed, and forgiven for that sin committed against GOD. We now have two healthy boys, and its all because of GOD’S mercy and GRACE. I think we should also call it what it is and that’s MURDER we have “prettied” the word MURDER up by using abortion if you use MURDER then maybe people would think twice before doing it. Praise GOD for JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!

  • Tom Neelon says:

    O Many companies will advertise how wonderful they think they are.
    I think life is even more wonderful, killing the unborn is one of the greatest tragedies of our times.

  • Jeremy says:

    I can see why some people don’t want it on TV. It is convicting, and plus the Super Bowl is supposed to be “entertainment.” However, the word “entertain” actually means “to keep, hold, or maintain in the mind.” I’ll bet the commercial does exactly that, so it is entertainment in the purest sense, yet edifying at the same time.

  • Roger H Frost says:

    Praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Love and need for a savior, through Jesus Christ, supplies all our yearnings. He did say you will never be alone or forsaken. We, you, I can do the impossible through the love of the Savior Jesus Christ.

  • Gary Banks says:

    Money well spent. Gods love is all around us. God said, “Love the sinner and hate the sin.” We must show compassion to all. We must profess Gods truth. For his word never come back void. “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, the who so ever believes in Him shall not pershish,but have everlasting life.” There are cosequences in sin. Abortion consequences is always wondering “What if”.

    Let someone have your “What if”. God allowed your pregnancy. Let someone by adoption, raise them to be all God planned for them to be.

    God Bless Our World.