Last night driving to my basketball game I had a religious awakening and it was all thanks to the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission). I was driving behind a bus that had the entire back of the bus plastered with an ad that said (and I could not make this up)... Don't celebrate Halloween, Celebrate Jesusween. This seriously exists.
It was at that point I literally had my first religious epiphany... the church needs better marketing.
I don't care about the fact that some group of people want you to celebrate Jesus rather than dress up in costumes and get candy. That is their choice (although I would imagine the lack of candy might be a hard sell to 10 year-olds).
What I care about the fact that the name for this is Jesusween. Seriously? In the space of one light I came up with a clearly better name: "Halo-ween". The fact that this name is so glaringly obvious leads to only one conclusion... belief in God breeds laziness.
Honestly, if you want me to get behind your cause and the best you can come up with is Jesusween you clearly don't want me (or my soul) enough. I am supposed to believe in an omnipotent God who can make a rock that even he can't lift - and even with this divine intervention you give me Jesusween. Maybe God really was busy helping Green Bay win on Sunday.
The default seems to be to just stick Jesus in front of everything. What are we going to do with other holidays? Thanksgiving = Jesusgiving, Valentine's day = Jesustine's day. I suppose we leave Christmas and Easter alone. I imagine we continue to pretend Hanukkah doesn't exist rather than re-branding it.
Ultimately, this ad encapsulates the problem with religion. It thinks that just mentioning Jesus is enough. If you are going to market religion on the side of a bus, then you should market. Show me you care. Or maybe you should just focus on the fact that religion is supposed to be about community and shared ideals and not on name recognition or marketing.
Either way Jesusween is unforgivable.
Nice. Made me giggle!
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