On the TV coverage of the upcoming Super Bowl on 2/12, there will be a major ad for the "He Gets Us" campaign, which is also showing up on billboards, etc, all over the country. It is a hundred-million-dollar ad campaign funded by the likes of the Green family, the owners of Hobby Lobby - major right-wing political and "culture warrior" donors. And the campaign website funnels readers into the fundamentalist media universe. (See a piece about this ad campaign on NPR here.) It is an effort to make Jesus look good - funded by the same fundamentalists who have trashed his reputation. HeGetsUs doesn't get him!
Let's take advantage of this campaign to earn some attention for our progressive Christian movement. Let's flip their narrative.
Use the meme above freely in your social media - and make up your own. Put signs in front of your churches - here are some suggestions:
HE GETS US - to stand up for women's right to choose
HE GETS US - to celebrate same-sex marriages
HE GETS US - to welcome immigrants
HE GETS US - to save the earth from human-caused climate change
HE GETS US - to embrace other religions
HE GETS US - to end systemic racism
HE GETS US - to resist the right-wing agenda of the funders of HeGetsUs.com.
Let your local press know when you've put up your signs. Send me your memes and pictures of your signs and I'll spread them far and wide in the progressive Christian movement.
Also, register your church with HeGetsUs.com so that at least some of the churches it funnels folks into will be progressive ones.
This is a great opportunity for us to be creative and get the word out about what makes us and our churches different than the narrative that HeGetsUs.com is pushing. Let's make the most of it!