UPDATE: Kieffe & Sons apologized for the ad
Kieffe and Sons, a California Ford dealership, decided for some reason to launch a radio ad attacking non-Christians and people who believe that prayer shouldn’t be in public schools. Audio and transcript of the ad, inside.
The ad reads:
Did you know that there are people in this country who want prayer out of schools, “Under God” out of the Pledge, and “In God We Trust” to be taken off our money?
But did you know that 86% of Americans say they believe in God? Now, since we all know that 86 out of every 100 of us are Christians who believe in God, we at Kieffe & Sons Ford wonder why we don’t just tell the other 14% to sit down and shut up. I guess maybe I just offended 14% of the people who are listening to this message. Well, if that is the case, then I say that’s tough, this is America folks, it’s called free speech. And none of us at Kieffe & Sons Ford are afraid to speak up. Kieffe & Sons Ford on Sierra Highway in Mojave and Rosamond: if we don’t see you today, by the grace of God, we’ll be here tomorrow.
The ad has been running on radio stations in southern California since at least February, according to one blogger. She wrote to Ford headquarters, but received a reply that because the dealerships are independently owned and operated, she should get in touch with the management at the dealership.
Here’s the audio of (most of) the ad:
The Underground Unbeliever [via BoingBoing]
(Photo: Amy Watts)
(Audio: Karen Peralta)
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@bilups: @bilups: Amen. Bottom line: you can buy your car anywhere you choose….if you don’t like the guy’s ads, call BR-549. Better yet, if you don’t like his ads, change the radio channel. The guy has balls unlike most of liberal America.
I couldn’t resist, I just had to be the 300th commenter on this.
I think if companies want to do this, let them do it. If (or better yet when) there’s a backlash, well its their own damned fault.
The website for the dealership says they’ve pulled the ad and apologize to all who were offended. Apparently they didn’t review it closely enough before airing it.
Like I buy that story [/sarcasm]
I suppose they thought the non-Christians would just sit down and shut up and not complain, as they suggested. I’d hate to be the one answering the phone there LOL
Eyebrows McGee at 06:46 PM on 05/26/08 Reply * “Yeah, it’s likely that Jefferson, et al., were thinking of “not-Christians” as Catholics, Deists, and a handful of Jews, but they still got the broad point correct, and that’s something Christians should be PROUD of, that the recognition of the necessity of a free conscience grows out of a Christian tradition of thought.”
Not necessarily, remember Jefferson was a Unitarian and didn’t believe that Jesus was divine. (There is no mention of the trinity in the Bible.) Being a religious minority at the time (although Unitarians are MUCH more a minority now), he was quite conscious of how the other minorities felt. Even at that time, although perhaps more with an agnostic spin, the concept of God/Diety was debated inside the Unitarian church.
Lamburger Helper at 05:58 PM on 05/26/08 To answer your question, my issue is regularly being insulted and demeaned for being a non-Christian/atheist.
The most popular comment I get is to deny that I’m not steadfast in my beliefs. Moments after my father had passed away, a Catholic priest walked by and wanted to give dad the Catholic last rights (without even asking). I engaged him before he did so and said that I believed dad was atheist, but I wasn’t exactly certain. (I wasn’t certain if that mattered to how he did his thing.) I had some Catholic relatives who were insistent that dad get his last rights and since dad never really shared with me his wishes I didn’t have much to go on. The first words out of his mouth was, “I’ve never met a real atheist.” Implying somehow, we all suddenly ‘wake up’ and realize that we have an invisible friend called God. Of course, he has basically denied the rights of any non-Jeudo Christain religion (such as Buddhism) or those without a religion to believe in what they wish to believe. Comments like that happen twice a year for me.
My most recent favorite was a man who interrupted me during dinner in a sushi restaurant to engage me in a discussion about his beliefs. He asked which church I went to and I told him I was a Unitarian Universalist. He rolled his eyes!! (I didn’t even mention that I was an atheist!!) He then proceeded to tell me that he believes and adheres to everything in the bible. I asked him if he stoned his wife after they got married (she was divorced) since she wasn’t a virgin. Apparently, he doesn’t follow EVERYTHING in the bible. It also become really obvious that he hadn’t actually read it.
So, to answer your question, I feel that if the word God were removed from the currency and the Pledge put back to its original state, then it will validate the fact that there are many many individuals that are not Christian and not only have their own beliefs, but have a RIGHT to them.
we at Kieffe & Sons Ford wonder why we don’t just tell the other 14% to sit down and shut up. I guess maybe I just offended 14% of the people who are listening to this message. Well, if that is the case, then I say that’s tough, this is America folks, it’s called free speech.
What I want to know is:
Why is it that completely shit-for-brains people can manage to run successful businesses, and so many smart people I know (including myself) simply don’t dare? Is there a correlation between being a businessman and being a dumbass? (This theory would also explain nearly 90% of bad company complaints on C-ist.)
Yeah, well, as a Christian, i apologize for the inability of some people to listen to one word Jesus said and instead to obsessively use religion as a tool of hatred and not love.
I’d say to forgive them for they know not what they do, but they know exactly what they’re doing.
As several have pointed out, free speech most definitely protects this ad, so if he REALLY wants to run that, so be it.
The rest of us can laugh at him as he shoots himself in the foot. I could ALMOST see a point to trying this “alienate a lot of people to get a significant group of massively loyal customers” BS in the heart of the bible belt, but southern California? Bye bye business, you won’t be missed.
@Eyebrows McGee: I’m overwhelmed that someone is speaking theology in an intellectual manner. I mean, Milton and Voltaire?! *fans self* I’m so impressed.
@DieBretter: Yay! someone who’s read The Federalist Papers!
@donkeyjote: Yes, that is some tasty cake, I enjoy it as well.
A client of mine attempted to introduce me to the owner of a bicycle shop that rented a storefront from him. I held my hand out, but she just looked at me, then turned to him and asked if I “knew Jesus”. When he replied that I was not a christian, she glanced briefly my way, then turned her head told him she would talk to him later, and then walked out of the office. My client apologized to me for her rudeness.
I happened to be driving past the store later that day and noticed that the “T” in the name on the sign was stylized as a cross. Didn’t surprise me when they closed within 3 months.
@donkeyjote:
“Mormons believe Jesus has already come again, in SLC.”
Er. Not quite. We are still waiting for Christ to come back too. Just thought I’d clarify that for the readers.
Anyway, I agree with whoever said it above. I’m a Christian, and I disagree with having prayer in schools, merely because due to the plurality of religious denominations in the U.S., adopting one form of prayer over another would inevitably lead to someone discriminating against others. I’m all for praying, even if you choose to pray to God, Allah, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Buddha, or not do it all. That’s your prerogative for being in this country. It’s just going to be exceedingly difficult to find one that satisfies Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Protestants or Muslims. Hence, the easiest thing is going to be to skip it all together.
The guy who did this ad is making the rest of us who try and live our religion the best we can look bad.
I will not choose a business to patronize based upon their professed religion or lack thereof. I’ve never understood that. If they do a good job, then they get my business. If not, then I’ll try somewhere else. Easy enough.
Cheers!
The city of Porterville, CA is attempting to make “In God We Trust” the city motto, and will be on the ballot on June 3. That is something I feel is inappropriate, not this paid-for advertisement.
Needles is trying to secede and be part of Nevada. I’ll vote for it as long as they take the rest of Southern California (where this dealership is).
@adam51172:
“This paid-for advertising” is precisely what leads to such legislation being proposed, and I predict that the idiots will vote for it in droves.
Some days I hope for a state-sponsored religion just so the people who vote for these things will know how good they had it when we had the right to be free from religion.
censuses are misrepresented anyway in this country. anyone who celebrates the commercial tradition of christmas considers themselves a christian. Well sir, that just isnt true anymore: even I, a good old fashioned atheist, love to celebrate the commercial tradition of christmas.