by David Furritus

Created on: December 16, 2007   Last Updated: March 08, 2011

Well, this question is like asking if it's okay for politicians to advertise themselves. If you're from one of the major parties like the Democrats or Republicans it would be a no-brainer. You've got the money to spend on Tv time and expensive print spots. Now, if you're in a third party that doesn't have major corporations filling your war chests you might think that it's not that great an idea.

The same holds true for religion. If you're from a major religion like Catholicism, Evangelical Christianity, or even Latter Day Saints, you can afford it and any station would love to run the ads because your religion is so popular. Now, if you're from a "lesser" faith like Paganism, Witchcraft, or even Islam you're going to run into problems. If you called your local network affiliate and said "Hi, I'd like to run a PSA (public service announcement) for my religion during the evening news, would that be okay?" and you said that you were not one of the major religions they'd probably be polite and tell you that they'd get back to you - or they'd give you a number to an advertising department that's not open at the time.

The thing about advertising in general is that it's usually for businesses. Religion isn't supposed to be a business, but all too often it is treated as such and this means that money has become a lot more important. As a result, it's becoming more and more important to get people into the churches so that they can fill the donation plates. Word of mouth campaigns aren't doing as great as they used to so advertising is the way to go for them...although, just once I'd like to hear a sermon end with "We realize that you have many choice for your religion and we're grateful that you've chosen St. Michael's for your salvation needs and we look forward to future visits - and donations!"

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