A godless campaign

Let’s keep God out of advertising and politics

Reuters | Published: 07.31.07, 16:45

Likud candidate Moshe Feiglin has ads that say, “Moshe Feiglin — because he has a G-d.” That’s how it’s written, so that no one will transgress by writing out the name in its entirety.

The haredim, who not long ago opposed the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem, preferred to bear the Lord’s name in a different way: “Elokim hates debauchery,” they wrote in giant letters on posters hung in public places.

The opponents of disengagement didn’t use the name explicitly, but every time any of the fathers of disengagement resigns, dies, or is convicted, there are joyful shouts of “There’s a Law and there’s a Judge!”

Just this past Shabbat we read in the Torah that “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” Personally, I can agree with the content of each of these slogans. Yes, Elokim hates debauchery (with the emphasis on the Gay Pride Parade); and of course there is a Law and there’s a Judge, and it’s clear that a person who expresses “Jewish leadership” in the Likud has a G-d or Elokim.

But taking the name of the Lord in vain is not actually telling a lie, it’s also going astray, and in vain. If the Ten Commandments were written today, there would certainly be a clause for believers: “A person shall not make excessive use of the name of the Lord. The name of the Holy One Blessed be He shall not be used or publicized for personal, political, or commercial use. Explicit, direct, and public use of the name and/or one of the names of the Creator (henceforth ‘Hashem’ and any other name known to the public) will be considered a transgression of one of the Ten Commandments:”You Shall Not Take, 5767/2007."

God's name used as a brand

Of course you can continue endlessly to list the desired boundaries. The fact that the name of Heaven is commonly invoked by people is praiseworthy. People express their faith and their religion by saying “with God’s help” and “God willing,” and of course in prayers, in pleas, and in their way of life.

But when God’s name is used in the world of advertising and marketing as a brand, and when this is done by believers, it could be that the Holy One Blessed be He is very displeased. If I too had bad taste and stammered, I would have an ad saying “Elokim gets annoyed with the way you are recruiting him for all kinds of things.”

So “Feiglin has a G-d" (and I always thought that G-d had Feiglin), but it’s vulgar. And “Elokim hates debauchery,” but the immodest combination of these three words is the opposite of godly writing, and “there’s a Law and there’s a Judge” is a slogan that turns the Creator into the contractor of the Right.

What do all of these have in common? Vulgarity, showiness, and excessive self-righteousness, the advertisers’ use of God’s name for political and personal purposes, as if the Holy One Blessed be He works for them and gives them invoices. If people think that’s the case, or say such things in private conversations, that’s one thing. Thoughts and conversations between afternoon and evening prayers can be about anything. But if someone takes the trouble to use these slogans in ad campaigns, he needs to ask himself several questions about his relationship with his God.

Because people of faith need to feel that they are walking in the Lord’s path, and not, God forbid, that he is walking in their path. He certainly isn’t a recruit for any campaign, especially for free.

Father have mercy, Father have mercy.