By TELEGRAPH
Added: Mon, 26 May 2008 23:00:00 UTC

Thanks to Marcus Lyon for the link.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2037882/Car-dealership-advert-tells-atheists-to-'shut-up'.html

Car dealership advert tells atheists to 'shut up'
By Matthew Moore

An advert calling for non-Christians to "sit down and shut up" is being used to sell Ford cars in the United States.

The radio commercial — which attacks people who call for the secularisation of American institutions — has been aired to promote an independent Ford dealership in California.

America's non-Christian minority of 14 per cent should have its views on issues like prayer in schools and the religious content of the Pledge of Allegiance ignored, the advert claims.

"I guess maybe I just offended 14 per cent of the people who are listening to this message," the voiceover continues.

"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."

The bizarre commercial ends: "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 advert, which makes no mention of the quality or price of the dealership's cars, has been broadcast on local radio stations in the south of the state since February.

Listeners who contacted Ford to complain were told that the dealership was independent and privately owned, and is responsible for its own advertising. There is no suggestion that Ford approved the content of the advert.

Anna Lemma, a blogger and former Air Force officer who was one of the first to raise concerns about the advert, described it as "quite possibly the most offensive advertisement for an automobile dealership that I have ever heard".

"I really don't care about what his [the owner of the dealership's] opinion of us godless folks is, but the most offensive part of the ad is the 'shut up and sit down' part," she said.

"I guess he doesn't support first amendment rights for those who don't agree with him."

Full transcript of the radio advert

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 per cent of Americans say they believe in God? 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 tell the other 14 per cent to sit down and shut up.

I guess I just offended 14 per cent 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.

None of us at Kieffe & Sons Ford is afraid to speak out. 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."

TAGGED: -, ATHEISM, RELIGION