Christian: November 2009 Archives

The Illinois Lottery has received a fair amount of attention in recent years, from its connections to disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich to the state's controversial plan to sell the lottery to private investors. Now, for the holiday season the Illinois Lottery has launched a new ad campaign using the Christian hymn "Joy to the World" to flog its scratch-off games, a move that has led at least one Christian to complain to the Chicago Sun Times:

In Monday’s paper, columnist Lewis Lazare notes that Energy BBDO has created a series of holiday television commercials using the song “Joy to the World” to sell—of all things—lottery tickets! The new lyrics and retro music may be captivating and clever, but are the people at BBDO familiar with the original words to this Christmas hymn? Or do they care?

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”

Or is Linus the only one who still understands what Christmas is all about?

Dan McGuire, Bensenville

It's a paradigmatic case of cultural appropriation, with one community's traditions used to promote ostensibly contradictory values. And as MultiCultClassics observes, the campaign doesn't stop there--"It’s gone from blasphemy to Black clichés."

The "Jesus is my nightlight" trope has seen its fair share of oddball expressions over the years, from the stocking stuffer pictured above to the following Christian viral video, which concludes on a rather cheeky riff on the metaphor of a heavenly throne.

In sacred writ, the streets of heaven are said to be paved with gold. What this Facebook post illuminates: this golden hue comes from an infinite supply of free large fries from Rally's.

And so the heavenly choir will sing: "In heaven, everything is fried . . . "

Coming soon from Michiel Cornelissen, "a bit cross":

With its combination of symbolical and practical strength, it’s hard to think of a situation where this pendant would not have you covered.

A mural inside the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.