U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has taken exception to the He Gets Us campaign, and refers to the Super Bowl LVII ad that the organization ran during the big game as “fascism.”
But she isn’t the only one who has a problem with the ad campaign. The Christian organization responsible for the He Gets Us TV ads has been labeled an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center as well.
The He Gets Us website says the organization is not “affiliated with any church, religious denomination or political organization.”
“Our goal is to help everyone understand and relate to Jesus as he’s depicted in the Bible with a modern lens of his radical forgiveness, compassion and love. We feel His teachings and lived experiences are as relevant to us today as they were 2,000 years ago,” the group says. “We strive to provide a safe place for people to ask questions, even tough ones, without fear or judgment.”
A liberal Democrat from New York, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Sunday night, “Something tells me Jesus would *not* spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads to make fascism look benign.
He Gets Us is a diverse group of Jesus followers and supporters committed to telling the story of Jesus through a “modern lens.”
During one of their 30-second ads, He Gets Us calls on all individuals to ‘be childlike” in humility, compassion and gentleness.
“Jesus taught, ‘unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,'” a description of the advertisement posted on YouTube explains.
Author Michael Isenberg dismissed Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism as “extreme” in a reply to the congresswoman.
“… I watched the ads. Seems to me that if @AOC thinks the message ‘Love your enemies’ is fascist, that tells us more about her than the He Gets Us group,” Isenberg replied. “In any case, I feel strongly that members of Congress should not opine on what should or should not air. There’s always an implicit threat of legislation, which is inconsistent with our great First Amendment tradition.”
Isenberg compared Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet to the Pharisees’ comments in Luke 7:36-50.
“Mary Magdalene does something nice for Jesus. A Pharisee complains that He’s associating with sinners. Which puts @AOC in the role of the Pharisee. In other versions, the complaint is about the waste of money,” he said.
The nonprofit is designated as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“The foundation behind a $20 million Super Bowl advertising campaign to promote ‘the Jesus of radical forgiveness, compassion and love’ has also bankrolled a conservative nonprofit leading efforts to roll back abortion rights and allow businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ customers,” The Southern Poverty Law Center claims.
Bring Charisma magazine home with a subscription today!
Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.
See an error in this article?
To contact us or to submit an article
