This week Catholics for Catholics (CforC) announced that it had become the latest victim in a nationwide trend to censor the messages of conservative organizations. CforC says it signed a contract with billboard provider Lamar Advertising, one of the largest billboard companies in the country, to place several billboards to promote Catholic values in the public square.
The billboards, referenced further in this release, show a recreation of the iconic picture of former President Donald Trump, bloodied after an attempted assassination, accompanied by words from the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. This billboard is part of the National Campaign that CforC has undertaken to place dozens of this image on billboards all over the battleground states.
After signing a contract with an initial representative of Lamar, who had previously received the artwork, CforC was notified that such artwork had been denied by Lamar’s corporate office because the concern was that “it plainly could be taken as a Catholic endorsement of Trump.” CforC was told that the requirements to continue its advertisement were to remove their logotype, website (cforc.com) and use the abbreviation “CforC” on the sponsor disclaimer (paid by Catholics for Catholics). In other words, they asked CforC to renounce to their Catholic identity in order to run the billboards ads. CforC fearlessly rejected their arbitrary suggestion and took their business elsewhere.
If the billboard company was intellectually honest, they would have refused the business from the start. They would not have taken the contract, only to subsequently force edits in content. Clearly, it is their right to pass on the business, but it pushes the boundaries of integrity to conduct business in this manner.
It is interesting to note that CforC volunteers have identified the actual billboard location that was canceled, as being in heavily Catholic Milwaukee, Wisconsin and have put eyes on the boards, only to report back that the opposite sides of the agreed upon boards contain pro Kamala Harris advertisements paid for by the Democrat Party.
CforC CEO, John Yep commented, “While they may have the right as a private company to cancel our contract, it seems as if Lamar Billboard Company is doing this to silence Catholics who support Trump. Giving the red carpet to their Democrat friends is one thing but to brazenly put down in writing that they are refusing our message because ‘it plainly could be taken as a Catholic endorsement of Trump’ is alarming.”
The accusation in subsequent emails from Lamar that the CforC name and effort implies an endorsement by the Catholic Church is weak. Catholics for Catholics organization has never claimed to be an arm of the Catholic Church. The name, in plural – CatholicS – explicitly implies that it is individual members of the faithful reaching out to inform other members of the faith. Nevertheless, it is not the job of Lamar Advertising Company to defend and arbitrate what is and what is not endorsed by the Catholic Church. The Church and her bishops are perfectly capable of policing herself and its followers.
This is more than an advertising snag. This is seemingly an effort to censor speech, not unlike Facebook or pre-Musk Twitter. Lamar seeks to prevent an alternative train of thought and Catholics for Catholics is content to write it off as such. However, it is not without concern that there exists another alternative which is more frightening. Could this be anti-Catholic bias, having nothing to do with politics? To highlight a crucial point, this objection did not come to light during the normal course of negotiation and discussion, but only after a contract had been signed and elevated to the higher-ups at Lamar. Is there a dirty, little secret policy among executives at the company that is not known by those who are just trying to make a sale?
The censoring of conservative groups by large billboard companies seems to be trending now. Two articles in National Catholic Reporter last week detail how a billboard provider “soft canceled” a client of several decades by refusing to run pro-life billboards in Minnesota. Similarly, a court case in Massachusetts has exposed the targeted muting of pro-life messages. Lamar’s cancellation of this Catholic message is the latest instance.
Using word salads to insinuate that CforC is engaging in ‘false advertising”, will not fool the millions of future customers who now see where they stand. Lamar doesn’t seem to like Catholics who support Trump. Considering the sizeable percentage of Catholics who do support Trump that’s a significant bias.
Going further, CEO Yep said, “Because we can say with moral certitude that Donald Trump is the only choice for a Catholic in good standing, for Lamar to reject this message, they are intentionally or not, blocking the Catholic voice in the public square. This is unacceptable and we will rally Catholics and patriots to push back against what appears to be clear anti-Catholic bias. The light continues to shine in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”
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