Richard Dawkins backs Church of England calls for cinemas to screen Lord's Prayer advert

The atheist author claims people who feel 'offended' by advert deserve to be offended 

Heather Saul
Monday 23 November 2015 13:17 GMT
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The Church of England is enjoying support from an unexpected corner
The Church of England is enjoying support from an unexpected corner

Richard Dawkins has backed the Church of England’s calls for its Lords Prayer advert to be shown in cinemas.

The controversial atheist writer has become the least likely backer of showing the advert in cinemas ahead of Christmas after three major cinema chains refused to screen it before Star Wars: the Force Awakens, due for release on 18 December.

The Digital Cinema Media (DCM) agency, which handles advertising for Odeon, Cineworld and Vue, said it has a policy of not showing political or religious advertising in its cinemas, despite the advert having been approved by the Cinema Advertising Association and being given a “U” certificate by the British Board of Film Classification.

Dawkins, who is strongly critical of religion but a staunch defender of free speech, told The Guardian he initially responded to the news by tweeting that it was a violation of freedom of speech. He deleted the tweet soon after hearing that it was "a matter of commercial judgment on the part of the cinemas”.

However, he added: “I still strongly object to suppressing the ads on the grounds that they might ‘offend’ people. If anybody is ‘offended’ by something so trivial as a prayer, they deserve to be offended.”

The Church of England said it was “bewildered” by the decision not to show the advert, which encourages Christians to pray by showing a range of people saying the Lord’s Prayer.

The Rev. Arun Arora, Director of Communications for the Church of England, described the decision as “rather chilling in terms of limiting free speech”.

He said in a statement: “There is still time for the cinemas to change their mind and we would certainly welcome that.”

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