Overzealous in New Zealand?

     A story by the Associated Press hit the wires last week regarding a church sponsored billboard in New Zealand that depicts Joseph and Mary side-by-side in bed. Both lay on their backs; Joseph on the left, Mary on the right, with the bedspread pulled up to their shoulders. Mary dreamily gazes upward. Joseph gazes downward, dejected and forlorn. The above caption reads, "Poor Joseph, God was a hard act to follow."

     The sponsoring church is St. Matthew-in-the-City, an Anglican congregation located in Wellington.

     According to the Huffington Post, the "progressive Christian" church hopes their ad will "get people talking about the Christmas story."

     Unfortunately, the gist of every article and news report I have perused about the billboard centers around the "inappropriate" and "poor taste" issue regarding its marketablity. Not a single news bite stressed the Christmas story.

     As a marketing strategy, if sparking interest in the Christmas story was their only goal, the Anglican church obviously failed. However, if part of their goal was to simply put God on the minds and tongues of the populace, they succeeded. It has already become a global controversy.

     So what do you think? Did the St. Matthew-in-the-City church overstep the bounds of decency and good taste? Or did they simply find a way to push peoples buttons and spark a global dialogue? And, if so, does the end justify the means?

     I know this is a brand new blog, but it would be nice to get some feedback from those of you who are visiting, concerning this issue. It is an interesting topic, with a multitude of possibilities. So I will close here and allow some time for comments to be made before continuing on with additional parts of the post.