The Quotation of the Week (November 20-26, 2011)

A "dance" of light near the Kawartha Lakes area, Ontario

Photo (Kawartha Lakes, Ontario: August 7, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa

Shame on the United Colors of Benetton!

A doodle on "Shame on the United Colors of Benetton!"

Doodle (Toronto: November 17, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa

The United Colors of Benetton (UCB), a well-known Italian clothing fashion company, started its advertising campaign this year with the theme of “Unhate.” The intention of this campaign, according to the company’s head Alessandro Benetton, is “the reconciliation and acceptance” in the face of increased hatred in the world. 

This campaign portrays digitally manipulated shocking images of world leaders, who are opposed to each other, deep-kissing on their lips. Large colourful images include those of Pope Benedict XVI kissing Egypt’s imam Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed El-Tayeb, US President Obama kissing Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, Israel’s Premier Benjamin Netanyahu locking lips with Palestinian National Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and so on. 

The Vatican vehemently protested against this portrayal of the Pope and the imam, and , as a result, the company removed the pope and imam’s image from its display and campaign. 

In the past, the United Colors of Benetton also had its annual campaigns where it used other types of shocking images. In one year, it showed an image of a Catholic priest deep-kissing a Sister (nun).

Vatican spokesman Reverend Federico Lombardi said:  “This is a grave lack of respect for the Pope.” He also called it offensive to the “sentiments of the faithful” and “a clear example of how advertising can violate elementary rules of respect for people in order to attract attention through provocation.”

Alessandro Benetton in a statement said that the campaign is “solely to battle the culture of hate in all its forms. We are sorry that the use of an image of the pontiff and the imam should have offended the sensibilities of the faithful in this way.”

Some Observations on the 2011 Ad Campaign of the United Colors of Benetton

The United Colors of Benetton has been losing money for the past several years. This year, in the face of economic crisis in Europe and some other parts of the world, this company wanted to regain its market by ultra-shock valued advertising campaign. In reality, this campaign proved to be cheap, brute and short. The owner and his cohorts in the company displayed a shocking lack of respect for persons of position who have hundreds and millions of followers. They also gravely lack in regard for cultural and religious sentiments of people. 

To express "reconciliation and acceptance," two persons' hugging could be tolerated, but in some cultures kissing on lips and deep kissing at that is considered a heinous and most vile act.  

This company did not display manipulated photo of Alessandro Benetton lip-locking with his rival company’s owner or CEO expressing “reconciliation and acceptance.” Instead, it took on other leaders.

The shock and awe method may generate a cheap and temporary laugh and excitement, especially among some youth, but it cannot have a lasting effect. This year’s ad campaign exposed the hate of this company in a naked manner. Instead of the “Unhate campaign,” it turned into a hate campaign. 

If this company’s thought-level and moral ground is so low, what can people learn from it? Sadistic fun has a limit to it. Is this the beginning of the end of the United Colors of Benetton?

The Quotation of the Week (November 13-19, 2011)

A piece of tomato

Photo (Toronto: May 4, 2010) © Jerome D'Costa

A Doodle: A CROWDED BUS IN DHAKA

A crowded bus in Dhaka

Doodle (Dhaka: May 21, 1994) © Jerome D'Costa

Four Catholic Educational Institutions in Dhaka Receive 2011 Govt. Award for Excellence

St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School

at Mohammadpur, Dhaka

Four Catholic educational institutions in Dhaka recently won Bangladesh government’s prestigious award for outstanding achievements in 2011. The award is given on the basis of “study environment, academic performance, attendance and discipline,” reports UCANews.

Notre Dame College, St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, Holy Cross College and Holy Cross Girls’ High School were ranked 5^th, 6^th, 8^th and 13^th respectively in this year’s ‘Top 20 Educational Institutes Award’ given by the Secondary and Higher Education Board of the Government of Bangladesh. 

Holy Cross priests run the Notre Dame College (founded in 1949), Holy Cross Brothers run St. Joseph Higher Secondary School (founded in 1954), and Holy Cross Sisters run both the Holy Cross College (founded in 1950) and Holy Cross Girls’ High School (founded in 1951). 

The Quotation of the Week (November 6-12, 2011)

A moonlit night in Toronto, Canada

Photo (Toronto: January 15, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa

In the World Inter-Faith Gathering, Pope Expresses Shame for Christians' Use of Force In the Name of Religion

In the inter-faith gathering in Assissi are seen (from left) 

Archbishop Norvan Zakarian (Armenian Apostolic Church), 

Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury (Anglican Church),

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople (Eastern 

Orthodox Church), Pope Benedict XVI (Roman Catholic Church), 

Rabbi David Rosen (Chief Rabbinate of Israel), 

Wande Abimbola (representing traditional religion 

of the Yoruba people, Nigeria) and 

Shrivatsa Goswami (representing Hinduism)

Photo @ courtesy of: www.dioceseofraleigh.org/

Pope Benedict XVI, on October 27, welcomed 300 leaders of different religions in Assissi, Italy, and appealed all to work for peace and dialogue. The theme of the one-day gathering was “Pilgrims of Truth, Pilgrims of Peace.” 

Leaders present were Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, Armenian Christians, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, African indigenous religions and others. In addition, four non-believers of God, called ‘atheists,’ were also there, report Reuters and The Catholic Register. This event also marks the 25^th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s initiative for peace by inviting leaders of world religions in Assissi in 1986. Assissi is the hometown of St. Francis, who is well-known as a symbol of peace. 

The emphasis of the Pope’s address was how the faith can bring peace and how its absence can lead to violence. The Pope also mentioned that this violence is showing itself in two contradictory fashions – religious violence and anti-religious violence. He called the first one ‘terrorism,’ which maintains that “religion is a cause of violence, and, in this way, it has fueled hostility towards religions.” At the same time, he said, this analysis is not entirely without historical foundation. 

“As a Christian I want to say at this point: Yes, it is true; in the course of history, force has also been used in the name of the Christian faith,” he said.

“We acknowledge it with great shame. But it is utterly clear that this was an abuse of the Christian faith, one that evidently contradicts its true nature.”

By this the pope meant the use of force by Christians during the Crusades in the Middle East and against people of the New World (especially, in the Americas) to spread the Christianity. Pope John Paul II, in 2000, also mentioned and apologized for Christianity’s historical failures.

“Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism never again! In the name of God, may every religion bring upon Earth justice and peace, forgiveness and life, love,” the pope said.

The pope said history had also shown the denial of God could bring about “a degree of violence that knows no bounds.” The concentration camps of Hitler and his German Nazis during the Second World War revealed “with utter clarity the consequences of God’s absence.”

 The full text of Pope Benedict XVI can be read below:

Pope's Address in Assissi