We live in a free country, and FOX can decide—based on its own business calculations and current FCC regulations—to air whatever it so chooses. No Doritos. No adultery. No John 3:16. As a Christian, I can live with that.

Forget about tight ends, tackles, and touchdowns. What many want to know is whether the television commercials that will air during Super Bowl XLV will have offense.

Companies spending $3 million on a single 30-second TV spot seek to pack a lot of memorable punch into that half-minute. They want their message and hopefully their product to be the buzz of Monday morning conversation.

But television networks reject ads each year for “advancing particular beliefs or practices.” Of course, rejected ads often receive even greater exposure, via the internet, due to the cultural chatter that follows such a rejection (including a column such as this one).

This year, FOX rejected a Doritos ad that depicted a pragmatic priest dispensing chips and Pepsi during Holy Communion as a means of attracting parishioners…

FOX also rejected an ad from an “adultery website” that connects married people together for illicit encounters (too racy to show here)…

And don’t forget about FOX’s rejection of the “John 3:16 website” commercial that was designed to encourage viewers to discover what John 3:16 is all about.

In sum, if a company intends to mock Christian communion, promote adultery, or point people to a God who “so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,” then it had better find a different way to spend its $3 million advertising budget.

Scott Lamb is Director of Research for Dr. Albert Mohler. Read More (with video links):

http://online.worldmag.com/2011/02/04/no-offense-in-super-bowl-xlv/