CNN is reporting that Rolling Stone magazine has turned down an ad for a new "with it" Bible edition for young people. "We are not in the business of publishing advertising for religious messages," said a spokesman.
This is a truly silly statement. No one suggested Rolling Stone was "in the business of" publishing advertising for religious messages. It is presumably "in the business of" publishing a stale, hung over People magazine focusing on "youth culture" and paying for it by running advertisements. Ironically, that "business" kind of stinks for the magazine; ad pages and circulation have been in a steep decline since forever, despite a recent very modest uptick. Evidently, they believe they have more to lose than to gain by taking a "religious message" as an advertisement.
No, it isn't censorship. Every publication has the right to accept or reject advertisements from anyone, for any reason. But it does bespeak narrow-mindedness, and it displays something far short of what we might call cultural self-confidence.
What a slimy, mossy mess.
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