It comes from filmmaker Manny Marquez at Word on Fire, who takes note of all the hand-wringing and garment-rending over the ad that featured Bruce Springsteen visiting a chapel in the middle of America. Marquez concludes:
As Catholics, we can’t be surprised when the mainstream media are against a message of unity and healing. It is much easier to keep people arguing, pointing out our differences, and creating drama around those differences. That is what sells and generates clicks. I discussed the Jeep piece with a filmmaker friend of mine, a devout Christian, who explained that he didn’t like the piece because it seemed to promote Christian Nationalism. That is something I am certainly against, and I didn’t see it as the intent of Jeep or Bruce Springsteen. What I saw was a piece of America that I once knew, reflecting my own life growing up in the country; the lighting of a candle of hope; and the wishing of our fellow countrymen the best.
We are living in a time where relativism is king, a time where anything goes. Day after day, our television feeds us opinions and lifestyle choices that go against the grain of our moral character. This Jeep ad shines a spotlight on a way of life that doesn’t get much airtime today. It is about the everyday folks that are living their lives and trying to make amends for the wrongs they’ve done. That is how we heal; that is the freedom Bruce talks about; that is how we find unity with our brothers and sisters. In our efforts to be diverse, and to promote diversity in the media, I think seeing the cross every now and then might be just what is needed . . . even if it is from a car ad.
I didn’t find the ad offensive or repellent, and maybe that’s why. It offered a glimmer of hope — and faith — coming from an artist who has wrestled with both and who has deep Catholic roots.
Read it all. There is more on this and other ads from the Super Bowl.
