ENGLAND, December 11, 2015 (Christian Post): The Church of England is calling out U.K. cinemas for what it says is hypocrisy and “double standards,” after theater chains rejected the Lord’s Prayer ads, but now are playing animations it believes are promoting Hinduism. “There is an unfortunate combination of double standards and hypocrisy on display in this decision making process which needs addressing urgently,” said Rev. Arun Arora, the Church of England’s director of communications, according to The Telegraph on Thursday.Leading cinema chains in the U.K., including Odeon, Cineworld and Vue, have been screening a 7-minute animated film called “SanJay’s Super Team,” which shows Hindu deities protecting a young boy during prayer.
The story comes only weeks after the Digital Cinema Media agency, which handles U.K. cinema advertising, said it would not be showing short adverts by the CofE promoting the Lord’s Prayer during Christmas time, due to fears of offending others.The agency explained at the time that “some advertisements, unintentionally or otherwise, could cause offense to those of differing political persuasions, as well as to those of differing faiths and indeed of no faith,” and added that it treats “all political or religious beliefs equally.”Odeon has now tried to argue that the reason it is showing “Sanjay’s Super Team” is because it counts it as a film, and not an ad. “It is a film, not an advertisement, so is not covered by our advertising policies,” a spokesman for the company explained.
See also: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12043138/Church-of-England-condemns-cinemas-for-showing-Hindu-cartoon-after-banning-Lords-Prayer.html
http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/church-of-england-questions-hindu-cartoon-film-in-uk-cinemas-115121001278_1.html