One of the hymns we Anglicans like to sing goes like this:
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.
It makes the wounded spirit whole, and calms the troubled breast;
‘tis manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary rest.
Dear Name! the rock on which I build, my shield and hiding place,
My never-failing treasury, filled with boundless stores of grace.
Jesus, my Shepherd, Brother, Friend, my Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring.
Weak is the effort of my heart, and cold my warmest thought;
But when I see thee as thou art, I’ll praise thee as I ought.
When John Newton wrote that, he could not have foreseen that 250 years later the sweetness of Jesus’ name would no longer be thought of as manna to the hungry soul, but ice-cream to the greedy stomach. The Sweet Jesus ice-cream company, we are told, was born out of a love for experimentation. Experimenting with shabbily belittling what Christians regard as the most important event in human history: God becoming man.
Christians have so little influence on Canadian society today that not only can an ice-cream merchant name his sticky wares “Sweet Jesus” without fear of losing his profit, but the free advertising generated by gratuitously irritating Christians will probably result in increasing it.
Had the owners been less astute in their assessment of the cultural zeitgeist and named their obesity inducing, artery clogging sugar laden junk confection “Munchable Mohammed”, they would not only have lost their profits but been prosecuted under Bill 59; assuming they hadn’t lost their heads first.
It doesn’t help that the “t” in “Sweet” is an inverted cross and the “s” in “Jesus” is a lightning bolt, both obliquely tied to Satanism.
Adding to the odious miasma that wafts effortlessly like mist from a B grade horror film are these advertisements that feature what some have called “creepy” looking children:
There are some online petitions urging a name change, something that the owner is not willing to do, and there are numerous expressions of outrage on both sides.
None of this surprises me. In Canada, the ridiculing of Christianity and Christians is a national sport; I am surprised that it is not worse than it is. It’s futile to blame the world: it knows no better. If anyone is to blame, we – Christians and our pathetic, impotent mainline churches – are. If our church doesn’t take Christ seriously, and we continue to support it, why should we expect anyone else to?
From here:
There are few things that feel more care-free than enjoying an ice cream cone, and Toronto-based chain Sweet Jesus serves up gigantic, Instagram-worthy soft serve cones — or blasphemy, depending on who you ask.
The brand, founded in 2015 by Andrew Richmond and Amin Todai, has received attention from some in the Christian community for the religious imagery in their logo and advertising. Richmond told the Star in 2016 that the name stuck after an employee would often declare “sweet Jesus,” after tasting the ice cream and says the brand has nothing to do with religion.
The backlash has followed Sweet Jesus’ expansion south of the border, where they have opened up shop in Baltimore and the Mall of America. Petitions began popping up in January, after right-wing blog Activist Mommy posted an article analyzing the “blasphemous” use of religious imagery in the brand’s logo.
A petition hosted on CitizenGO, a site that bills itself as a conservative advocacy group, calls Sweet Jesus “offensive and revolting,” and accuses the ice cream parlour of hate speech towards Christians. The petition calls for a public apology for “openly (attacking) the Christian community,” and God. The petition further asks for a name change to “eliminate mockery toward our Lord Jesus.”
“Jesus, my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, my Prophet, Priest and King,” is the original. Even men are supposed to be feminine in relation to Him.
As for the CitizenGo petition, I decided not to sign it. It made us look really stupid, and simply gave this little, small-minded icecream business free publicity and extra cachet. Look at the sarcastic on-line comment on the whole business! The Lord will defend Himself in His good time.
I’m reminded of Lewis’ “Defend the Bible? I’d as soon defend a lion!”
Yes, it is arguably blasphemous. Having said that, I predict people will be saved because of this. Our God, who will not be mocked, is an awesome God.
It would have been one thing to simply use a branding of “Sweet Jesus” with regular type or font. However deliberately changing the “t” to an inverted cross and thereby invoking a satanic symbol is crossing a line, one that may actually be a violation of our Charter Rights as it could be argued that this is promoting hatred against Christians. At the very least it is intentionally provocative and perhaps even meant to be insulting.
Add onto this the way the children are depicted one could make a case that this is bordering on child abuse. The girl shown in a way that strongly suggests she is a beauty pageant contestant, but with “play-boy” bunny ears, and the boy shown with a pipe, tattoos and in a sexually suggestive pose, makes one wonder if this is going in the direction of child pornography.
Ya- good luck with that-not in todays social climate-
Jesus was as much with the sinner as with the saint. He is everywhere.
If a thousand companies want to post ‘Jesus’ across their advertisements, then that’s a thousand more places people can read His Blessed Name. Even scrawled in a gutter, His Name uplifts whatever it graces. We have no way of knowing its impact. I, for one, will now think of Jesus whenever I think of ice cream, so I’m thankful to this couple. Unknowingly, they serve.
Christians are followers of Jesus and try to live a God-centred and Spirit-filled life, hopefully others may see Jesus in us, not in an ad.