Michael KnowlesThe Prince of Peace is officially too violent for Facebook. According to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, the tech giant rejected an advertisement for its online degree program in theology, catechetics, and evangelization. The campaign included an image of the San Damiano Cross, a twelfth century rood cross before which St. Francis of Assisi prayed when he had a mystical vision in which the Icon of Christ Crucified instructed him, “Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins.” The university’s social media administrator received a rejection notice explaining that the image contained “shocking, sensational, or excessively violent content.” Perhaps Christians should count their blessings that Facebook is not yet flagging depictions of Christ reigning from his cruciform throne as “fake news.”
In Facebook’s defense, the Crucifixion was indeed shocking, sensational, and excessively violent: He was arrested, flogged, condemned, made to carry his own cross, brought to the “Place of the Skull,” nailed, raised, fed gall, and pierced through the side with a sword. In the university’s defense, our civilization once considered the Crucifixion and Resurrection to be the most important event in the history of the world. Now one of the most successful enterprises in the history of that civilization deems it too sensational for public consumption.
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