Coca-Cola ads are Satanic say Russian Orthodox Christians

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, December 19 (RIA Novosti) – A group of Orthodox Christians in northwest Russia have accused Coca-Cola of offending their religious beliefs with adverts that use distorted images of Orthodox churches, including inverted crosses.

Coca-Cola representatives said the adverts demonstrated their attitude to preserving cultural heritage.

The believers said the advertizing posters in Nizhny Novgorod showed the crosses on the domes of various well-known churches in the city, as well as views of the local Kremlin.

“Coca-Cola uses all these Orthodox symbols in a blasphemous way by placing images of Coca-Cola bottles inside the pictures,” the letter complained to local prosecutors, the governor and the archbishop. “Some [church] images are deliberately turned upside down, including the crosses.”

An inverted cross is one of the symbols of Satanism.

The Orthodox believers want the posters to be removed and Coca-Cola brought to trial for “inciting religious hatred and undermining national dignity.”

Coca-Cola representatives said the company strictly complied with ethical norms and its adverts were an appeal to safeguard cultural monuments.

A spokesman for the bishop’s office hailed the believers’ letter. “It is important that such cases arouse reaction from ordinary people as well as priests.”

Another case of the controversial marriage of fast-food and religion occurred in Britain in the mid-1990s, when the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral in London was illuminated with an advert for Cadbury’s chocolate bar “Wispa”. The company was allowed to put up the advert after paying for restoration work to the cathedral’s Whispering Gallery.

Read Another Article

White House told to detail Christian leader visits
No new probe into Knutby sect murder

Related News Articles Topic(s): Offbeat News Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Offbeat News Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog