Power For Living : Germany Bans Religious Foundation's Television Ads

FRANKFURT. The book is harmless, but demand for it is apparently as high as it is for free pornography. Though the 134-page publication can be ordered "absolutely free" via a call center in northern Germany, the call is not toll free and there is a four- to eight-week wait for delivery. The booklet is called "Power for Living," and presents itself as a path to the Christian faith. Print, TV and billboard ads promise that it will change your life. Aimed squarely at the despairing and discontent with their New Year's resolutions, the saturation ad campaign by the American Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation was launched just after Christmas. The organization spent a reported euro 5 million ($4.4 million) urging the public to order the book.

On Tuesday, state broadcasting commissions in Germany banned commercial TV stations from airing the ads because the country's broadcasting regulations prohibit advertising by political, religious and ideological groups. Such action is not uncommon: Recently, the media watchdogs protested against advertisements promoting Scientology.

Though the DeMoss Foundation is not a sect, like Scientology, observers in the United States have accused it of anti-homosexual agitation and supporting militant anti-abortion activists. Thomas Gandow, who conducts investigations of sects for the Protestant church in the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, said the foundation has very strong contacts to Jerry Falwell, a leading figure of the American Christian right. According to Mr. Gandow, Mark DeMoss, the son of organization founder Arthur S. DeMoss, worked as a spokesman for Mr. Falwell.

But "Power for Living" does not deal with political or ethical subjects. Instead, it approaches concept of religious conversion with four-step instructions that make it sound as easy as baking cake from a mix.

The book espouses the following principles: "God loves you," "mankind is sinful," "Christ will save mankind," and "everyone must accept Christ personally." Readers are then asked to read the Bible, with annotations and concordances intended to help guide them through.
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A foundation employee who was in Germany to check on the telemarketing operation told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Wednesday that he did not understand the reasons fueling the dispute. "We don't view it as a religious ad," said Ned McDonald. Instead, the campaign is designed to reach one goal, Mr. McDonald said. "All we want to do is to give this book away, which has the message of salvation that is straight from the Bible."

While presenting this message, the foundation does not want to cause animosity in Germany, he said. "We are not trying to get in the way of the Catholic church or the Protestant church," he said. Actually, the opposite is true, he said. "We make a strong point of going to a Bible-believing church."
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