Jesus - Is Using "His" Name Bad for Business?

In today's society political correctness seems to have gotten out of hand. A few examples: instead of "Merry Christmas", it's "happy holidays". Instead of "illegal alien", it's "undocumented worker". Instead of "terrorists", it's "insurgent". The list can stretch miles long of words or phases that have been changed. A few of these changes have been for the better, however, we have become so afraid of offending anyone, that things have gone too far from the intent. Say something, anything and you will offend someone, some group or some country. The PBR has been caught up in this trap of political correctness.

Through much research, I have found out that the PBR riders and personnel are instructed NOT TO USE THE NAME OF JESUS when addressing the public at the arena or on TV. Yes, you read that right. You can not say a prayer and say Jesus in the prayer. You can not say Jesus in an interview, if you do, it will not get on TV. Now, you can say God, because that is all encompassing. However, by using the name of Jesus, it narrows the definition and that may offend some in the audience. Political correctness run amuck. You say this can not be true. At first, I didn't think it was either. I didn't see how an organization that has roots in the small rodeos, where God and country are just as much part of the event as the bronc and bull riding.

I will give you three examples of exactly where this policy has taken place. The first is at the Iron Cowboy event, in February. Wiley Petersen (a PBR rider) was asked to say the opening prayer. At the close of the prayer, instead of saying "in Jesus name", he said "in His name". A lady on Wiley's fan page expressed her disappointment that he did not say Jesus. Wiley answered her and said that he was told not to say Jesus and if he was going to use Jesus' name, he could not say the prayer. The second example was in Des Moines. The PBR had given the fans the opportunity to hear the event on live audio. After Mike Lee won the event he was interviewed by Brandon Bates. His interview was never shown on TV. Why? During Mike's interview, he mentioned Jesus, twice, and made a reference to the cross. Now, the people in the arena could hear it, the people that listened to the live audio could hear it, but it never saw the light of day on TV. The third example is, we were at several Touring Pro events, Brandon Bates was the announcer. During the opening prayer, Brandon ended with "in Jesus name". However, at the BFTS events, Brandon says the prayer and ends the prayer with "in His name", he does not mention the name of Jesus.

Still not convinced that this is a policy by the PBR? I wasn't. After extensive research and talking to numerous sources, of which I will not name, I discovered this is indeed the PBR policy. I don't know if it is written, probably not, but it is a policy nonetheless. I guess we should not be surprised, considering all the political correctness that we see and hear everyday. With that said, I was still surprised. I have attended rodeos since I was a kid and the rodeos have always had the opening prayer and Jesus was a part of that prayer. However, money, politics and political correctness seem to be taking the place of Jesus himself.

I know why this is done, to "grow" the audience. Some might even say, what about the non-Christians? Well ..... according to polls taken in 2009, 76% of Americans consider themselves Christians. So, if you are just looking at the numbers, you are alienating more Christians than non-Christians. Some might say, well .... I am a Christian and I am offended by Jesus name being mentioned. What does it mean to be a Christian? It means to be a "follower of Christ". Who is Christ? Jesus. Why would you be offended if someone mentions the name of the one you follow? I wrote on my Facebook wall recently "some think the name of God/Jesus should be banned or censored, except when spoken in profanity". This is so true. Some people will go to the movies and hear God's name or Jesus' name taken in vain and think nothing of it, but you better not say it in a prayer, or it will offend them.

The PBR has bought into the idea that you can only expand your base, by taking away from your base. The PBR will only be successful as long as the base of fans believe in the PBR and what it stands for. Is it worth losing your base, to chase after some people that may or may not stay with you in the long run? We are fortunate to go to a number of live events. Two or three times during the event, a bunch of scantily clad girls, in high heals, come out and throw t-shirts into the crowd. Even being a man, I am offended by this, for several reasons. Does this matter to the PBR? Nope. In other words, you will do things that offend someone, anyone, at some point. Why alienate or offend a majority of the crowd, for only a few more fans in the seats? Is the PBR so desperate to expand the audience, that they are willing to risk losing the loyal fan base that built the PBR in the first place?

The PBR does allow the Riding High Ministries to use the arena to conduct a church service, usually on Sunday morning. There will be a special service after the event in San Antonio, this Sunday. I thank the PBR for giving the Riding High Ministries this opportunity. With that said, that should not and does not excuse the policy of silence when it comes to the mere mention of Jesus' name, at an event. I am not talking about the PBR allowing a rider or PBR personnel to take the microphone, during an event, and give a short sermon and alter call. Just simply allowing a rider to mention his Lord and Savior and it not get deleted from public knowledge.

I still enjoy the PBR and will continue to go to the events. However, just like in any family or business you will have disagreements. This is one of those times. Speaking as a fan that loves the PBR and is a Christian man who pays good money to go to many events, I find this policy by the PBR offensive and believe other Christians need to voice their opinion to the PBR to change the way they are conducting business.