Even if you did not watch the Super Bowl last Sunday, you have probably seen or at least heard about one of the evening’s more controversial ads.
It featured still photographs of unlikely pairings: a pro-life protester and a woman presumably entering an abortion clinic; two young women who appear to be on opposite sides of a political protest; a woman in a hijab and a suburban white woman; a cop and a young Black man; a gay man and a priest.
In each photo, one of the pair is lovingly washing the feet of his or her perceived antagonist, completely unfazed by whatever action is taking place around them.
As the images flash, a soulful cover of the INXS power ballad “Never Tear Us Apart” plays and crescendos at the phrase, “two worlds collided, and they could never tear us apart.”
Then the screen flashes with the words, “Jesus didn’t teach hate,” followed by, “He washed feet.”