Les Balsiger (activist)

Les Balsiger is an anti-Catholic activist from Portland, Oregon. A former car salesman, cite news | last = Langlois | first = Ed | title = Spruced-up billboard marks beginning of new ‘pope-is-Antichrist’ campaign | work = Catholic Sentinel | date = 2001-07-27 | url = http://www.sentinel.org/articles/2001-30/5478.html | accessdate = 2007-03-28 ] Balsiger led prominent publicity campaigns in the western United States in the 1990s criticizing Roman Catholicism.

Billboard campaign

The National Catholic Reporter, one of the largest Catholic newspapers in the US, published an article about how four anti-Catholic billboards were placed in Portland, Oregon, and how similar billboards were placed in Medford and Salem by Les Balsiger and his Seventh-day Adventist Church splinter group.cite news | title = Anti-Catholic Billboards in Oregon--Denver Next? | publisher = Adventist Today | date = 1993-07-01 | url = http://www.atoday.com/magazine/archive/1993/julaug1993/news/Billboards.shtml | accessdate = 2007-03-28 ] In addition, Portland's largest newspaper, The Oregonian, reported that mainline religious leaders were "seething" as a result of the billboards that were sponsored by Les Balsiger and his Printed Page Ministry located Oregon and in Troy, Montana. The billboard ads read "The Pope is the Antichrist".The last of the erected billboards, in Medford, Oregon, remained posted until the contract term expired in May, 2002. [cite news | last = Kovacs | first = Joe | title = Antichrist sign taken down: Sponsor replaces controversial billboard with new, pope-less message | publisher = WorldNetDaily | date = 2002-06-28 | url = http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28101 | accessdate = 2007-03-28 ]

Balsiger also attempted, but failed, to place anti-Catholic billboards in Denver, Colorado, during the pope’s visit there in 1993. [cite news | last = Folkenberg | first = Robert S. | title = No Billboards for Denver | publisher = Press Release, Global-Evangelism.org | date = 1993-08-09 | url = http://www.global-evangelism.org/FTP/93-08-09.PDF | accessdate = 2007-03-28 ] cite news | last = Mehle | first = Michael | title = Billboard Supplier Won't Run Attacks on Pope | publisher = Rocky Mountain News | date = 1993-08-04 | url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RM&p_theme=rm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4DCE9BA791262&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | accessdate = 2007-03-28 ] According to the Rocky Mountain News, Balsiger said that his organization paid for 21 billboards to be shown in the Denver area during the Pope's visit. The billboard company, Gannett Outdoors, refused to display any ads attacking the Pope or the Catholic Church. Les Balsiger said “We paid the money, we have signed the contract, and now they have refused to put them up,” said Les Balsiger, director of the anti-Catholic group, whose members are primarily dissident Seventh-day Adventists. “I don't want to be un-Christian about this, but this isn't the end of this matter. We could be on the courthouse steps (today),” he said. The billboards would have shown a toll-free telephone number, an image of the Pope waving, and the message: “The Bible says, ‘The man of sin shall be revealed,’ II Thess. 2:3.” Les Balsiger said that he would get a court injunction upholding the contract so that the billboards would be displayed while he fought the Gannett anti-defamation policy. [cite news | last = Stack | first = Peggy Fletcher | title = Billboard Bashing | work = Salt Lake Tribune | date = 1993-12-25 | url = | accessdate = ]

Other activities

The Catholic Sentinel, which is one of the oldest Catholic newspapers in the US, published three articles on Les Balsiger and his involvement with the anti-Catholic billboards and stated that Balsiger, one of the leaders of the anti-Catholic movement, claimed to have a national following of some 400,000 people. [cite news | last = Langlois | first = Ed | title = Billboard contract lapses, ‘Pope is Antichrist’ remains; more ads planned | publisher = Catholic Sentinel | date = 2002-06-06 | url = http://www.catholicsentinel.com/articles/2002-23/10318.html | accessdate = 2007-03-28 ] [cite news | last = Langlois | first = Ed | title = Oregonian runs anti-Catholic ad on Easter | publisher = Catholic Sentinel | date = 2000-04-29 | url = http://www.sentinel.org/articles/2000-17/3870.html | accessdate = 2007-03-28 ] In addition, The Catholic Sentinel reported that Balsiger was the publisher of "The Protestant", an anti-Catholic magazine, and that Balsiger opened a training school for anti-Catholic Adventist activists in Eastern Europe. "The Protestant" has published a controversial image of a Catholic priest beheading a man.

References

Further reading

*cite news | last = Anderson | first = Colleen | coauthors = Gallegher, Ed | title = Denver and the Pope: Adventists on Alert | publisher = Adventist Today | date = 1993-09-01 | url = http://www.atoday.com/magazine/archive/1993/sepoct1993/news/Denver.shtml | accessdate = 2007-03-28