Three emails of complaint have been received so far, the day of the December mag’s publication. And a non-Christian has kicked off a bulletin board debate about the suitability of the chosen cover pix.
The idea for the cover was two-fold: feature an instantly recognisable Christmas scene (but without reindeers, Santa’s or robins) and link in the article about getting more children on to bicycles by starting them riding earlier, and you can’t get much earlier than birth.
However, those traditionalist Christians who claim to be offended by the cover shots should click through to the bulletin board thread below where BikeBiz editor Carlton Reid expounds on his reasons why the images do not disparage Christianity’s central tenets:
"Go read the New Testament. You think there’s one single story of three wise men following a star, and shepherds, and no room at the inn and the baby Jesus laid in a manger, and a dramatic flight to Egypt, escaping from a massacre of children by King Herod? Hoh no, think again…"
And you thought this was a bike trade website?