So this evening as I type this blog on my macbook, listening to podcasts on my ipod, after pricing the now-available-in-korea ipad, and waiting for my new iphone 4 to arrive at the local cellphone dealer, I am greeted with the news that the company that provides all of my favorite tech toys has seemingly determined that my personally held religious beliefs are:
“offensive to large groups of people.”
How do I know this? In large measure, I am in support of the ideas contained within the Manhattan Declaration. I am quite sure that many of my readers may disagree with my beliefs on this point, and they are entitled to that belief.
What I am not okay with is simply dealing with my opinion by calling me homophobic, and having done with it. That’s just a label, and a pejorative one. I think you need to back it up before you start bandying it about.
Apple removed the application from the app store because the opinions contained within were “offensive to large groups of people”. You see, the problem is that the opposition to this app was fomented by claims that the app was “homophobic” and “limited choice”. Now, to be clear, the declaration does say that we conservative Christians should be clear about our beliefs in relation to the institution of marriage, and should work to uphold the union of one man and one woman, but that does not in itself mark “homophobia”. It definitely does not “limit choice”, but instead asks that the debate on same-sex marriage actually BE a debate, instead of the simple demonization and silencing of one side.
I am more than a little irked that a company I have been purchasing from for more than a decade would make the claim that my sincerely held religious beliefs are verboten from the app store because they are “offensive to large groups of people”.
Are they going to soon ban my sermons from itunes? I’ll tell you now, many people find them offensive (some in my own congregation). Are Bible apps the next to go? Especially those provided with conservative Christian notation?
Oh well, guess I’d better go update the Church website on iweb before haters like me and other evangelicals are no longer able to state our opinions on anything hosted by apple.
