Christian leaders are protesting
Apple's decision to remove an app that asked users to sign onto a
declaration against gay marriage from its iTunes store.
The Manhattan Declaration app is a
mobile version of the
manifesto unveiled last year in New York by religious leaders opposed
to gay marriage.
The free app included the 4,700 word
document, which users were asked to electronically sign, and a
four-question survey. One question asked, “Do you support same-sex
relationships?” Users who answered “yes” were told that they
had replied incorrectly.
The app was deleted from the digital
store after more than 7,000 people signed a Change.org petition
urging Apple to remove it.
In a statement to ABC News, Apple said
the app was removed because “it violates our developer guidelines
by being offensive to large groups of people.”
The
Christian group behind the app has now launched its own protest.
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 20,000 people had signed onto the
petition asking the company to restore the Manhattan Declaration app.
“The Manhattan Declaration, in a
civil, reasoned, and respectful way, promotes the sanctity of every
human life, traditional marriage, and religious freedom,” the
petition reads.
“That Apple would deem the Manhattan
Declaration as 'offensive' is alarming and distressing.”
“Despite
the claims of some, the Declaration does not promote hate or
homophobia. It is not anti-gay. Rather, it proclaims that all human
beings are loved by God and are worthy of respect.”
Supporters of the document include Tony
Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), a
group recently labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law
Center (SPLC), James
Dobson, founder of the anti-gay Christian-based Focus on the Family,
and Bishop
Harry R. Jackson, Jr., the District of Columbia's most visible
opponent of its gay marriage law.