“The Manhattan Declaration is an over 4,000-word statement of beliefs signed by over 400,000 people described as ‘a call to Christian conscience’ crafted in 2009. The app version, which includes a four-question poll on same sex marriage and abortion, launched in mid-October,” Martinelli reports. “A spokesperson for the Christian organization told the Daily Caller that the group is appealing Apple’s decision. ‘We’re making the argument that if [Jobs] would take a look at the Manhattan Declaration himself, he’d see it’s not written with any rancor. It’s written on a very even keel..] It’s just appealing to things that people want to come together on, that millions of Americans agree on.'”
Full article here.
Billy Atwell blogs for The Manhattan Declartation, “There are moments in non-profit work, if your goal is to spark social change, when you feel comfortable knowing that your methods are effective. One of those moments is when your radicalized opponents lambast you as homophobic, anti-choice, anti-woman, or something similar. I do not find comfort in these words, or find them in any way accurate, but appreciate that the message of truth is at least reaching their ears.”
“The Manhattan Declaration iPhone application was released October 14, 2010 as a resource to our loyal supporters,” Atwell writes. “But to a radicalized blog dedicated to promoting abortion, denigrating the dignity of women and the unborn, and supporting unnatural unions, this application is the scourge of human existence. What does that tell me? It tells me that we’re doing something right.”
Full article here.
The Manhattan declaration can be read in full here.
@Noahsdaddy, Debbie,
<sarcasm>How. . . . . eloquent. </sarcasm>
If Apple is now starting to censor people’s freedom of religious statements they are taking the wrong path.
You may not like what others say, you may not believe what they say, but we MUST defend their right to say it.
@ MacInfo…
What kind of preferential treatment do you mean?
Treatment to no be discriminated against for a job. OH THE HORROR!!!
Treatment that they may be allowed to visit their loved ones in a hospital in a time of sickness. OMG HIDE YOUR CHILDREN!!!
Treatment that they may be allowed to live their lives without fear of being tied to a fencepost left to die or dragged behind a car until death. OH HOW DARE THEY!!!
Yeah, you can candy coat your arguments any way you want, but your core hatred doesn’t justify ruining other people’s lives to make you feel more comfortable.
And your last quote…
“They do not have to live that lifestyle..”
Well, guess what, you don’t either, so why are you so worried?
And for the record, I’m straight, and not afraid of people who aren’t like me.
Religion is for retards. They want to be told what to think. Even if it is fastasy bullshit. Thinking is too hard.
Hey enlightened one… there are “death panels.” Do a little research….
Hey No Name,
I did. I read that section of the law when the controversy was going on. The “death panels” were a screaming load of crap then, just as the Manhattan Declaration’s “eugenics” claim is now.
Interesting that you only disputed one little part of what I wrote. It’s hard to argue with logic, isn’t it?
@MooKoop
“Bible” and “research” on the same sentence? Where is your “/sarcasm” ?
I would remind my fellow citizens that the price of living in a diverse, multi-cultural secular society in relative peace is being tolerant. I left the church for many reasons, but one significant one was the intolerance.
What is it with these religious wing nuts and their weird interpretations of ancient texts?
Abortion is not discussed in the Old Testament, New Testament, Koran or any other ancient text. Neither is gay marriage.
Anyone who says different has not read the original texts in the language that they were originally written.
These ancient texts were written for nomadic, illiterate shepards. They have very little relevance for modern, well educated humans.
One more example of freedom of speech as long as it’s the popular belief. Welcome back to junior high.
“Liberals (or “Progressives” or whatever name the socialists are cloaking themselves under this week) are all for free speech as long as it’s exactly what they want to hear. Otherwise, they’re all for censorship, suppression, and worse.”
1-The term Progressive is not exactly new- Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, was a Progressive and he was anything but a socialist.
2-Free Speech has limits & the distribution of controversial speech has it’s place and it is not via the iApp Store.
3-Apple has established guidelines that they have posted which is why Zinio on iOS cannot access adult content other Zinio clients are able to.
4-Nobody is restricting these people’s right to advocate for their position. They can freely post it on billboards, on TV, Radio or websites. They can also publish it in books and magazines.
5-I am tired of theists of whatever persuasion trying to change an open, secular society into some form of theocracy- which is exactly the ultimate goal of this and other groups.
To those who are pissed at Apple for removing a hate speech app from the App Store don’t have to buy a damn thing from Apple and are free to sell your Apple Stock.
As an almost 10 year owner of Apple Stock and a user of Apple Products since before the Mac, I applaud their decision.
If any of you wish to sell your Apple stock, I will be buying more in the morning and encourage you to tender your shares for sale.
When will you get it tolerance is only for homosexuals and minorities of race and nonchristian religions. Left wing liberals will never show tolerance to Christians who believe differently. Case and point these comments.
The simple fact of the matter that the theists are incapable of grasping is that when they declare that their documents or proclamations are based on the existence of or deference to “the one true god(s)”, they have to prove that their god exists. You will not be granted special privilege or exception from the law because of your beliefs, and then run and hide behind “faith” when you are challenged. Show that your god exists and that anything you attribute to said god is valid and not merely the ancient conceits and biases of nomadic goat herders who thought demons caused disease and gods used weather to punish people.
Put up or shut up.
End of Line.
Seriously, I thought America was a place known for religious freedom and freedom of speech. Most of the posters here seem to be against both.
If that’s the case, every “religious” app (Christian, Muslim, Budhist, New Age, Zen, heck even Yoga, etc.) should be pulled. As well, any app promoting and trying to sway opinion towards minority interests (political, gay, racial heritage etc.) should also be pulled.
To not do so, according to your own posts, would be hypocritical. Likely, you would also like to see McCarthyism return. Bravo. Fools.
@Scion — Well said.
@noahsdaddy who wrote “Just because millions of Americans agree with hate speech doesn’t make it right. Lots of Germans agree with the Nazi’s.”
This is a particularly unintellectual statement.
1. The NAZIs did a lot more than speak hatefully. They took enormous actions to subjugate and exterminate their foes (real or imagined). Bringing NAZIs up in this context only minimizes the horror that they wrought upon this earth.
2. Hate Speech: For some any contrary opinion gets labeled as “hate speech”. You may not like what these people say, but it doesn’t rise to the level of hate. I don’t hate Gays and I want them to have the ability to have unions that provide and protect their rights and priviledges, but I still think that the term “Marriage” connotes a defined union of one man and one woman, and thus should not be used for other types of unions. Yes, it’s just a matter of semantics, but semantics matter.
Reading these comments both fascinate and sadden me. Fascinate because of the interesting and intelligent logic put out by people making me think about both sides of the coin. Sadden me because of the viciousness and infantile close-mindedness of some other.
“religion is for retards”? My deceased mother was religious. She was a good and kind woman who kept her family together at personal cost in bad times. Who helped others and put others feelings before hers. I don’t view her as a retard but someone who took strength in thinking that God blessed her with children.
No…she was not a retard and would not think of calling people that who disagreed with her. An example perhaps to some of us?
Primitive people?! You need to read the real history of folks who lived during that time. Your assumption is greatly ignorant of how advanced those pagan folks were.
—–
Sorry if I offended you. Of course, they were quite advanced. There were amazing things that were built. However, I was comparing them with the people of the modern age, and the context was talking about things that people back then we presume didn’t know.
The existence of bacteria, for example. Sorry if the context of my comment was not clear.
Christianity: The belief in a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father and who can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and drink his blood while telepathically telling him that you accept him as your master so he can remove from your soul an evil force that is present in all humanity because a woman made out of one rib bone and a mound of dirt was tricked into eating from a magical tree by a talking snake.”
god is imaginary. Proof here:
http://godisimaginary.com
Liberalism is the birthplace of tyranny.
What is really frightening is that these people are allowed to vote!
Well, never thought I’d see the topic of religion rearing its ugly head on a Mac-related site but I’ll join in on the fun with some insightful quotes from big names of history:
“A man’s ethical behavior should be based on effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. If people are good only because they fear punishment and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.”
“Religion is an attempt to find an out where there is no door.”
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
“God fights on the side with the best artillery.”
“Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.”
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
“When you tell me that your Deity made you in his own image, I reply that he must have been very ugly.”
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) – French novelist (‘Les Miserables’)
“If I were granted omnipotence, and millions of years to experiment in, I should not think Man much to boast of as the final result of all my efforts.”
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British mathematician & philosopher
“Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.”
“Faith and knowledge are related as the scales of a balance; when the one goes up, the other goes down.”
“The Catholic religion is an order to obtain heaven by begging, because it would be too troublesome to earn it. The priests are the brokers for it.”
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) – German philosopher
“The fact that a believer is happier than the skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) – English playwright
“If lightning is the anger of the gods, the gods are concerned mostly with trees.”
Lao Tse, 6th century B.C.E., Chinese philosopher, founder of Taoism
“Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.”
“Religion consists of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain of.”
“It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts I do understand.”
“I do not fear death, in view of the fact that I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
“Out of terror, the type has been willed, cultivated and attained: the domestic animal, the herd animal… the Christian.”
“Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life’s nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in ‘another’ or ‘better’ life… The Christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and bad.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) – German philosopher
“Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
“The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next.”
“I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) – American poet, novelist and philosopher
“The clergy know that I know that they know that they do not know.”
“Hands that help are far better than lips that pray.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899) – American politician
“The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious… One only needs to look at the caliber of the people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites.”
“Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man… perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind… a mere contrivance for the clergy to filch wealth and power to themselves.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) – third U.S. president
“Lighthouses are more useful than churches.”
“The way to see faith is to shut the eye of reason.”
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
“Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself than this called Christianity. Too absurd for belief… it produces only atheists and fanatics.”
“The Bible is a book that has been read more and examined less than any book that has ever existed.”
“What is it the New Testament teaches us? To believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married…”
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) – American revolutionary leader
“In great contests (battles and wars), each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong.”
“I am approached… by religious men who are certain they represent the Divine Will… If God would reveal his will to others, on a point so connected to my duty, it might be supposed he would reveal it directly to me.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
“The sooner the US discards these bigots and crazies, the better.”
Uhhh, that means that you are doing the same thing your accusing them of doing. The difference is, you are suggesting that they be banished. You scare me much more.
“Religious nonsense has no place in the app store”
So if you disagree with it, it should be banished? How about, don’t buy it, and leave people alone.
yo truth; i hear ya, but i don’t agree with ya.
“it is obvious to me that such content can hurt many people.”
That is ridiculous, I have never seen a “disliked app store app” wing in a hospital. Nobody is hurt by this app unless it teaches people to physically harm another, and it doesn’t.