Christian ads pulled from Toronto Public Transit

The Christian group "Bus Stop Bible Studies" has voluntarily removed one of the forty ads it is currently running on Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) buses and streetcars because the transit authority received some complaints about one of the "Life Questions" posed for consideration by riders, reports Thaddeus M. Baklinski, LifeSiteNews.com.

The ad in question asks "Does God care if I'm gay?" and directs the reader to the Bus Stop Bible Studies website to find the answer, which said, in part, "We know from passages throughout Scripture that God hates homosexual acts BUT no more than any other sinful act. Some individuals seem to place homosexual acts in a special class – God does not. Sin is sin.

"Homosexual activity is no better or worse than heterosexuals engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage. The Bible refers to these people as fornicators."

This answer has since been removed from the website and replaced by a comment from the Bus Stop Bible Studies founder David Harrison saying, “It has become apparent that, while one is free to ask the question, `Does God care if I’m gay?’ one is not so free to answer the question from a Biblical perspective.

“It seems that the whole message of God’s justice and grace was being misinterpreted. If anyone was offended by the original narrative we offer our sincerest apologies, this was never the intent," Harrison said.

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross told the Toronto Star that he didn’t know how many complaints had been received, but that after five objections, the commission’s ad committee undertakes a review.

Ross said that, “The TTC has an obligation under the Ontario Human Rights Code not to refuse religious advertising,” but that the website answer "went beyond a religious message and into the realm of sexuality and sexual orientation and that's where the difficulties lie."

The TTC requested that Bus Stop Bible Studies removed the ad from its vehicles, which the group did voluntarily, according to Ross.

Bus Stop Bible Studies has been running ads on the TTC since 2006, as well as on public transit in Burlington, North Bay, Sudbury and Calgary, with the "Life’s Questions" campaign beginning on March 18, 2010.

Other ads in the campaign ask questions such as "Why does evil exist?" and "God, do you love me?"

Harrison told the National Post that he supported last year's controversial Atheist Bus Ad campaign, which had said, "There's probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" posted on TTC vehicles, saying they were an expression of freedom of speech.

With regard to the restrictions now imposed on his campaign he observed, "The prevailing attitude at the time is you're free to say anything that I'm in agreement with, which is not real dialogue. In a supposedly liberal society, 'liberal' has become a one-word oxymoron."

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TAGS: Canada Bus Stop Bible Studies Life Questions Toronto Public Transit Christian ads sexual orientation

[04/14/2010]

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