Apple
has confirmed a ban on The Manhattan
Declaration, which affirms the right to life,
religious freedom and traditional marriage.
Apple has branded the statement, signed by
numerous Christian leaders including Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York,
as “ objectionable and potentially harmful to others”.

The
company
rejected a bid to have an iPhone app based on the Declaration
reaccepted.

The group behind the
Declaration, which includes prominent pro-family, pro-religion campaigners
Professor Robert George and Dr Chuck Colson, had amassed 46,000 signatories to a
petition to have the app reinstated. They submitted their reapplication last month.

However, Apple
rejected the app, saying that the app contains “references or commentary about a
religious, cultural or ethnic group that are defamatory, offensive,
mean-spirited or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence will be
rejected.

“We have evaluated
the content of this application and consider its contents to be objectionable
and potentially harmful to others.”

In response,
Professor George and Dr Colson said: “What this means is that the teachings of
the Bible itself are offensive, even dangerous”.

In a letter to
supporters, they pledged “to persevere until Apple relents”.

They wrote: “If we
don’t, it will mean that merely citing Scripture on some key moral issues is
grounds for removal of apps and the limitation of speech entailed by that.

“This app is no more
objectionable than any other app that includes the Bible or the Quran, or other
religious texts that speak to moral issues. The result of this decision will be
chilling to all faith groups.”

The Manhattan
Declaration app was initially approved in October and rated as a 4+, which
indicated that it contained “no objectionable material.”

But opponents of the
app started a petition on Change.org demanding that Apple remove the “anti-gay,
anti-choice” application. It was pulled over the Thanksgiving holiday. A revised
version – that does not contain a poll asking users about same-sex relationships
and abortion – was submitted to Apple early this month along with a petition
addressed to Steve Jobs.

Those behind the
Manhattan Declaration called the latest rejection by Apple
“appalling.”

“It is difficult to
see how this is anything other than a statement of animus by a major American
corporation against the beliefs of millions of Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox
citizens,” they stated.

The Manhattan
Declaration, unveiled in November 2009, outlines principles that uphold the
sanctity of life, the historic understanding of marriage, and religious liberty.
It has been endorsed by prominent evangelical, Orthodox and Catholic leaders and
so far nearly half a million signatures have been added to it.

Organisers plan to take their rejected app matter to
Apple’s App Review Board shortly.