Apple Says No to Manhattan Declaration App 2.0
December 23, 2010
We received notice from Apple last evening regarding their
rejection of our resubmission of the Manhattan
Declaration iPhone/iPad app to the Apple App
Store. This is an appalling response from Apple. Nearly 500,000 Christians have signed the
Apple is telling us that the apps' content is considered "likely to expose a group
to harm" and "to be objectionable and potentially harmful to
others." Inasmuch as the Manhattan Declaration simply reaffirms the moral
teachings of our Christian faith on the sanctity of human life, marriage and
sexual morality, and religious freedom and the rights of conscience, Apple's
statement amounts to the charge that our faith is "potentially harmful to
others."
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. It is our sincere hope that Apple will draw
back from this divisive and deeply offensive position. The corporation's
leaders must be made to understand that they do the country no good service in
capitulating to efforts to stigmatize, marginalize or defame people on one side
or the other in important moral debates.
We will be taking this to Apple's App Review Board after they come back from
the Christmas and New Year's holiday observances they mention. If Apple
is in good faith, perhaps they will be willing to submit this matter to
arbitration. We will keep you informed. Until there is more to report, we will
not be making further comments on this matter.