British ASA Censors Religion

And so it begins.  Religion experiences a very real taste of discrimination today as the stories of censorship in Great Britain are passed along the wire.

BELFAST, December 9, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued a decree banning an advertising campaign by a Presbyterian church entitled "The Word of God against Sodomy," which communicates the Bible's condemnation of homosexual behavior.

The advertisement descried the lewd gestures and inappropriate and offensive behavior that had been prevalent in 2007's "gay pride" march in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

"According to the church, marchers carried signs insulting Christ and exposed their genitals to those protesting the march that year."

The most damning information in this article is the admission from the ASA:

The ASA reportedly admitted that the ad was "representative of the beliefs of a specific group and indicative of their opinion only," but said that the text went "further than the majority of readers were likely to find acceptable."

And yet, they failed to allow the "majority of readers" to decide that for themselves.  Instead, they effected blatant censorship due to "complaints filed anonymously."

Three cheers for Reverend David McIlveen of the Sandown Free Presbyterian Church who responded boldly:

"It has never been our intention to deliberately offend anyone, but we cannot deny that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will by its very nature be a source of offence to those who rebel against its message and in turn despise its messengers."

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