Bus Stop Bible Studies advertises "Does God care if I'm Gay?" on TTC
by
Published on 04-01-2010 02:12 PM
The Bus Stop Bible studies began a new campaign on March 18th with the intention of having people consider their relationship with fairytale characters (i.e. god). They are featuring 24 different questions, such as "What is hell?" and "God, is 2012 the end?".
In addition, they have an advertisement that says "Does God care if I'm gay?" with a photo of a tattooed young man directing viewers to their webpage. On the webpage, the long answer to the question reads "We know from passages throughout Scripture that God hates homosexual acts BUT no more than any other sinful act."
This has lead to quite an outcry of complaints and the TTC has now put the ad under review by a special advertising committee.
When the Toronto Star interviewed David Harrison, the founder of Bus Stop Bible Studies, his response was that the complaints have been "blown out of proportion". Moreover, he said "I don't think the bible even teaches that homosexuality is a sin" "The Bible does not teach that any sexual act outside of marriage, straight or homosexual, is as in".
Then, when asked if he thought it was a sin for legally married same-sex partners to have sex, his response was "Who said same-sex marriage is legal? God or man?" "The fact that it's legal doesn't mean in God's sight it's right".
Original source:
TheStar.com Update:
Apparently the advertisement has been pulled voluntarily by the group advertising.
Originally Posted by
The Toronto Star "Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, the TTC can’t automatically reject advertising by religious groups. However, Ontario Human Rights Commission spokeswoman Pascale Demers said ad sellers do have the right to turn down specific ads that discriminate against groups that are protected by the human rights code.
“The Human Rights Code does not oblige anyone to take on ads from any person or group,” said Demers.
“We need to sort out what we mean by religious freedom,” said Rev. Brent Hawkes of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, which performs same-sex marriages.
Hawkes called the message on the Bus Stop Bible Studies page “despicable” and “an abysmal interpretation of scripture.”
“Religious freedom was first put in the human rights code to protect the right to worship without interference from the government,” said Hawkes. “It was not meant to protect people who use religion to attack others.”
Source:
TheStar.com
Tags:
- bible,
- bus stop bible studies,
- christianity,
- david harrison,
- gay,
- god hates fags,
- homophobes,
- homophobia,
- homosexuality,
- lesbian,
- toronto,
- ttc
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