Canadian Group to Launch 'Jesus Said' Campaign in Response to 'No God But Allah' Posters
Members of a Christian college in Canada will be placing posters around the Toronto Transit Commission's subway system in an attempt to counter recent posters displayed by a Muslim group declaring "there is no god but Allah."
"JESUS SAID, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one come to the Father except through Me,'" the posters from the Canada Christian College (CCC) reads. The college told The Toronto Sun Monday that it would be placing posters around 50 transportation centers across the city to reach out to commuters.
The CCC poster campaign is set to be launched by May 1 and follows a similar campaign carried out this past January by a Canadian Muslim group, the Walk-In Islamic Infocenter.
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"There is no god but Allah," the sign from the Islamic information center reads. "Muhammad is His messenger."
The display by Toronto's Walk-In Islamic Infocenter offered free Qurans and encouraged commuters to learn about Islam through visiting the center.
The Infocenter signs sparked controversy throughout the country with some arguing that the message promoted religious intolerance. Hindu and Christian groups in the country expressed their concern over the posters, as did some Muslim groups.
One member of the Muslim Canadian Congress told The Toronto Star that he was upset over the advertisement, which he found to be "in your face prophesying."
Despite the backlash, the Toronto Transportation Commission maintains that religious advertisements are legal under Canadian law.
"To refuse them would violate a person's rights and freedoms. These ads are not free and anyone can place them as long as they pay," TTC spokesman Brad Ross told The Toronto Sun.
This is not the first time that Canada has experienced controversy over belief-fueled campaigns in its transportation systems.
The TCC has permitted Christian advertisements since 2006, and in 2009 an atheist group ran a Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign by putting up posters outside buses.
The Atheist Bus Campaign was launched as part of a nation-wide campaign promoted by the Center for Inquiry Canada. The Center for Inquiry Canada "promotes and advances reason, science, secularism and freedom of inquiry in all areas of human endeavor," according to the organization's website.
"There's Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life," the controversial posters read.
The atheist bus campaign posters sparked debate about religious tolerance and freedom of speech in the country and the new Christian-themed posters set to go up in Toronto's transportation systems next month are also using freedom of speech as a central pillar to the issue.
"My push was freedom of speech … We (Christians) had not had freedom of speech. But we have tested that, and we've been approved," CCC director Charles McVety told the publication.
