'Hate Group' Label Prompts Apple Store to Yank iTunes From 'Christian Values' Site
Apple, Inc. has pulled its Tunes application from a faith-based group's website after signers of an online petition charged the company with supporting hate groups.
Ben Crowther, organizer of the petition on Charge.org, claims he was concerned with the Charity Give Back Group's funding of “anti-gay, anti-women” organizations such as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council and had to speak out.
“From the beginning, I knew that once this issue was brought to Apple's attention, they would not want to be a part of CVN,” Crowther said in a statement on Change.org.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The Christian Values Network (CVN) is currently known as the Charity Give Back Group (CGBG). The organization connects consumers with thousands of retailers and allows shoppers to donate a percentage of their purchases to a charity of their choosing, faith-based or otherwise.
In Crowther’s petition, still available online, the student lambastes CGBG’s connection to Scott Lively’s Abiding Truth Ministries, alleging that Lively “has been tied to the ‘Kill the Gays’ bill in Uganda.
However, CGBG is not connected to Lively's ministry in any capacity, according to company adviser Kevin McCullough.
For the record, Scott Lively issued a statement in June making it known that he does not stand behind the proposed Uganda legislation, which calls for the death penalty for homosexuals.
Neither is CGBG affiliated with any federally-designated hate groups, as Crowther alleges.
Change.org claims about 35,000 people signed the petition, in collusion with AllOut.org, prompting Apple to remove iTunes from CGBG's website (CVN.org).
Apple is not the only company to give in to the “hate group” label falsely slapped on Christian organizations for upholding Biblical values. In recent days, major companies like Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Macy's, the BBC and others have removed their stores from CGBG’s website.
Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, and Lively's Abiding Truth Ministries are Christian organizations that encourage Biblical values concerning family and morality.
In March, also swayed by an online petition from gay rights activists, Apple pulled a so-called “gay cure” application from its App Store. The app, created by Christian ministry Exodus International, helps people with unwanted same-sex attraction.
Last year, the computer company also pulled the Manhattan Declaration app, which is based on a document that promotes the Biblical definition of marriage and the sanctity of life. Apple called the application offensive.
Some wonder, however, if it is not just as offensive and discriminatory for companies like Apple to prevent faith-based groups from using their services to promote Christian values.
Joshua Buchanan of Exodus International, commenting on the removal of his group’s app that helps those struggling with same-sex attraction, said Apple’s iTunes platform lacks true religious diversity.
He told the Christian Post in March, “Currently, if you go to iTunes, you will find hundreds of applications that are specifically targeted to the LGBT community. You'll even find a podcast that is promoted for the gay Christian network.”
