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You can get a Focus on the Family app for your iPhone or iPad if you want it, but you can’t get the Manhattan Declaration, a 4,700-word manifesto written by former Focus leader James Dobson and two other Christian conservatives. Apple deems the Manhattan Declaration, which includes Bible verses condemning gay marriage, “offensive to large groups of people,” writes the Colorado Springs Gazette. The app was banned weeks ago, and leaders attempted to fix the offending language without luck.
Just before Christmas, Apple rejected the app for a second time, causing supporters to decry the move as censorship in an online petition campaign. “That Apple would deem the Manhattan Declaration as ‘offensive’ is alarming and distressing,” the site says. “Some who are ‘offended’ by the Manhattan Declaration can only be offended by the positions the Manhattan Declaration takes—positions based on biblical Christianity and affirmed by nearly half a million Christians representing dozens of denominations. Despite the claims of some, the Declaration does not promote hate or homophobia. It is not anti-gay. Rather, it proclaims that all human beings are loved by God and are worthy of respect.”
The app, which Apple had initially given a 4+ rating, meaning it contained no objectionable content, was first removed weeks ago after it blamed same-sex unions for the “erosion of marriage,” labeling their relationships “sexually immoral,” according to Britain’s Pink News.