Of course:
CHRISTIAN POST – Apple pulled a Christian ministry’s app after LGBT advocates said it portrayed being gay as a “sickness,” a charge the ministry says is false.
NBC News reported that the tech giant removed the app that was developed by Living Hope Ministries, a Texas-based organization, following a Change.org petition from gay rights group Truth Wins Out. The petition called the “ex-gay” app “dangerous,” “bigoted” and “hateful.”
“The app falsely portrays being gay as an ‘addiction’, ‘sickness’, and ‘sin,'” the petition argued.
Living Hope Ministries is expressing disappointment over the move but says their work will continue.
“We are saddened by Apple’s and Microsoft’s removal of our app because of a single person’s false accusations. Regardless of their decision we will continue to make the app and our services available to those who seek them,” Ricky Chalette, executive director of the group, said in an email to The Christian Post Thursday.
“We are a ministry that for nearly thirty years has helped individuals resolve their feelings they deem incongruent with their faith. We help people deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ through Bible study and accountability. We walk with them to align their lives with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Through support groups they realize they are not alone and are able to share honestly and openly in a noncondemning atmosphere about their struggles, passions, and victories. From chaos and confusion they often find peace, hope, and a deeper sense of personal wholeness. Our ministry is free and strictly voluntary.”
He added, “In a day when diversity and tolerance is celebrated I would hope it would be extended to issues of faith and practice.”
Chalette told NBC that the ministry only helps those individuals who seek them and that they function like a “discipleship ministry” that is “very much like a church.” Living Hope Ministries developed the app three years ago.
I haven’t seen the app, but based on what this Christian organizations says it sounded like a great app – at least not one that should be removed.
I thought Apple believed in freedom of speech even when we disagree, especially on religious grounds. But I guess that’s not the case anymore.