A Christian group in Great Britain is suing internet search behemoth Google for religious discrimination over its refusal to place pro-Life advertisements.
Oddly, the technology giant doesn't ban ads for abortion clinics or pro-abortion websites.
Interesting dichotomy, wouldn't you agree?
As reported by CNA last Thursday (emphasis added):
The Christian Institute, which describes itself as a “non-denominational Christian charity,” wanted to purchase an advertisement that would be displayed whenever the word “abortion” was typed into the search engine.
The proposed advertisement, which would have linked to the group’s web site, reads "UK abortion law - news and views on abortion from the Christian Institute. www.christian.org.uk."
Google’s Dublin-based advertising office said that their refusal was based off of a company policy. “At this time, Google policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain 'abortion and religion-related content'," the office said, according to the Daily Mail.
However, Google does accept advertisements for abortion clinics, secular pro-abortion sites, and secularist sites which attack religion.
The advertisement was part of the Christian Institute’s efforts to promote its on-line articles on abortion before legislation regulating the practice arrived in the House of Commons. [...]
The Christian Institute has filed a lawsuit against Google, arguing the company discriminates against Christians in violation of the Equality Act 2006. The institute is seeking damages, costs, and permission to publish its advertisement.
Should be very interesting to see what comes of this suit. Stay tuned.
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This isn't logical, but...
April 16, 2008 - 12:43 ET by sarcasmoAs a capitalist, I support their right to be illogical if they want to. For me, the best argument would be from shareholders saying this isn't just illogical but unprofitable, and that's an interesting legal question IMO. But what Google is doing is what conservatives ostensibly support -- exercising their private property rights. Frankly, for me, this is bigger Google news.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
Sarcasmo, laws in the US are different. . .
April 16, 2008 - 13:00 ET by WingletDriverthan in the UK. And I agree with your free market leanings. The funny thing here, though, is these laws were meant to quell dissent in Europe and the UK but they're being used against the same lefties who pushed for their passage. If for no other reasons, I'd love to see these cases tried over and over and over against leftists as a see-we-told-ya-so to European socialists and as a warning to American liberals.
I agree that it's funny to see this kind of thing happen to them
April 16, 2008 - 13:13 ET by sarcasmoBut I'm not so sure anyone -- left or right -- tends to learn the right sort of lesson from this kind of warning.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
I fully agree, It's
April 16, 2008 - 14:03 ET by red_dragon311I fully agree, It's Google's right to not want that type of advertising.
Are they being hypocrites...yes...I didn't even use Google before this I have never used Google ever.
Thats what's great about the USA, if you are the owner of a business you have the liberty to chose who you want to take money from.
I'm sure the Christian Science Monitor won't have an advertisment for and abortion clinic, this is the same thing....
I was a professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. The world's first analrapist
Oh I hope The Christian
April 16, 2008 - 12:44 ET by bigtimerOh I hope The Christian Institute wins this hands down....
This is obvious blatant discrimination, bias, hypocrisy whatever you want to call it when it comes to Google and their so called policy.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
Think carefully before you say that...
April 16, 2008 - 12:53 ET by sarcasmoDo you truly think that being a biased hypocrite should be outlawed? If so, I suspect the victims of such a legal interpretation would extend far beyond just Google's wealthy lefties, and might even include some causes/businesses you support, too.
Someone much smarter than I am once said something like, "liberty, like love, is a thing you can't have until you've given it all away." Boycott Google? I'm in full support of ya (hell, I already joined you, for the most part, before this, but gmail is addictive). Sue Google? I'm not, even though the issue is the same issue. I hope you can see why.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
sarc...seems to me whats
April 16, 2008 - 12:58 ET by bigtimersarc...seems to me whats good for the goose is good for the gander here, they allow abortion clinics ect to be advertized but not anti-abortion messages...it is ridiculous...to me it is either or here.
I hope google loses big time.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
I agree that it's ridiculous
April 16, 2008 - 13:17 ET by sarcasmoI'm just questioning whether the ridiculous should also become the illegal, but the other poster is right. UK law has "evolved" more than our law. I'm just not sure that's a good thing, on principle. Want to hurt Google without helping lawyers? Boycott Google.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
Sarc has an excellent point
April 16, 2008 - 13:18 ET by c5thenIn Brittain, they have passed laws in an attempt to force people to "be nice" to each other and to make people tollerant. Of course all it does is bottle up the prejudice and bigotry which then later come out in other ways.
If Google is forced to run an advertisement that is against their religious and political beliefs, then the Christian organization might be forced to run adds on their web site for abortion clinics or for an Athiest support group meeting every wednesday.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
That's the point C5
April 16, 2008 - 13:58 ET by exLib"Christian organization might be forced to run adds on their web site for abortion clinics or for an Athiest support group meeting every wednesday."
I think your argument has the cart before the horse.
First of all, Google claims to be an equal opportunity non-offender, and yet they feel free to offend the Christians anyway. So they are liars and fail to follow their own policy.
This leads to the logical conclusion that the policy is intended to keep Christian messages OUT, or any message they don't like OUT, but feel free to print any other message, even if it's against their own policy in.
Last I checked Google was a publicly traded company, not a private company, I think that opens you up to the law suits.
Second, as with schools and other Governement run organizations in the US, the idea IS to get Homosexuals, Atheists, and the like access to the Churches so they can tear them down from within.
It will not be the Christians that provoke the reponse, but it already is the other way around. Those of us who see the end result of state sanctioned "Gay" Marriage realize it will not end until true Chrisitans are either in jail for hate crimes/speech or driven underground.
But the law is a Brittish law and doesn't apply here in the US.
April 16, 2008 - 14:30 ET by c5thenIf a publiclly traded company can be made to advertise for a group that they disagree with, then any company can be made to run advertisements from , say, it's competitors. It voilates the 1st amendment for the government to force a company to carry certain speech that they don't want to. Keep in mind that the restrictions on discrimination apply only to government, not individuals or corporations. It's different in Great Brittain of course because they have no "Bill of Rights" that guarentees things like freedom of speech, other than the laws that their government has passed (and can always repeal).
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
dichotomy
April 16, 2008 - 13:16 ET by LionKingPro-choice so long as its our CHOICE!!!