What a crock of crap...""ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. "...
islam was not yet invented when Jesus was on Earth...i slam was some 400 or so years after Jesus.
If this was a Christian ad the aclu would be all over them like a bad rash.
Ad for Islam on Broward bus may lead to a ban
By Scott Wyman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
March 21, 2009
sun-sentinel.com
One of the county's 290-bus fleet is seen here in the downtown area near the main bus terminal. The ad says: "ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad." (Sun Sentinel/Lou Toman / January 14, 2009)
In the wake of controversial bus ads saying Jesus followed the principles of Islam, Broward County commissioners are considering a ban on advertising religious messages on public transportation and all other government property.
The new policy would still permit churches and other religious organizations to place general ads promoting activities such as services or fairs. An ad saying "Jesus Saves" would be prohibited, but one publicizing the annual festival at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Fort Lauderdale would be allowed.
Broward has had no advertising standards that apply across the board at the port, airport, parks, libraries, government buildings and mass transit. County commissioners will consider the proposal Tuesday, but both sides in the January dispute believe it goes too far.
"This is a knee-jerk reaction from our elected officials to small voices of extremism," said Altaf Ali of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which bought the ads.
Joe Kaufman, who organized protests against the ads for Americans Against Hate, said: "We were not concerned about whether Muslims or Jews or Christians put religious messages in advertising. We were concerned that the ad was offensive and demeaning to other religions."
The target of the protest was a $60,000 ad that ran from November to January on 50 buses. It proclaimed, "ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad."
In addition to the prohibition on religious messages, the proposal would ban political ads and ensconce rules that already exist in some government agencies against marketing alcohol, tobacco and adult-entertainment.
County marketing administrators said they spent nine months crafting the policy and that it is not a reaction to the events earlier this year. They said they want a standard policy in place so they can explore advertising opportunities to balance the budget in light of declining tax collections.
Constitutional law experts said the advertising restrictions are likely legal because they treat all religious messages the same. However, they said the county could face trouble trying to discern what is a religious message rather than an event ad. They said an outright ban on all religious advertising would be easier to enforce.
Commissioners Ken Keechl and Lois Wexler said they will challenge the proposal. "The bottom line of this is that the government shouldn't be censoring speech," Keechl said. |
