NYC bus ads asking 'Leaving Islam?' cause a stir

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

NYC bus ads asking 'Leaving Islam?' cause a stir

By DEEPTI HAJELA
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 26, 2010; 9:45 PM

NEW YORK -- The questions on the ads aren't subtle: Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?

A conservative activist and the organizations she leads have paid several thousand dollars for the ads to run on at least 30 city buses for a month. The ads point to a website called RefugefromIslam.com, which offers information to those wishing to leave Islam, but some Muslims are calling the ads a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda.

Pamela Geller, who leads an organization called Stop Islamization of America, said the ads were meant to help provide resources for Muslims who are fearful of leaving the faith.

"It's not offensive to Muslims, it's religious freedom," she said. "It's not targeted at practicing Muslims. It doesn't say 'leave,' it says 'leaving' with a question mark."

Geller said the ad buy cost about $8,000, contributed by the readers of her blog, Atlas Shrugs, and other websites. Similar ads have run on buses in Miami, and she said ad buys were planned for other cities.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said Geller's ad was reviewed and did not violate the agency's guidelines.

"The religion in question would not change the determination that the language in the ad does not violate guidelines," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said Wednesday.

All ads are screened, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. Most are reviewed by the company that handles the MTA's advertising opportunities, but some are sent to the MTA for ultimate approval.

Last month, Miami-Dade Transit pulled the ads from 10 buses after deciding they "may be offensive to Islam," according to The Miami Herald. But the agency decided to reinstall them after reviewing the ads with the county attorney's office.

The county decided "although they may be considered offensive by some, they do not fall under the general guidelines that would warrant their removal," Transit spokesman Clinton Forbes told the newspaper.

Glenn Smith, a professor at California Western School of Law in San Diego, said discriminating against the ads could result in First Amendment issues for the city.

While people may find the content objectionable, courts have ruled that the First Amendment requires Americans to put up with "a lot of unenlightened and objectionable messages," he said.

"It's sort of the price of keeping government out of the marketplace of ideas," he said.

Eugene Volokh, a First Amendment expert at UCLA School of Law, said the ads could leave some Muslims reluctant to ride the bus. There could also be a risk that some extremist groups might bomb the buses, although that possibility wouldn't limit free speech rights, he said.

The agency had received no complaints since the ads went up on May 14, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. The 30 or so buses with the ads pass through all five boroughs of the city.

Council member Robert Jackson, a Muslim, said he had not seen the ad. But he questioned the criteria the MTA uses in determining what is appropriate.

He also takes issue with the content. He doesn't believe anyone is being forced to stay in a religion, especially in America, which was built on religious freedom.

"I think this is a campaign by the extreme right, those that are against the Muslim religion," he said. "Quite frankly, I would think the average New Yorker would take it for what it's worth."

Faiza Ali, of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the ads were based on a false premise that people face coercion to remain with Islam. She said Muslims believe faith that is forced is not true belief.

"Geller is free to say what she likes just as concerned community members are free to criticize her motives," Ali said.

Geller has a history of speaking out against Muslims, and the ads are "a smoke screen to advance her long-standing history of anti-Muslim bigotry," Ali said.

Geller said she had no problem with Muslims, but was working to "maintain the separation of mosque and state." She is also among those speaking out against the building of a mosque and cultural center near ground zero.

 

[notsuperstitious]

So many ads advocating people to join one religion or the other, one offers leaving services, big deal.

 

[deepak75]

Sort of like a conversion invitation or helpline or may be like a "Daawat". But coming close to facebook blot, it may be considered as another zionist conspiracy. May be Indians will also be lucky to be included in the bad guys. Surely will be a controversy....

 

[Aslan]

I wonder what will be the reaction of the main stream, if the add had read want to leave christianity, call us? We will help. And What would have been the reaction of the 2 posters above me. It seems that you guys dont leave a stone unturned when it comes to taking cheap shots at Muslims dont you.

 

[deepak75]

I wonder what will be the reaction of the main stream, if the add had read want to leave christianity, call us? We will help. And What would have been the reaction of the 2 posters above me. It seems that you guys dont leave a stone unturned when it comes to taking cheap shots at Muslims dont you.

I have myself been offered "Daawat" by 6 friends. Twice in Dubai, once in K.L, and other times in India. I did not find anything wrong with that. If friends like us and they identfy with us then they have every right to show their appreciation. If someone is inviting you to convert without any money or other motivation involved then it is plain that they want to be closer to you.

Now that you know the above about me, go back and re-read my post. You will find that there were no cheapshots in my post except for the conspiracy part which I know will come from Pakistan.

 

[forcetrip]

I dont deny the existance of conspiracies, but making them a bed time story for the illinformed become the problem the world over. The main part is what are we gonna do if there is a spec of chance that this so called conspiracy is true? are we gonna educate the masses that there are converts from all walks of life and religions or are we gonna print some banners and flags and burn the bus that we go to work on?

 

[su-47]

you know if the woman was sincere about her aim to help those who want to leave religion, she should have put an ad saying, "Leaving your religion?" Its as if she assumes people only want to leave Islam.

I am sure there are people in every religion who want to leave their religion. just targeting Islam was a cheap shot

 

[Aslan]

I have myself been offered "Daawat" by 6 friends. Twice in Dubai, once in K.L, and other times in India. I did not find anything wrong with that. If friends like us and they identfy with us then they have every right to show their appreciation. If someone is inviting you to convert without any money or other motivation involved then it is plain that they want to be closer to you.

May be you should make that as your signature and so that the next time I will read your comments as a matter of fact any one who reads them would know about your personal experiences.

And the below is what you had to say about the issue. You made it sound like we are so obcessed with the whole raw, mosad, and other cr@p that we dont have any thing better to do. Yes there are conspiracy theorists. But then not all of them are false, there will be smoke only when there is fire. So the whole face book debacle was a stunt pulled on purpose just because they wanted to insult our beloved Prophet. And yet all you could see in that was a conspiracy mentioned by some others. And many of your brethren if you are not one of them have defended the whole cartoon debacle. So what does that tell about the mind set of your country men. Now if you are to judge every thing in the guises of a conspiracy because some of us are involved in believing them, then by above mentioned reason we can judge all of you by the same scale.

Sort of like a conversion invitation or helpline or may be like a "Daawat". But coming close to facebook blot, it may be considered as another zionist conspiracy. May be Indians will also be lucky to be included in the bad guys. Surely will be a controversy....

Already answered. And not all conspiracies are false. And in case if you had missed it the add is not a dawah but is asking people to leave a religion with out offering a substitute. If the intention is to get some one away from religion then may be they should change the word Islam and write the word religion under it.

Now that you know the above about me, go back and re-read my post. You will find that there were no cheapshots in my post except for the conspiracy part which I know will come from Pakistan.

 

[Aslan]

you know if the woman was sincere about her aim to help those who want to leave religion, she should have put an ad saying, "Leaving your religion?" Its as if she assumes people only want to leave Islam.

I am sure there are people in every religion who want to leave their religion. just targeting Islam was a cheap shot

Thank you that is exactly the point I was trying to make.......

 

[Ahmad]

Just leave it. She spent her money , good for her. why do we always get teased so easily? lets ignore it.

 

[qsaark]

In a way its good; Islam really needs to get rid of those who are following it for the namesake. There are many who are called Muslims or viewed as Muslims by others only because they were born to Muslim parents; such folks have no respect for Islam nor do they follow it. Ideally, this add should have come from some Muslim organization for those who want to quit Islam. That way both will get rid of their misery, the half hearted namesake followers, and to greater extent, the religion Islam itself. The Islamic Scholars argue that once a person is entered in Islam, he/she must not leave Islam and if attempted, he/she will be declared 'murtid' and sentenced to death according to Sharia. I think this concept needs to be revised and those who want to leave, must be encouraged to do so. Islam does not need sheer number of followers, Islam needs good quality followers, who follow Islam in its real spirit as described in Quran and Hadith.

 

[Aslan]

Just leave it. She spent her money , good for her. why do we always get teased so easily? lets ignore it.

Ahmed its not about getting teased, the problem is that there should be some counter measures in place peaceful ones of course that has to be employed to make sure that these things dont happen so easily. But the problem is the lack of unity amongst our selves. In todays world if something happens in the US the whole of Europe is with them because of their christian lineage. A jew is a jew no matter what country he belongs to. But we as Muslims pay way too much attention to our nationalistic values (me included). We can still be the citizens of our nations, but at the same time have to unite as Muslims as well. Because the bundle of wood is always stronger then individual sticks.

 

[Prometheus]

just checked that site.................seems like the ad is against another ad( dont beat me........I am posting from that site)

We Are Suing Miami Dade Transit for Killing Apostasy Bus Ads! Help us Fight!
Miami-Dade Transit says NO!
Offensive to Muslims!


Miami-Dade Transit says YES!
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad as Muslim prophets -- not offensive to Jews and Christians!

Today and I proud to announce that Robert and I are going to file suit against Miami Dade Transit for killing our "Leaving Islam" campaign. We will sue for breach of contract and violation of the first amendment.

I am deeply grateful that David Yerushalmi, P.C. (sharia legal expert) and The Thomas More Law center will handle this matter as fully pro bono. But there are costs involved. I am asking Atlas readers, SIOA and FDI supporters to please donate to the legal fund. Please. Yerushalmi does not raise funds from the public like TMLC, so any funds I can raise to offset his costs allows him to do more of these.

We need to do this. People who want a tax deduction can send their checks to: Society of Americans for National Existence (or just SANE) P.O.B. 6358 Chandler Ariz 85246 Re: FDI Legal Defense Fund Attached is SANE’s IRS letter: Download 501c3IRSAcceptanceLtr

If you prefer to donate online: Paypal your donation to director@jihadwatch.org

In December 2008, the Miami Herald ran this piece on the dawah (invitation to Islam) that ran in Miami-Dade and Broward. Buses ran for eight weeks, from early November to the end of December 2008, according to Phyllis Berry, spokeswoman for the Broward County Transportation Department.

A two-county advertising campaign asks those who have questions about Islam to call a toll-free number. The aim is to educate.

BY LISA BOLIVAR Special to The Miami Herald December 2008


City buses in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have been advertising information on a religious topic that some people have found surprising -- Islam.

The advertisement reads ''Islam: Got Questions? Get answers,'' and gives this telephone phone number: . It is an effort to educate Americans about a faith that has been villainized in the media, said Dr. Sabeel Ahmed, a physician from Chicago who is director of the effort.

[...]
MANY CALLS

Berry said she has fielded many calls from people who wanted to know why the county was promoting Islam.

''It's been very interesting. . . . We have received calls and e-mail from people who expressed concerns, but after explaining that we have a policy that does not allow anyone's religion to be demeaned and there is such a thing as the First Amendment, people still may not like it but they understand,'' Berry said.

She said that in the past, buses have carried advertising for churches, arranged by an independent company.

''It's freedom of expression, but my initial thought was it shouldn't be allowed,'' Berry said. ``But it's about fairness, it's about the law and it's about what it's like to live in America. We don't always like the law, but it's there for a reason.''

Berry said many of the complaints were prompted by the mention of Judaic prophets such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus in the same line with the prophet Mohammed. But ''they did not demean anyone's religion,'' she said. MANY QUESTIONS

Ahmed said many of the calls that came into his Chicago call center were about the four prophets.

``The common question is: How come we are including Jesus with other human beings because he is the son of God to them and we should not be including him with other human beings.

``So we politely respond to them the position of Jesus in Islam, that he is a prophet of God, he invited people to worship God, he worshiped God, and he was given a revelation, just like the prophets of the past.''

When Altaf Ali, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Florida, learned of the Chicago project, he requested that it be extended to South Florida. He said CAIR embraces the goals of the campaign.

We Are Suing Miami Dade Transit for Killing Apostasy Bus Ads! Help us Fight! - Leave Islam

 

[forcetrip]

you know if the woman was sincere about her aim to help those who want to leave religion, she should have put an ad saying, "Leaving your religion?" Its as if she assumes people only want to leave Islam.

I am sure there are people in every religion who want to leave their religion. just targeting Islam was a cheap shot

They have their agenda and that is to defame islam or if not that severe, then not to defame other religions. Why should they deviate from their agenda? There will be more of these kinds of shots and lots of them. How are we preparing for them is the question. People want to play chess but with no opponent.

 

[Hyde]

who cares yaar - Its America - they want to control the growing population of Muslims, they want to control the increasing number of conversions taking place in Islam. They are a Christian country if they are starting such a compaign let them do it.

Follow your religion and let others do whatever they want

Mitti Pao