App Store Fuss Deepens as Apple Rejects Jesus App

Many people have rejected Jesus in the past 2,000 years. Now one technology company is coming under fire for rejecting a Jesus-themed application.

Apple this week found itself in the middle of yet another controversy about its App Store vetting practices after rejecting the Me So Holy app. Apple called the iPhone application "objectionable."

Developed by Benjamin Kahle, the application let iPhone users choose their religion, take a picture of themselves, and insert their face into a messianic image, among other religious scenes. Users could also add a message and e-mail their personalized Jesus to friends or upload it to Facebook. Hindu figures, priests and nuns were also available.

Sex, Urine, Defecation and Religion

Kahle posted Apple's objection to the Me So Holy app on the Web site that carries the same name. According to Apple, the application violates Section 3.3.12 from the iPhone SDK agreement, which states:

"Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users."

Kahle said a battle of values has emerged for iPhone apps. The battle, he said, is about what users can or cannot view on their screens. Kahle pointed to recent controversies for the Baby Shaker app and the Nine Inch Nails apps. His question: Is religion really to be placed in the same category as these violent apps?

"Sex, urine and defecation don't seem to be off-limits, yet a totally nonviolent, religion-based app is," Kahle said. "We feel that Apple is being too sensitive to its perceived user group and are disappointed that this otherwise creative, freethinking company would reject such a positive and fun application. The message to developers is that they should think inside the box, rather than outside it."

The Bad Publicity Cycle

According to Mike Disabato, a senior analyst at the Burton Group, Apple's application-approval woes demonstrate what happens when a company decides to impose its morals on its end users.

"I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it. That's what one of the Supreme Court justices said. That test has stood the test of time," Disabato said. "You can't define what pornography is. But if something seems pornography to you, and you happen to be in charge, you can get it banned. In this case, if an application offends someone at Apple, it gets banned."

Disabato called the App Store approval process a slippery slope that Apple is sliding down fast. In his view, there's only two ways to stop it: Evaluate applications solely on their technical merits and safety, or post all apps and let the market sort through moral and technical issues.

"There are multiple sets of standards here. The standards aren't clear. They're capricious at best and ridiculous at worst," Disabato said. "Until Apple levels the slope, I anticipate at least one or two of these stories a month. People will begin writing applications they are sure will never get into the App Store in order to get publicity."