In a recent adjudication, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) determined that an
advertisement placed by Sandown Road Free Presbyterian Church in the Belfast News
Letter was offensive and indecent.

The full page advert, entitled, ‘The Word of God against Sodomy,’ was published to
coincide with Belfast’s Gay Pride parade on Saturday, 2 August 2008. It was designed to
provide a biblical response to the sin of sodomy that is the essence of this repulsive
parade, and to announce a protest to be held at this event by Bible-believing Christians.

The phrases from the advert that the ASA highlighted for special censure were:

(i) “... declaring it to be an abomination ...”,
(ii) “... God’s judgement upon a sin ...”,
(iii) “... remove the guilt of their wrongdoing ...”,
(iv) “... a cause for regret that a section of the community desire to be known for a
perverted form of sexuality ... .”

The ASA concluded that these statements against sodomy, “went further than the majority
of readers were likely to find acceptable,” and ruled that they breached standards of
“decency” as defined by the advertising industry (CAP Code clause 5.1).

However, each of these statements the ASA has found objectionable is a faithful
representation of what Almighty God has declared in His Word – the timeless and
unchangeable Scriptures of Truth.

(i) Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:25-28,
(ii) Genesis 19, Romans 1:32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Jude 7,
(iii) Romans 1:28, 32,
(iv) Genesis 2:18; 21-24, Romans 1:26-27.

This adjudication from the ASA is not only a violation of freedom of speech, attempting to
curtail the right of a gospel preaching church to express its sincerely held beliefs on the
subject of sodomy, but is actually an attack on the Bible itself, deeming its statements to
be unfit for publication in advertisements.

Our Presbytery considers this ruling by the ASA to be both draconian and diabolical. We
are convinced that we shall not be alone in opposing it; already many Christians from the
broad spectrum of evangelical denominations in this country and beyond have expressed
their support of the statement made and stand taken by Sandown Road Free Presbyterian
kirk session on this issue.