Please Go After "Singing is Praying Twice" Next

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The Director of Community Engagements for Massachusetts Citizens for Life claims that Facebook has labeled a quote by St. Augustine as hate speech. In a blog post, Domenico Bettinelli wrote, "Facebook has repeatedly banned a quote from St. Augustine every time I’ve posted it. And it’s not some fire and brimstone 'Sinners are going to hell!' quote, but in fact, quite the opposite."

Pulled from one of St. Augustine's homilies included in the Roman Catholic Church's official liturgical books, the offending quote is this:

Let us never assume that if we live good lives we will be without sin; our lives should be praised only when we continue to beg for pardon. But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of others. They seek to criticize, not to correct. Unable to excuse themselves, they are ready to accuse others.

Why in the world would Facebook ban that? With the quote, St. Augustine is calling us to focus on our own pursuit of holiness and stop worrying about the failings of others. If anything, the quote could be used by Facebook users to shout down others calling things like homosexuality and transgenderism sinful. To be clear, that's not what the quote is saying, but I can see scenarios where people take it out of context to condemn those who "judge" others. Be that as it may, Facebook has still banned the quote under the guise of it being hate speech, at least, according to Bettinelli and some of his friends who conducted an experiment.

All Of Your Ads Belong To Us

Steubenville, Ohio, Apr 4, 2018 / 06:21 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Facebook has apologized for what it called a “mistake” in rejecting a theology ad from Franciscan University of Steubenville, on the grounds that an image of the cross was too violent and sensational.
“Your image, video thumbnail or video can’t contain shocking, sensational, or excessively violent content,” was Facebook’s response, according Tom Crowe, web communications director for Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Used to promote Steubenville’s master’s programs in theology, catechetics, and evangelization, the image was of the San Damiano Cross, a 12th century cross most commonly associated with the university’s patron, Saint Francis of Assisi. 

On Monday, a Facebook spokesperson apologized for the error, stating “sometimes we make mistakes.”
“This image does not violate our ad policies. We apologize for the error and have already let the advertiser know we approved their ad,” the spokesperson continued.
Since other ads with this image have been approved, Crowe told Fox News it was likely that this was not “systemic religious bigotry” but a one-off mistake, possibly from a low-level Facebook employee with a grudge against Christianity.
“Facebook approved other ads with the exact same image, which again leads me to believe it wasn’t an algorithm, but was a low-level staffer who skims many, many ads and just had something personal against this one,” he said.