Virgin Mary Facebook Page Enrages Users; Social Media Site Says 'Virgin Mary Should Have Aborted' Page Not Hate Speech

Facebook's policies regarding offensive content on their social media site are being tested. Devoutly religious followers are claiming that a community page is targeting Christianity with direct hate speech. A group of Christian activists from a Wisconsin-based ministry are lobbying Facebook to remove the community page, "Virgin Mary Should've Aborted," stating that it violates the website's policies against hate speech.

"Virgin Mary Should've Aborted" was created in February, by two anonymous administrators listed as "Z" and "Lilith." "Lilith" identifies as a female student on the page, perhaps her pseudonym was derived from the female figure of Lilith popularized by Jewish mythology. Lilith was first seen in the Babylonian Talmud, and she is generally considered to be a type of female demon, she is also portrayed in English literature alluding to her "femme fatale" characteristics. The administrators describe the controversial page as a "playground for fundamentalists and free-thinkers to challenge each other."

The page has dedicated its content to feature organized religion as obsolete, and as an obstacle for forward thinking and scientific advancement. And while the admins do describe that site as satirical, many Facebook users are embattling in heated debates either for or against the rigid anti-religious stance. "The purpose here is exposing the heinous absurdity that is organized religion, and its detrimental effects on seemingly reasonable human beings. We call religious bigots on their blatant hate, rustling their jimmies with obvious satire."

Some of the users who are not finding this site a mere satire are now arguing that it's content is hate speech, revealing that the "Virgin Mary Should've Aborted" community page is only a small sample of anti-religious material that appears regularly. Two online petitions are now demanding that Facebook shut down the page, which have yielded about 20,000 signatures. One of the petitions is featured on a Facebook page entitled, "Catholics and Protestants Against Facebook Discrimination."

Cary Bogue who started the competing page stated, "What this is saying is the Virgin Mary should have aborted. Aborted who? Obviously Jesus Christ, who is our lord and savior," Bogue tells OneNewsNow. "Obviously you can't be more hateful than that." He also revealed that a "tweetfest" is taking place today to draw attention to the issue, users are instructed to use the hashtag #StopFBAntiChristianBias while voicing their outrage and opinion. "At some point it becomes hate speech and discrimination for that to remain on Facebook," says Bogue, "and that's where we're drawing the line."

The petition, initally launched by the nonprofit Catholic group America Needs Fatima, appeals directly to Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, in an open letter, "This page quite obviously violates Facebook's hate speech policies. And it is offensive to the belief of over a billion Christians worldwide and directly offends, insults, demeans, and shows hatred for what Catholics hold most dear. Many of the comments, especially those of the page's creator, clearly show the intent is to vent hate and insult the Catholic faith."

However it seems that Facebook disagrees. According to IBTimes, a Facebook spokeswoman admitted that "Virgin Mary Should've Aborted" does not violates its policies regarding hate speech, because the content is attacking the idea of organized religion, not necessarily a specific group of people. Additionally, the page does not appear to contain threats of real-world violence, both of which would be cause for action by Facebook.

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