A group of North Carolina clergy is demanding that the Lowe’s, the home-improvement chain, apologize for pulling its advertising from a reality TV show about Muslim Americans.

Representing the Baptist, Unitarian, and Jewish faiths, the group said it will attempt to deliver a petition with 200,000 signatures to the company’s Mooresville headquarters today (Tuesday).

The decision by Lowe’s to pull its ads “demonstrated to the Muslim American community that bigotry and ignorance are alive and well in the United States,” said Maha Hilal, who launched the petition drive. “Despite Lowe’s decision, it is clear from the support my petition has received that many Americans want an apology from Lowe's.”

Lowe’s, which had nearly $50 billion in sales last year, said it pulled the ads after it received complaints from the religious group Florida Family Association. The group had alleged in its own petition to Lowe's that the show "All-American Muslim" was propaganda that hid the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism.

Since the retailer pulled its ads Dec. 5, the company has been flooded with opinions coming from individuals on both sides of the debate.

The Rev. Russ Dean of Charlotte's Park Road Baptist Church is one of the local clergy members who will deliver the petition, The Charlotte Observer reported.

"We're not interested in confrontation, shaming Lowe's, calling names, any of that stuff," he was quoted as saying. "I've spent more money at Lowe's than I care to think about. We are concerned that one small, what I would consider a fringe, extremist Christian group has raised a voice, and Lowe's has responded to that.

I don't think that's the voice of America, the voice of the faithful," Dean said.

The North Carolina group said it would attempt to deliver its petitions at 11:30 a.m.

A spokeswoman for Lowe's told the Observer Monday afternoon that she was checking into the company's plans regarding the petitions.
 

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