Google's Religious Pricing Policy: Standard, garden variety San Francisco bigotry

What Birmingham was to racial bigotry, San Francisco is to political and religious bigotry.  Same old stuff in a trendier package.  But by and large big southern companies fought against racism.  By contrast, Google revels in its smelly little orthodoxies. Stephen Carter explains here.  I'm going to try Bing for a while...

Google also added a remarkable list of restrictions for eligible charitable groups and institutions. Among those not able to apply for the program are websites where people donate cars to charity; child care centers, unless the “entire” purpose is to serve a disadvantaged community; hospitals; websites “that result in a poor experience for the viewer”; and -- most troublesome -- “places or institutions of worship (e.g., churches, ministries, temples, synagogues).”

This last restriction caught religious groups by surprise - -and, according to an article in Christianity Today, which first reported the story, many have cut back on services in response to the unexpected price increases on Google’s applications. Another program, the cloud computing service Google App Engine, recently beset with controversy because of price increases, may also soon see discounts for non-profits -- with similar restrictions, one assumes.)

The evangelist (and Watergate veteran) Charles Colson has labeled Google’s action as“corporate cowardice.” That is clearly over the top -- the only entity that I can imagine Google might fear is Facebook -- but I do believe the new policy is a serious mistake. I am a great fan of Google and its products, and, like most everyone these days, I rely on its search engine. But Google for Nonprofits is poorly conceived.