This whole situation brings up an interesting conundrum. What if other religious groups did the same thing? In this age of marketing, brand names and search engine optimization, are words such as “Jewish” or “Mormon” or “Catholic” now trademarks?

Do religious groups have the right to sue you if you use their name, logo or so-called branding color?

Maybe so. On Monday, this blog ran a report that mentioned an Adventists for Life Facebook page for Seventh-day Adventists who oppose abortion.

The SDA headquarters, based in Silver Spring, Md., reacted quickly, asking Facebook to remove the offending page. I contacted Facebook on Wednesday to ask why no one checked with the folks behind the page before killing it. I received a copy of their policy that says once someone lodges a plausible claim of trademark infringement, Facebook removes or disables access, no questions asked.

Mark Price, a Canadian SDA’er who was in charge of the page, alerted the 600 members of the group that he’d been silenced. “The Adventists For Life group is not an organization but an informal gathering of Seventh Day Adventists who are pro-life,” he wrote me. “I am very concerned, as you are, about this kind of power that the Adventist leadership have to shut people up…”

I called SDA spokesman Garrett Caldwell to see what was up. He told me his organization had complained about trademark infringement; that is, the unauthorized use of the SDA brand.

Read More: http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2011/01/adventists_pressure_facebook_to_dump_pro-life_group.html?referrer=emaillinkpg