Is Blogger (Google) shutting down Atheist sites?

By DocMike

I started By The Book Comics in March of 2007 because I'd met so many Christians who had absolutely no idea of the injustice, absurdity, cruelty, violence, intolerance, and contradictions the Bible contains. And still, they consider it to be the inerrant word of God.

Since then, I've posted 45 comics (with commentary) that point out (using humor) some of the many weaknesses of the Bible. I've promoted the blog by posting here at ExChristian and by responding to posts on this and other Atheist-related blogs. I have links to other Atheist sites, blogrolls, etc. I'm definitely not running a spam site. I get maybe 50-100 hits per day. Just a law-abiding US citizen exercising my right to express my opinions...

Today, I got this email from Blogger:

   Your blog at: http://bythebookcomics.blogspot.com/ has been identified as a potential spam blog.  To correct this, please request a review by filling out the form at (removed link)

   Your blog will be deleted within 20 days if it isn't reviewed, and you'll be unable to publish posts during this time. After we receive your request, we'll review your blog and unlock it within two business days. If this blog doesn't belong to you, you don't have to do anything, and any other blogs you may have won't be affected.

   We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers. For more information, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577

   Thank you for your understanding and for your help with our spam-fighting efforts.

   Sincerely,

   The Blogger Team

   P.S. Just one more reminder: Unless you request a review, you won't be able to use your blog. Click this link to request the review: (removed link)

I initially thought it was a scam, but when I logged in to my blog to enter a new post, I saw this:

This blog has been locked due to possible Blogger Terms of Service violations. You may not publish new posts until your blog is reviewed and unlocked.

This blog will be deleted within 20 days unless you request a review.
Request Unlock Review


When I clicked on it, I get this:

By The Book Comics

   Your blog is locked

   Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

   You won't be able to publish posts to your blog until one of our humans reviews it and verifies that it is not a spam blog. Please fill out the form below to get a review. We'll take a look at your blog and unlock it in less than two business days.

   If we don't hear from you, though, we will remove your blog from Blog*Spot within a few weeks.

   Find out more about how Blogger is fighting spam blogs.
   Get your blog unlocked

   Word Verification:
   Type the characters you see in the picture below.
   Visual verification
   Listen and type the numbers you hear
   Email Address:

   We'll contact you after we review your blog.

Is this just a coincidence? I'm I just being paranoid here? Or is there something to this?

I'd like to know if there are any other Atheist-themed blogs getting this treatment.

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