Mooresville-based Lowe's, Inc. met Tuesday with local clergy who delivered a petition from people opposed to the retailer's decision to pull commercials from a TV show about Muslim-Americans, but said it won't reinstate the advertising.

Lowe's also said its decision was not motivated by pressure from a Florida-based Christian group. The company stepped into a crossfire on Dec. 5, when it decided to stop advertising on the TLC show "All-American Muslim," a reality program about families in Dearborn, Mich.

The Florida Family Association, which pressures companies to pull their ad dollars from shows it deems immoral, had emailed Lowe's and other advertisers on the TLC show.

"The decision was absolutely not, despite what's been reported in the media, influenced by any one group," said Lowe's vice president of marketing Tom Lamb. He said that the decision to stop advertising on the show had been made before the FFA emailed Lowe's CEO Robert Niblock.

Lowe's has been embroiled in controversy since, with some Muslims calling for a boycott and groups protesting outside of a Lowe's store in Michigan. The retailer also saw its Facebook page turn into a forum for an often vicious debate about Islam and America, with more than 28,000 comments eventually deleted.

The FFA, led by David Caton, said more than a million people sent emails to Lowe's and other companies who advertised on "All-American Muslim," asking them to stop. The show, the FFA said, downplays the danger Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia law pose to America.

The FFA has also pressured companies to pull their ads from shows such as the Nickelodeon channel's "Degrassi," NBC's "Playboy Club," and hired a plane to fly a banner over Disney World warning potential visitors about the park's "Gay Day" in June.

Lowe's spokeswoman Chris Ahearn said the show's first ad to run on "All-American Muslim" on Sunday, Dec. 4, was part of a bulk buy, in which the retailer buys a set amount of time on a network but doesn't specify the shows its ads will appear on. Ahearn said Lowe's was aware one of those shows could be "All-American Muslim," but was not concerned.

On the morning of Monday, Dec. 5, Ahearn said that a member of Lowe's social media team brought negative chatter about the show to management's attention that was appearing on social networks. The decision to pull the ads was made shortly afterwards, Ahearn said, and communicated to TLC through Lowe's ad-buying agency.

That afternoon, Ahearn said, Lowe's CEO received an email from the FFA about "All-American Muslim." The company responded with a form letter confirming the ads had already been pulled, Ahearn said.

Lamb said he was "surprised" that the FFA was credited with pressuring Lowe's into pulling its advertising, a move he characterized as a routine decision. Ahearn said Lowe's changes its ad line-up dozens of times a year, and will pull ads from shows deemed controversial perhaps eight to 10 times a year. She did not provide any specific examples of other shows Lowe's has pulled ads from recently.

The speed and intensity of the backlash also caught Lowe's executives off guard, Lamb said.

"We're surprised at how much happened and how quickly it happened in the context of an advertising decision," Lamb said.

The FFA could not immediately be reached by emails seeking comment.

On Tuesday morning, Revs. James Leach and Russ Dean, of the Unitarian Universalist Church and Park Road Baptist congregations in Charlotte, drove to Lowe's Mooresville headquarters. They were accompanied by other representatives from the interfaith Mecklenburg Ministries, bearing more than 200,000 signatures from petitioners. The petitions asked Lowe's to apologize and to reinstate its advertising.

The group wasn't sure if they would be allowed onto the campus, but Lowe's executives showed them in and discussed the controversy with them for more than an hour.

Lowe's said it was standing by its decision and wouldn't resume advertising, but the ministers and Lowe's executives discussed the reasoning behind the decision and the company's overall commitment to supporting diversity.

"We respect their business decision," said Dean. Leach said he was encouraged that Lowe's wanted to talk.

Said Leach: "There's a way to engage in responsible dialogue, even when we think we have a deep disagreement."