Sweet Jesus/Facebook

Sweet Jesus was started in Toronto by Andrew Richmond and Amin Todai and now has locations across Ontario, and one in Baltimore. It's been around since 2015, but the recent push into the US may be what drew the attention of people accusing the chain of mocking their religion.

"Choosing the name of our Lord for a brand of soft-serve ice cream is totally offensive and revolting," says a petition on the right-wing petition site CitizenGo that is asking Sweet Jesus to apologize and change its name.

"Both in their promotional materials and menu selection, it is plain to see that Richmond and Todai have every intention of mocking Christ and Christianity," the petition adds. "If anything could qualify as 'hate speech,' this is it!"

Another petition on Change.org calls Sweet Jesus "a mockery of taking the Lord's name in vain and also highly offensive to Christians."