Nika Talaj

I'm a nonconfrontive humanist. Always liked to be inoffensive about it, I bow my head quietly when people pray in my presence, generally don't rave about hypocrisy when my evangelical sister-in-law flaunts her narcissism, etc.

So I never liked things like these (ETA: there are 4 billboards in this one picture), now being put up in Texas. Texas has long had very active and forward-thinking freethinkers.



But nowadays, I think these are OK and even helpful (tho it would be nice if they didn't misquote Palin). There's a range of opinion within the non-believers community, just like any group, and these guys are more 'evangelical' about it than I am.

But at least they're not in the closet. I like that. I'd like it to be OK to say calmly, "Oh I don't believe", around the water cooler anywhere in the U.S..

Discuss!

Cindy Claveau

I don't do billboards, myself. And I don't believe in eye pollution, either.

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Johnnie Carling

WAY too many words for a billboard.

Not to mention in Texas anyone who sees those will go HELL YEA!

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Maelstrom Eyre

There are a number of religious billboards here in Ohio, everything from Bible verses to just asking people if they really want to wait until they die to find out if "hell" exists.

And I'm about twenty minutes away from the site of the former Touchdown Jesus statue. I still remember driving past that site when they were in the process of building that thing, and seeing this giant Jesus head just sitting on the grass. It was. . .weird.
Touchdown Jesus - Destroyed, Monroe, Ohio

So, it's just something I get used to seeing. It doesn't bother or offend me. I just ignore them. They don't sway my thinking one way or another.

To me, putting up billboards and quotes from right-wing politicians is just a great reminder of why I don't want to see those people in power.

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Roxie Marten

I am dismayed the atheists would stoop to the mindless tactics the Christians use.
It also makes them to appear to be evangelizing the word of atheism

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Nika Talaj

Apologies, there are 4 billboards in the one picture. I cadged it from CNN, btw.
I don't think they APPEAR to be evangelizing atheism, they ARE evangelizing!

And I question the term "stoop". I think one thing that keeps atheism/disbelief in the closet is a sense of elitism. If disbelief is good enough for highly educated white upper-middle-classniks, it's good enough for high school dropouts who just don't like myths.

Jahar Aabye

Ok, but since evangelizing and proselytization is one of the main complaints that many people have about how some religious people act, aren't they basically saying "we're just as bad as them, but with a different set of beliefs"?

And to be brutally honest, illiterate dropouts who disliked certain people's religious beliefs were pretty good fodder for the pogroms. Religious beliefs or lack thereof aren't responsible for ignorance and stupidity, but ignorance and stupidity can be very dangerous without religious beliefs as well.

Also, ah, you do realize that these billboards are every bit as dumb as holding up Richard Dawins' idiotic reaction to the Elevator Incident as proof that atheists support sexual harassment, right?

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Aimee Weber

Some messages I like, some I don't. If the intent is to persuade the religious to come over to the "atheist team" I think it misses a great number of important points (most importantly, that there is no such thing as an "atheist team").

That said, I do like outreach efforts, specifically for people who may feel hopelessly trapped in a family and community where being non-religious is not OK (and possibly dangerous). I liked the message: "You can be good without God" which I think is very nurturing and inspiring in a "it get's better" sort of way. I would have really liked a campaign like that when I was growing up, wrestling with the fact that religion wasn't passing the sniff test for me. I'm not so thrilled by billboards that offer a combative: "There is no God" or poke fun at prominent spokespeople for god.

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Roxie Marten

I used the term "stoop" to indicate I think that Christian advertising is about as brainless as it gets.
To see a group who at first blush seems to attempt to tread a little higher on the intellectual scale use the same tactics.
I find this to be disappointing

Seyla Warden

It's not evangelizing as much as it is supporting rational thought.

Not that it would help, since you can't exactly rationalize your way out of a belief that you didn't come to logically to begin with.

ra·tion·al

/ˈraSHənl/
Adjective
Based on or in accordance with reason or logic: "a rational explanation".

Noun
A rational number.

Synonyms
reasonable - sensible - sane - logical

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Wrong Weatherwax

Now I really want to see a really big, bright red Billboard with Santa's face on it.

"He Died For Your Sins!"

I prefer parody...

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detrius

"Spreading the good news" is an essential part of Christianity.

Did you just call all Christians brainless?


This comes over like an alcoholic calling the vino a drunkard.

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Seyla Warden

Eris

Are you sure atheists put those up?

Xiomara Mendes

I don't get to see any billboards around my way (I think they're illegal), but I wish that more atheist billboards were more like this. No "religious ppl r so dumb lolz" message here, just a simple message that it's okay to have doubts about religion.

I don't have a problem with billboards per se; if Christians and other religious people can have them, then atheists can have them too.

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Roxie Marten

Marketing is an essential part of Christianity.
I think they believe there is a tally board for all the "souls they saved" that gets them into heaven.


I take it you never read Christian ad copy.
The stuff as dreadful as late night infomercials.

Nika Talaj

American Atheists (Supporting Civil Rights for Atheists and the Separation of Church and State | American Atheists) have been putting up provocative billboards for a couple of years now. They are the folks responsible for the Santa Claus one in Times Square, for example.

So I do believe this CNN story, which quotes the group's president. The billboards WILL be put up, but aren't yet there, in case someone is driving around Austin looking for them

Gabriell Anatra

I'm fairly confident that the overall response here would be "This is why religion needs to be in the schools."

The message will fail, possibly even backfire.

Baltha

Billboards that reassure people with doubts or lonely atheists such as the example Xiomara posted are fine by me but we really don't need to reinforce the siege mentality that so many fundamentalists seem to harbour.
Having said that, in a country where seven states officially prohibit atheists from holding public office and religious beliefs are informing more and more legislation, something urgently needs to be done to stop the march towards theocracy.

From wikipedia:
Freedom of religion my ass.

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Ishina

"I don't mind these atheists, but these militant ones who don't believe in any god at all seem to be going a bit far."
- Robin Ince

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Chip Midnight

Sure you can. It's how most people become atheists after being taught god belief as a child.

Seyla Warden

I think I mangled the quote. IIRC it was more like "You can't rationalize someone else out of a belief they didn't get to rationally in the first place."

Amity Slade

I understand that for the next billboard campaign, David Silverman is going to stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point.

Nika Talaj

Rant deleted, because I'd rather not derail the thread into a discussion of atheism vs. believers. The discussion about the effectiveness/desirability of these billboards has yielded some interesting comments so far. Hope it can continue.

*shakes finger at Amity* Live up to your name, dear.

Lucifer Baphomet

Awesome.

American Atheists have reached the arrogant pigheadedness that the church had back when it had crusades.

Maybe in 700 years or so they'll start to learn tolerance.

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