Earlier this month American Atheists Inc., put up two billboards in Charlotte, NC aimed at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. The billboards questioned the religiosity of the two Presidential candidates. On Thursday, August 24th, those billboards were taken down.
Directly following an article on the front page of the Fox News website, American Atheists received hundreds of hate e-mails and phone calls according to American Atheists’ Managing Director, Amanda Knief who would not comment on whether or not an investigation is underway. Knief did share two particularly hateful e-mails that the group received (expletives have been edited for the purpose of this article):
"ALL OF YOU ARE F#@KING IDIOTS! I HOPE ALL OF YOUR DIE OF A#% CANCER AND BLEED OUT OF YOUR A#@ES. BURN IN HELL... GO F*&K YOUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS,
YOU PIECES OF S#@T.
P.S. HAVE A NICE DAY... HOPE YOU GET HIT BY A TRUCK."
"I hope your children are raped by a herd of goddamn N$%#ERS and then their throats are slit and they die a slow painful death. Now that would be fun to watch. I hope it happens to all of you atheist parents."
The reason that the billboards were taken down was not however due to any threats against American Atheists, but were due to threats made toward Adams Outdoor Advertising, who sold the billboard space to the atheist group.
Knief commented in the official Press Release:
“It is with regret that we tell our members and all of those who treasure free speech and the separation of religion and government that American Atheists and Adams Outdoor Advertising have mutually agreed to remove the billboards immediately,”
Teresa MacBain, American Atheists’ Public Relations Director also commented in the Press Release:
"It saddens me to think that our country is not a safe place for all people to publicly question religious belief. How can we grow as a nation when such censorship exists from our own citizens?"
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