A few years ago, the Philadelphia Coalition of Reason (PhillyCoR) put up a billboard that was designed to be as inoffensive to Christians as thought possible while still promoting atheist groups to atheists. Surprisingly, Christians were still offended. So now, Justin Vacula of the NEPA Freethought Society in Scranton, PA plans to water down the message further to prove a point.
The PhillyCoR billboard featured a blue sky with white puffy clouds and said, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.” It then featured the PhillyCoR website which has links to seven different atheist groups in the area. The message was designed to reach out to people who don’t believe in a god and let them know about the seven groups. Despite the fact that there was nothing in the billboard to arouse the ire of the religious, they still managed to be offended and outraged.
These same billboards have now been placed all over the country by other Coalitions of Reason in other states. Each time they are put up, religious believers get so offended that it becomes a news story. Sometimes, the billboards are vandalized with religious messages, other times bus ads with this message or similar messages have to fight the bus companies to be allowed equal access.
Richard Wade, who writes for the Friendly Atheist blog, thinks that it doesn’t matter what the message is, but rather the messenger. He recently proposed that atheists groups water down the message even further just to prove the point that Christians are offended that atheists exist. Vacula is taking up the cause and his group plans on putting up a bus ad for one month that features a blue sky and white puffy clouds with just the word, “atheists” and the group’s website.
Vacula is currently waiting for approval of the bus ad campaign from the County of Lackawanna Transportation System (COLTS). Apparently, COLTS had previously put up their own religious ad proclaiming, “God Bless America.” There is also a religious billboard on the turnpike in the area that says, “Heaven or Hell? You Choose,” implying that those who don’t believe will be and ought to be tortured for all eternity.
Justin Vacula also writes for Examiner.com as the Scranton Atheism Examiner.
Please check out the Atheism 101 Series for frequently asked topics.
If you enjoy this article, please share the link on facebook, twitter, google plus, reddit, and others. Be notified by e-mail about the latest articles by the National Atheist Examiner using the "Subscribe” button at the top of the page.
Comments