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Billboard
From The Secular Humanists of the Lowcounty:
The latest American Religious Identification Survey revealed that nonreligious Americans now outnumber American Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons combined.
Despite the stereotypes others may have of non-believers, we are law-abiding citizens, charitable members of the community, and good neighbors. In fact, a surprisingly large percentage of famous artists, writers, philanthropists, activists, composers, actors, musicians and scientists are non-believers. At the same time, they also make up a surprisingly small percentage of the prison population.
Yet several polls have found that atheists are the most distrusted group in America. This is probably because most nonreligious Americans feel that they must be secretive about their lack of belief. It is therefore with the goal of being more visible that we have launched our new billboard campaign, placing the sign shown in the picture on highway I-26 near the Spruill Avenue exit.
We have no intention of "converting" believers to non-believers with our campaign. Some people may be offended by our message, but that isn't our purpose either. Instead, we simply want those who do not believe in a supernatural being to know that there is a happy and welcoming community of other like-minded people. If you are one, please join us...and consider letting your family, friends, colleagues and community know you are a proud freethinker. This would help us with our other goal of helping to make our religious friends and neighbors more comfortable with and tolerant of our own religion-free worldview.
This billboard is a collaboration between the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, American Humanist Association, FreethoughtAction, and Atheist Alliance International.
Comments
as a new visitor to this site I often wonder why this examiner's reads are under the religion and spirituality category shouldn't it be somewhere in "games and hobbies" ,"gadgets and tech" or "pets" ?
I am enjoying these articles so much. It's refreshing to say the least.
You presume too much when you identify "nonreligious" as "nonbeliever".
Speaking as one of those who have chosen to be unaffiliated with any sect or denomination, I can assure you that a great many of us DO believe in a Higher Power. (In discussion the belief in a personal God is often cited as a reason for not belonging to an organized religion.)
For you to assume that those who do not identify with a religious denomination means they are atheists is a foolish. If the goal of your campaign is to have nonreligious people "trust" atheists more, you will have to demonstrate better logic than remarks such as these indicate.
Justine...
Do you realize that the text of this article was not written by Trina? It is from the Web site of those who put up the billboard, as she said at the top of the column.
None the less Atheists are still a tiny minority.
Hey -- why is the "Obama on Religion -- unedited" video no longer available? Who had it pulled? Anybody have it?
Justine - it's you who's making the logical mistake by identifying non-denominational believers (such as yourself, apparently) with the non-religious (or atheists).
So many people slap others with the label "presumptuous" or "closed-minded" just because they disagree. It seems to me that this particular examiner is more open minded than some of the others and giving her any contradictory title can only be noted as ignorant.
If someone is a scientist and an atheist, it may come as a surprise that they are going the way of the dinosaur. As of the launching of the KOBE satellite in 1990, everyone who looks through that satellite says "Hello Daddy." Atheism and being an atheist is someone who demands to reject every bit of scientific data because the more that people attempt to disprove the bible, they end up proving it as a scientific fact beyond a reasonable doubt.
Matisse painted the nude when a sculpture he was working on shattered.
Yacov, you're right. I think it is silly for an atheist to try and hijack the scientist bus. Scientists start to realize more and more (through means of metaphysics, study of stars, etc.) that there IS a higher power out there and there is no chance in a billion lifetimes that the universe, so intricately designed, can just be...out of a "big bang." Atheism, in my honest opinion, is just another religion...probably very close do the religion of evolution. Evolution takes a lot more faith to believe it, than the simple, mere, understanding and belief in a Higher Power we call God.
I am reading conjecture, nothing more. Where is your evidence? Xians are the best proof there is no gawd. Atheism is growing like the Chinese economy. Why? Because people in the USA are finally, finally waking up to what Europe has known for a very long time.
Hello World
With Friends Like God,
Who Needs Enemas?
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