November 24, 2010 on Fox NY:
A group called the American Atheists has paid for a huge billboard on Route 495 outside the Lincoln Tunnel in North Bergen, N.J., that is raising some eyebrows.
The billboard shows a silhouette of the Three Wise Men approaching the Nativity, with the words: "You KNOW it's a Myth / This Season, Celebrate REASON!"
"...that's not something you put on a billboard and advertise for the whole world to see."
ReplyDeleteRight, honey. It's okay for religious people to have a church on every corner, to go door-to-door trying to convert, to have their own radio and television programming. But whoa betide one atheist billboard.
It's our turn. It's EXACTLY what we need to put on a billboard and advertise for the whole world to see.
In response to the same quote, that's EXACTLY what billboard's are for.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the same quote, that's EXACTLY what billboards are for.
ReplyDeleteThis is just perfect!
ReplyDeleteI like how they say you shouldn't belittle other's belief.
So we should just stand by while the serial rapist Brian David Mitchell was having his way with innocent Elizabeth Smart just because God told him to do it?
When are these crazy mystical followers going to wake up to the reality that no 'faith' deserves respect. We can respect an individual if they deserve it, but we have no requirement to respect their crazy insane beliefs.
And if they're offended by the billboard, perfect! They can be offended all they want. They don't get special treatment just because they're offended.
Again, people deserve respect if they've done something to earn it. Putting on the gloves of religion is not a free membership card to demand others' respect. The sooner they realize that, the better.
We need to make our presence felt. This is one way to do it. Let's hope it starts a few of them thinking.
ReplyDeleteThe christians thought their money could be better spent elsewhere? Hmm... I guess defending peadophile preists is expensive...
ReplyDeleteThat is just irresponsible. We have to prepare people through ridiculously expensive training to "build a bridge to reason". Obviously only an Operating Atheist Level IV is able to confront reality without embarrising himself...
ReplyDeleteLove the reaction of the billboard company though.
It's essential, at the very least, that religion becomes controversial. Implicity or explicitly, I think it's important that people become aware of the basic alternative: reality and reason versus holy books and faith. I don't believe that most of the pious have any inkling of the issue.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to know how many people have no clue about the meaning of "reason" and, therefore, don't even know what the sign means.
ReplyDeletethis billboard is really nice. i'm a big fan,
ReplyDeleteThis is great! Come out, come out wherever you are!!! We must be counted.
ReplyDeleteFrom Bart D. Ehrman's book Jesus, Interrupted, I find that:
ReplyDelete. a Christmas story occurs in only two gospels, Matthew and Luke
. the two stories are considerably different
. Mathew has the dreams of Joseph, the wise men, the star, Herod, the slaughter of children, the house in Bethlehem where Jesus was born, travel to Egypt to escape the slaughter, and settling in Nazareth instead of a return to Bethlehem. (Ehrman tells of asking his students to pick a star and decide which house it's standing over.)
.Luke has the angelic visitations to Elizabeth and Mary, the census (silly way of getting Jesus born in Bethlehem to fit prophecy), the manger, shepards, and a return to Nazareth with no trip to Egypt.
.Ehrman concludes: "The differences between the accounts are quite striking. Virtually everything said in Mathew is missing from Luke, and all the stories of Luke are missing from Mathew."
It seems all this doesn't bother the pious one bit. All that's needed is to hack together one story from pieces of the two conflicting stories.
I guess I'm the only one who thinks the bilboard is a stupid waste of American Atheists' donor money, then. It serves little purpose other than to provoke christians' ire during their holiday. The absurd claim of Mr. Silverman that its intent is to "get atheists who are going through the motions to stop" is a laughable pretense even to me, a staunch and inveterate atheist.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for shock value and offending theists when they deserve it - which is OFTEN. But being bitchy merely for the sake of being a shit-stirrer during their obnoxiously annoying but harmless high holiday, is counterproductive and stupid.
Once again Fox News, fair and balanced my ass!
ReplyDeleteDamned if that don't make sense.
ReplyDeleteOf course Fox are the ones to report on it, to make sure it gets bad press, but the silver lining is that Fox is viewed by the exact people we need to reach. And in this case, any press, even bad press can still turn out to be GOOD press, so long as it's getting in front of their (Fox viewers) eyes.
ReplyDelete"Silverman, an avowed (devout?) atheist..." COME ON FOX. Atheism ISN'T a relgion, it is the absence of it. You don't make a vow of atheism (nor do you devote yourself to it).
ReplyDeleteI f*cking hate FOX's subtle (as well as blatant) biases.
Well, my guess is that this billboard psyop will have an effect on some people who're evading their thoughts about the silliness of the Christmas story. Evading doubts is common, but it's hard to turn around and look at them closely.
ReplyDeleteReally, how many atheists are pretending to be religious? Anyway, an atheist hardly needs to be reminded that the Christmas story is a myth. Why not just say that we're challenging Christians who actually have doubts? Seems like I've seen the "we're talking to atheists" strategy before and it always seems weird. There's nothing wrong with trying to get the pious to take a closer look at what they believe.
Horrors! Something that makes people think? The nerve! So just what is so sacred about religion anyway? Why shouldn't people think about a holiday likely designed to co-opt ancient beliefs that existed long before Christianity? I remember learning that historians figure that JC would likely have been born in the spring. That's when M&J and everyone else would have been traveling for the census. And why does when easter is have ANYTHING to do with a full moon? Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox. Now why is that? I always wondered about that but I was a good little catholic girl- you don't question your faith, of course!
ReplyDelete<span>"...that's not something you put on a billboard and advertise for the whole world to see."</span>
ReplyDeleteHow ironic, christians are the world champions of dogmatic billboards!
<span>Christian Billboard</span>
Jesus is watching you
Anti gods are traitors to the nation
And so on ...
I think the billboard's doing more harm than good
ReplyDeleteExplain please.
ReplyDelete"Traitors lead to civil war" on the last sign is ominous. I doubt they'll have a lot of trouble figuring out what to do with us traitors.
ReplyDeleteThese people are just crazy enough to "do the will of the Lord as they fight for Jesus." They're already in a white-hot rage, they're mean, they're fanatics, and they think that their rights are being taken away every time they get slapped down in court because of separation of church and state. There's even talk of martyrdom which is scary. Of course, "the will of the Lord" will be what God tells them it is and they can hear what God tells them. Actually, it'll be their feelings talking, but they can't tell the difference. Their propaganda about being the victims of oppression is a very serious issue for the longer term when one looks at their efforts to take control of the military.
If you want to have fun on the comments section of the original article, go here: http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/beliefnet/atheists-billboard-calls-nativity-a-myth-20101124-akd
ReplyDeleteI'm now donating money to American Atheists - this is awesome<span> </span>
ReplyDeleteThere should be more of these. Perhaps the American atheists could be a wee bit more honest. The idea is to fertilize the seeds of doubt that exist in the minds of many pious people. It's good that the Aa can get the message out. The whole country is literally covered with xmas images. The good thing is that the baby jeebus seems to be missing from 98% of the them. See, things are getting better. go Santa!
ReplyDeleteI think I'd have done the billboard at Easter for greater effect.
ReplyDeleteI think athiests SHOULD be more vocal. Christians are just so brainwashed from having the bible crammed down their throats their entire life, they actually BELIEVE the stuff in it is TRUE. I'm just sayin'.
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