Keep Atheism Away from Schools, Churches
CBS Outdoor: Keep Atheism Away from Schools, Churches
Advertising companies that rent space on billboards may often have rules about not allowing certain ads (like those promoting alcohol) in the vicinity of schools. Who knew, though, that education about atheism, freethought, and church-state separation are equivalent to selling alcohol? That’s apparently the position of CBS Outdoor in Phoenix, Arizona, where the Freedom From Religion Foundation is putting up several “Imagine No Religion” billboards.
CBS Outdoor refused to grant the FFRF space near schools or churches. They won’t say why, but I suppose they think that freethought would be corrupting to the youth and offensive to the religious. Those would not be unusual beliefs in America today, but it’s always sad to see such bigotry and even worse to see it having practical, negative consequences on the ability of nonbelievers to act as freely as believers. You just know that billboards promoting belief in the Christian god would not have been subjected to the same restrictions, but somehow it’s always the atheists who are really the intolerant ones.
Phoenix will be the first city to have as many as five signs. But getting the billboards up did not come without hurdles. The five sites chosen by the organization were changed after CBS Outdoor said they had to be 1,000 feet from any schools or churches, Gaylor said. The site locations were finalized late last week, and CBS Outdoor was not available for comment over the weekend.
Source: AZ Central
What’s sadly ironic is that religious believers wouldn’t necessarily be offended by the signs. Some, at least, don’t have a problem with atheists expressing themselves on an equal basis alongside believers and hope that such equality might lead to productive conversation.
Monday September 1st, 2008 @ 9:44am
You’re taking it a bit too personally and most likely investing far too much emotion in the subject.
Consider that in a country totally dominated by the Christian agenda the company is willing to put up atheistic billboards in the first place. They’ll get enough flack and outrage from the religious as it is: if they allowed the billboards near churches and schools they’d most likely find themselves the target of protests, and / or at the very least a boycott.
They’re brave enough to try and withstand the ire of the religious without having us anti religious complaining at them and accusing them of bigotry because they don’t go as far as we want.
Monday September 1st, 2008 @ 5:32pm
ohhhhh, the poor religious folks and their delicate sensibilties. It’s a good thing they don’t have any war, famine, disease, genocide, or poverty to worry about. They can instead devote all their time to effing billboards!!! That’s really wonderful news.