Typical Reactions to Atheist Ads August 2, 2009

Typical Reactions to Atheist Ads

By Guest Contributor
August 2, 2009


Can you imagine the uproar if atheists dared to put up a billboard similar to that of Answers in Genesis…:

(via Atheist Cartoons)

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  • Hazor

    I’m scared to imagine, quite frankly.

    I’d go for something along the lines of, “If he has to do everything God says, would he obey if God said to point the gun at you?” Perhaps reworded to ensure it conveys the right message.

  • How about, “No one does this in the name of Darwin.” With a picture of a suicide bomber, or the WTC on a September morning.

  • Ashley Moltzan

    I like both of those suggestions.

  • mikespeir

    I know this is clever and all, and in some cases reflects reality, but lots of atheists aren’t quite so meek as the guy on the left.

  • How about, “No one does this in the name of Darwin.” With a picture of a suicide bomber, or the WTC on a September morning.

    Can anyone get me a freely/CC licensed picture of your generic suicide bomber? I’d be willing to make up a banner or poster if people are truely interested.

    (I’m not touching the WTC aspect of this because I’m from NYC…)

  • Liudvikas

    There’s really christian billboards like that? I am all for free speech, but that is over the top. Someone should sue their assess.

  • Citizen Z

    I know this is clever and all, and in some cases reflects reality, but lots of atheists aren’t quite so meek as the guy on the left.

    Forget the guy on the left, the guy on the right is *way* calmer than the typical response:

    “Why are atheists so angry?”
    “That is offensive and you should be banned from saying that.”
    “That’s a dangerous and mendacious statement.”
    “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God…”

  • @brielle

    The only reason I suggested the WTC was because of those very poignant “Imagine No Religion” shirts/bumper stickers showing an intact NYC skyline. And in modern memory, there’s hardly a stronger example of religious dogma leading to a suicide attack.

  • Michael Bernardo

    to simplify the first comment.
    “If God told you to, would you?”

    or
    “He KNOWS theres a heaven and is willing to prove it.”

    one more
    “Will your family forgive him after he confesses? God will.”

    just thought of another one
    “Is this really the plan of a loving God?”

    debating whether or not to capitalize the g in god, i think doing so would put more emphasis on the message from a religious point of view instead of the intended audience immediately dismissing the message as coming from a nonbeliever.)

  • @Veritas

    Oh I know. I wouldn’t have a problem with someone using that as a prime example in a poster/banner/billboard… I just can’t do it personally. I still remember that day too well in my mind.

    I use 9/11 as a prime example of why I do not believe in a god. Where was he when 2000+ innocent people died?

  • Luther

    I know this is clever and all, and in some cases reflects reality, but lots of atheists aren’t quite so meek as the guy on the left.

    At first I thought you were referring to the guy in the real billboard. For the record he is not meek, he is fearful and much more likely a religious NRA member than atheist.

  • AIG is full of desperate cunts. They’ll do anything to promulgate their viral beliefs. The fact that they made that billboard when they did proved as much to me.

  • @brielle

    It’s one of my prime examples too. I don’t think any of us will forget that day anytime soon, even though I am not a New Yorker – not even an American.

    Also, I can go read your site now that I’m at home and don’t have to worry about getting fired for websites with adult advisories. Yay!

  • Also, I can go read your site now that I’m at home

  • (reposting because it seems my EV-DO dumped out in the middle of posting)

    Also, I can go read your site now that I’m at home and don’t have to worry about getting fired for websites with adult advisories. Yay!

    Heh. I’m just protecting my ass. I never know when I might be posting something that people will find offensive.

    I’m one of those militant lesbian atheists who isn’t afraid to talk about such dangerous things as tolerance, and what’s wrong with the world.

    I also used to talk about my escapades in the world of BDSM, which is primrarily why the warning is there. Can’t have the kiddies learning that its okay to practice safe sexual exploration! 😛

  • Honestly, I was more interested in your Linux and tech support thoughts. Militant lesbianism scares me, and I would *never* allow my children to be exposed to that. And sexual exploration, oh noes!

    (beware, sarcasm tags may not appear when properly closed)

  • @Veritas

    Oh noes indeed! I actually just fixed my warning message to be a bit less vague in what to expect.

    The nice thing these days is that my hosting provider is the type where as long as you don’t do anything illegal, they don’t care. I can’t for the life of me remember if I offered Hemant free hosting if he ever needed it…

    Anyways, yeah, silly blog program stripped out your sarcasm tags. 🙂

  • How about “If heaven and hell is all that matters to him, what difference does your life make?”

  • Here’s something that builds on hoverfrog’s idea: two side-by-side billboards that say, “If God’s will is all that matters to him, what difference does your life make?”

    On one billboard this is coupled with a picture of Osama Bin Laden.

    On the other it’s coupled with a picture of Scott Roeder (the guy who murdered the abortion-provider, Dr. George Tiller)

  • mikespeir

    I’m talking about the comic strip, Luther, not the billboard. Everybody tries to portray those who think like them as calm, peaceful, and reasonable and the other guys as raving lunatics. Christians do it; we do it.

  • Good one, hF. I like that a lot.

    @brielle

    Well, you have a darn good hosting provider, then. I shall be jealous, till I realize I have nothing worth putting on a hosting site.

  • Kaylya

    It seems to me that there’s two purposes to atheist ads.

    #1: Let people who are non believers or who have doubts know they’re not alone, that it’s ok not to believe, that there are atheist/humanist/etc groups in their area, etc.
    #2: Encourage more people to have doubts.

    I think the current ads are working mainly on #1 (which is cool), and only on #2 on people who were so sheltered that they hardly knew there was such a thing as an atheist. For #2, you need to make people question their beliefs. Make them start thinking about why people suffer, why, if there’s one God, so many different religions exist, etc.

    “Would a loving god allow this?” (over pictures of some natural or man made disaster)

    “If there’s only one God, why are there so many religions?” (over various images or symbols reflecting different religions)

    “If you were born in Pakistan, you’d probably be a Muslim – So why do you think you’re a Christian?” (More suited to a bus shelter than the side of a bus).

  • I understand what Answer in Genesis is trying to do but I don’t know that it is an effective ad.

    I’m not a big fan of billboards or bumper stickers anyhow.

  • Dan W

    Yeah, but if atheists even tried to put up a billboard like the Answers in Genesis one, except about religious people, all the religious folk would cry persecution and freak out about it even more than they’ve already freaked out about the current atheist ads. You know, the ones that state the obvious, like “You can be good without God”, and so forth. The ads that let atheists know they’re not alone, and try to instill a little doubt into religious people.

    I really hate that the religious ads that are offensive to atheists and portray us in a bad light are okay, but we have to fight to get our ads allowed. I’ve never seen one like the AiG ad around my hometown, but there is an annoying one on the highway out of the city that reads “God is pro-life. Are you?” Ugh.

  • Well, it’s all part of reminding us that we are part of the “other”. For better or for worse, the average person in the US of A is a theist of some form, and they revel in letting us know that, by stating our concepts alone are offensive to the majority. AiG can throw up billboards we think are offensive (like this one, which I really do find offensive), and act like it’s a good thing. We just need to hold our ground – most people are reasonable.

    “You can absolutely be good without god. It’s not offensive – it’s only offensive if your diety is harmed by a quiet statement on a bus.”

    or:

    “Do you want to hear offensive? Why is Jesus terrible at hockey?”

  • RobL

    I saw the same billboard last winter alongside I90 outside of Billings MT. I found it really depressing that people can be so hateful.

  • trixr4kids

    Veritas? Why IS Jesus terrible at hockey?

  • @trixr4kids

    He’s always getting nailed to the boards.

  • John

    Could the gun-toting kid on the billboard be Ken Ham’s son?

  • Wow, the Atheist ads are so mild compared to the poster shown here. That is sick. I’m celebrating 20 years of godlessness.

  • I like the English ads we had. simply “There probably is no god, so stop worrying and enjoy your life” the uproar over such a harmless ad was shocking but I believe it conveys a nice message.

  • MagicallyAdept

    @Madrizzle Yeah, I loved those ads.

  • Dan

    How about this:

    16000 children die every day. Do you still believe in a good God?

    The really precious part is that the quote of 16000 children dying daily comes from bread.org, “A Christian Voice for Ending Hunger”.

  • Tom

    The Christian revolver ad is patently fallacious – failure to value one thing doesn’t imply a failure to value anything (it makes some sort of vague sense if you identify god with everything, I suppose) – but an atheist variant would probably actually work. Something along the lines of “What are you to him, compared to god?” I dare say you could point to any number of examples of fanatical theists displaying that particular mindset.