More Atheist Billboards!

I wouldn’t say mission accomplished, but I’m happy to be able to say we’re that much further in our mission to become equally appreciated. Theists are realizing that we’re not going away, and we’re not a product of some kind of societal phase. We are real, and we mean what we say. We believe whole-heartedly in what we say, therefore we command respect, just like that one guy in Rome. You know the dude with the crazy costume. He has a cool hat, though..

The idea that we can declare Mission Accomplished is a bit premature, I think. We need to keep up with these things, we need to add buses in different metro areas, we need to have bumper stickers lick this, we need internet banners like this.

As Zaz says, we need to make sure that our target audience knows that we are a continuing presence and not a societal phase.

Because the target audience are those atheists and agnostics who think they are isolated, isn’t it?

I noticed recently that there is a billboard in Manchester, NH that only reads “You will meet God when you die” and has a phone number. It’s written in white text against a black background that has a red EKG line going across it. I prefer the atheist ads that pretty much just say “hey, we exist!”

They may not believe in god, but apparently all three groups worship the same cloud formation. What’s up with that?

I am an atheist and proud of it but I just find these ads to be so unoriginal, and just as bad as the Christians ads that we all trash.

What muggle said…

@Godless Monster: the capital letter doesn’t say anything about the entity in question being real. I mean, you’d write Sherlock Holmes or Hogwarts with capital letters, wouldn’t you?

I’d suggest it’s now time to turn up the volume a little bit. Go from billboards which bend over backwards to be uncontroversial (to anyone with a grain of fairness) to ones which nibble around the edge of controversy. Like “It’s not what you believe that matters – it’s what you do.” Or “Two hands working achieve more than a hundred hands praying.”

Earth quakes, mud slides, coyotes, brush fires, … Thanks for the invite but I’ll pass.

Naw, I’m fairly anti-social actually so I’m not wound up real tight about being accepted.

But I would like to be left the hell alone and if these signs play their part in desensitizing people to our doubting existence and making us seem more common place, I’m all for it. If they get as common as the crosses or at least as the Stars of David, I think people will be less shocked and reactionary that we exist.

And that would be a good thing. Hey, I can dream, can’t I?

I don’t see it as “us vs. them”, though I’m sure that’s how many of “them” perceive it. I see it as reaching out to people who are in the closet or are on the fence in their own beliefs but held back by cultural taboos. I see the intended audience as already being atheist but not yet knowing/realizing/accepting it.