More Atheist Billboard Vandalization

Guess what this is?

Well, a couple days ago, it used to be this:

That’s beyond vandalism.

I suppose we should be happy that another Sacramento billboard only had to deal with “Christ Loves U” graffiti:

That makes three billboards in Sacramento vandalized in the past couple weeks.

Instead of getting both billboards replaced, the Sacramento Area Coalition of Reason is asking that two of the other billboards in the area stay up an additional week:

“This isn’t Clear Channel’s fault, nor is it ours. The fault rests entirely with the vandals,” said Fred Edwords, national director of United CoR. “So our goal is to ensure that this mischief has as little negative impact as possible on both our campaign and on the billboard company that has so ably served us.”

Mike Krebsbach, a press representative for Sacramento CoR, added, “Our billboard message reaches out to those who know that people can be good without belief in a supreme being. It doesn’t say that believing in a god makes one bad. So why would the vandals act as if the belief actually had that effect? It’s a sad day when we have to witness such cavalier disregard of property and free speech rights. Wouldn’t it have been better if those who disagreed with us had sought to open a dialogue, instead?”

I don’t get the mindset of the people who are doing this. If their intention was to thwart the message, they’re only allowing it to get more publicity.

More power to the atheists for handling this so well. They come out of this mess looking great.

ollie

“I don’t get the mindset of the people who are doing this.”

I do. Remember that social conservatives are hardwired to want to preserve the current social order and they feel threatened by anything that appears to disrupt it:

Go here for a 19 minute video

Of course, they are violating the social order when they deface private property in this manner, and those who did this ought to face legal penalties.
The Godless Monster

As I’ve said before, I’d love one of these morons to get arrested for vandalizing one of these signs and then after several days of much press and ballyhoo, have them forgiven by the atheist organization that sponsored the billboard in a PR move to make us look good and them even worse.
Heidi

I feel like they’re sending the message “But if you do have a god, you don’t have to be good. You are above the law.”
arkonbey

So, if millions are good without god, it seems that at least one guy is bad WITH god?

@GM: That would be awesome.
David McNerney

It truly saddens me that there are so many empty unfulfilled young people whose only outlet to express their emptiness is the wanton destruction of public property.

I blame the parents.
Reginald Selkirk

Well, a couple days ago, it used to be this:

Wow, they moved the power lines and everything.
Valdyr

Wow, they moved the power lines and everything.

I admire thoroughness in vandals. Of course, the superior tactic would have been to stealthily remove the entire billboard, fill in the post-holes with local sod, and carefully tamp down the ground to erase any clue that there ever was a sign.
poejavlo

Suggestion for next billboard campaign:

“What Would Jesus Vandalise?”
Rose

Open? Dialogue? Hmmm…don’t think those words are often used in the xian vandals lexicon.

They’re just annoyed we finally have a voice. It’s too difficult for them to comprehend, that while they’re still a majority, they’re waining in numbers and belief strength.
Richard P

Another good example of christian hypocrisy.

Teach turn the other cheek and they slap you right back…I guess they live by example.
JT

Personally, I’d love to start putting bear traps up on those billboards.
I’m not always good without god…sometimes I’m kind of a dick.
Dave D

So, has anyone thought to put up a security camera and catch a few of these people? Or is the vandalism worth the extra publicity?
liz

dude…wouldnt a vandalism TRIAL be even better publicity?!
Anna

I’m surprised this is happening in California. Granted, I haven’t spent any time in Sacramento, so maybe things are more conservative there, but three billboards vandalized? That’s pretty shocking.

I wonder what would happen if we had billboards near San Francisco. Not that we need them, but I’d be curious to see if there’d be any vandalism attempts. Religious billboards are an infrequent sight here. In my entire life, the only ones I’ve seen are for Catholic Radio, and those have only popped up along the freeway in the past year and a half. Prior to that, I’d never seen any at all.
ckitching

have them forgiven by the atheist organization that sponsored the billboard in a PR move to make us look good and them even worse.

Forgiving them might be a bit of an empty gesture. The goals of this vandalism may have been to hurt the people who sponsored the ads, but the end result is that ClearChannel (and other billboard owners) are the ones who inevitably foot the bill for replacing or repairing the ads.
Twin-Skies

@Dave D

I’ll go one better: A security camera with a gun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMkV8E2re9U