A Strategically Placed Atheist Billboard

It’s nice to see an excerpt from the Pledge of Allegiance — as it was originally written — on a billboard:

Thanks to the North Carolina Secular Association, that ad’s home for the next month is will be along the Billy Graham Parkway in North Carolina 🙂

We believe the evidence clearly demonstrates that our Founders intended to establish a secular government, one that separated church from state. We believe the kinds of officially sanctioned marginalization and discrimination covered above is unconstitutional, that it violates the intentions of the Founders, and that it is fundamentally unfair.

All we are asking is that every citizen give every other citizen the same kind of consideration they expect for themselves, and that we all try to live up to the spirit of the ideals our Founders gave us of liberty and justice for all.

There are actually several of those billboards across the state. It’s all part of a $15,000 campaign, funded by several local groups and FreeThoughtAction.

I like it. It’s a great ad with a good message — we never were and never will be a nation under any sort of god. And we’re all better off because of it.

(via The Southern Atheist Gentleman)

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Amenhotepstein

I would LOVE to have that on a bumper-sticker!
Ashley

Amenhotepstein: Here it is!

http://www.cafepress.com/ftastore.455044104
LeAnne

and what a GREAT place to put the billboard.. right on billy graham parkway 🙂
Greg

Sweet…somebody HAS done a bumper sticker of it. http://www.cafepress.com/+one_nation_indivisible_sticker_bumper,455044104
Yet Another Atheist

I’m going to post the original Pledge of Allegiance on my Facebook account on the 4th of July and see how many people notice the omission of God.
Michael (SQFreak)

Billy Graham Parkway is the main road leading to the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, and is a primary road in Charlotte. Although I don’t know exactly where the billboard is on the Billy Graham Parkway, it’s not a long road, so this will probably be seen by a lot of people. It does run past the Billy Graham Library and Billy Graham Evangelical Center.
Yet Another Atheist

Jeez, Billy Graham sure has his name plastered on a lot of stuff down there. I’d like to eat at the Billy Graham Taco Shack, then maybe take a massive you-know-what in the Billy Graham Bathroom Stall.
Aaron

I wonder how long it will take to be defaced.
Everyday Atheist

I like this even better than FreeThoughtAction’s previous billboards. “One Nation Indivisible” is not just the original wording, but a great aspirational statement for those of us who see religious entanglement as divisive. Dare I say, it makes me feel patriotic?!
Bob

It’s a great billboard.

But, in the words of the late Dr. Seuss, “You can’t teach a Sneech.”

The rapture-ready crowd doesn’t want equality, doesn’t want tolerance, doesn’t want free thought. They want unthinking, unblinking compliance with their interpretation of an over-sanctified manuscript.

We’re watching foreign countries overtake us in education, scientific and technological achievement … and these people are STILL nattering about evolution being ‘just a theory’ and how bananas fit the human hand by design.

Smart is transient. Stupid is forever.
Reginald Selkirk

So you think the God-botherers will be more upset about this than confederate wannabees?
Luther

Maybe we could go farther and be truthful, e.g.

One Nation, Under Corporations, Indivisible

Or hopeful, e.g.

One Nation, In Peace, Indivisible
OneSTDV

Love it. Strong (secular) patriotism.
adam

I’m actually hoping that some Christian group will protest this billboard like all the others

So we can finally play the “your not a patriot/American” card for once

the time is past due and the irony would kill
SickoftheUS

Can’t we do better than replacing religion with nationalism?
Brandon

SickoftheUS says:
Can’t we do better than replacing religion with nationalism?

Appropriate screenname is appropriate.
Anna

Excellent message! I really love this billboard.

Sweet…somebody HAS done a bumper sticker of it.

Yup, and there’s a slightly different version here:

http://evolvefish.com/fish/product1127.html

I’ve had this one on my fridge for the past several years.
Lagunatic

Yay!

But, as you can well expect, some of the comments from the peanut gallery are eyerollable at best.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/96900729.html?commentPage=2
Trace

Hi Lagunatic, it has been a while.
adam

Lagunatic Says:
Yay!

But, as you can well expect, some of the comments from the peanut gallery are eyerollable at best.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/96900729.html?commentPage=2

I also noticed that in the video they didn’t mention even once that they were simply using the pre 1954 wording of the pledge, not making up a new one as the title and reporter seem to suggest

But going by the comment section on that page it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference

And seriously what is it with some people using caps to emphases every other word
KM

Just a question, but why are people so occupied with what some “founding fathers” several hundred years ago might have wanted or intended?

It doesn’t matter what they wanted. It’s the country of todays generation.
Skippy

There is a North Carolina Secular Association and I just registered for it! Who knew? I’ve been a daily reader of Hemant’s blog for the last few months and really enjoy it.
Hypatia’s Daughter

While I like most of the atheist billboards, I think the ones that quote the Constitution (“We, the People….”) and this one are especially effective and to the point.
Bob, maybe you can’t teach a sneach, but you can often enlighten the fence sitters who will only get their info from the deluded & the liars.
Alas, Americans so frequently say things like “Well, I don’t really care but if the Constitution says we’re a Christian nation….”. When you point out God is not mentioned at all in the Constitution, they do a “Whoa, I didn’t know that!”
Shameful, though, that so many Americans don’t read that amazing document that only takes 20-30 minutes to read and is written in plain simple English.
muggle

Great billboard!
Derek

I like it!

Cheers and Excelsior!
martymankins

Great billboard. Love it. Of course, there will be those that don’t.

Louis Bowman would turn in his grave to see this.
Anthony

It’s ironic that the same God who everyone on this site seems to hate so much is the same God whose Word this nation was founded on – and that Word guarantees the freedom of religion and speech that folks are exercising right now! God doesn’t force anyone to believe in him or his personal revelation of himself in Jesus Christ, he merely puts the offer out there for anyone. Agreed, some Christians are wrong to think religion can be enforced by the state (indeed, this is what Islamic countries do). But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater! God is still there, still loving, and still offers freedom to his creatures to believe whatever they want. It’s just that at the end of this life, they had better be ready to give an account for those beliefs.
Steve

@Anthony:
Ever heard of the Treaty of Tripoli? Signed 1796 between the US and the Barbary States. So very early in the country’s history.
In article 11 it says “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion”

How much clearer do you want to get? The thing was signed by John Adams himself. So the intent of the founding father’s should be pretty obvious. It’s also obvious from the Declaration of Independence which in deistic fashion only mentions a general “creator” and the constitution, which doesn’t mention god at all.

And freedom of religion also means freedom FROM religion. Yet, for the past few decades Christians have very deliberately infiltrated and undermined the political process everywhere and try to get all laws changed according to their rules. That’s exactly what wasn’t supposed to happen, because those people clearly saw the harm organized religion did in Europe.

In addition to that we have the constant proselytizing by Christians (like you here). If your god is so great and awesome, why don’t his believers shut it up and just wait for everyone to see the light?