“Enjoy Life” Billboard Goes up in Watertown, Wisconsin

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is on a billboard frenzy this week. Just days after announcing 20 new billboards in Florida, they’re putting another one up — a brand new one — in Watertown, Wisconsin. It’s paid for by an unnamed benefactor.

The Lifetime Foundation member, who is elderly and prefers not to be publicly named, recently contacted the Foundation suggesting the new slogan and offering to pay for it. He also expressed the hope that other FFRF members might be “inspired” to place similar messages in their areas on behalf of the Foundation.

…

“The idea is both to be eye-catching, and to create a little cognitive dissonance,” explains Annie Laurie Gaylor, Foundation co-president of the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics) working to keep state and church separate.

“We want the passerby to ponder: What if you saw this message in a church?”

…

“This life is it,” said Dan Barker, Foundation co-president… “If life’s eternal, life is cheap. As Emily Dickinson put it, ‘That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.’ ”

I like the message: positive and undoubtedly humanistic.

Which means, of course, that some religious people will be complaining about it by tomorrow.

Somewhere a vandal is waiting for darkness to set in…

Adam

My wife is from Watertown. We live in NC now and the atmosphere here much less accepting it seems. However, there is a Baptist college in Watertown, so I’m sure it will offend some.
flatlander100

I await with eager anticipation the day when I’ll be driving down to Salt Lake City, or riding the Frontrunner commuter rail train into town, and I’ll see one of these billboards along the way.

Some day… some day….
Anthony

Unfortunately this will turn into “Enjoy life, eh? Seems like the atheists want us to steal and rape and have fun at the expense of others!”

I hope to be wrong, and I hate to assume, but I hope the likes of O’reilly aren’t as predictable as I think he is.
Derek

I live in Watertown. I haven’t seen the billboard yet, but considering the local environment (yes, there is a big baptist bible college here) I expect that I am soon going to hear some screaming. And man will it be fun.
Paige

Unfortunately this will turn into “Enjoy life, eh? Seems like the atheists want us to steal and rape and have fun at the expense of others!”

To which we will reply:

“Wait, you *like* doing that stuff? I don’t think I’m the one with the problem here.”
Vanessa

I like the new slogan. Simple and to the point.
Andy

The Dickinson quote is apt. She’s another great figure who said a curt “No, thank-you” to religion.
ObSciGuy (Paul)

(Cue the theologian, enters stage right.)

Theologian: “How do you know? You can’t prove a negative! You have no evidence there is no afterlife, therefore, there is one. Ha!”
FFRF: (facepalm)…
Dan W

I like this one. It seems to fit with secular humanist views in particular. I expect some Christians will still complain about this billboard, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were vandalized.
Alexius

Sounds like a field trip to Watertown is in order once I’m back in Wisconsin!
Drew

Some stupid Christian already threw paint on it. There has been crying in the paper about it just about every day since it’s been up.