Really, Really, Really Inoffensive Atheist Billboards

The puppies one is asking for trouble from cat lovers.

Chocolate called. They refuse to be involved with anything “un-heavenly”.

Actually, as a cat lover, I find even the puppies one so entertaining that I could not object. And I think these might actually serve to make a point. This may not be a bad idea at all.

I really like the bus one.

Chocolate!

Oh please please please actually do this.  I vote for the “Puppies are cute”, because the snark is more obvious in the others.  It’s a feel-good message that will make people smile, and it even serves a practical purpose: To remind people that atheists, far from being loveless Spocks, are just as manipulated by baby animal cuteness as anybody else.

And when the inevitable complaints from residents come in, it will be HILARIOUS.

There is a genius to this madness.

I like the chocolate, but maybe the swirl on the top of the chocolates could have the atheist “A” design (kinda subliminal message that way)

What, no “Babies are yummy”?

Loving the blue skies and fluffy clouds one, it works on several levels.

no shit.  did you bother to read ANY of what he wrote at the top?  geeze….

I would seriously donate for one of these.

I’d vote for the Please Drive Carefully one because it’s a very good and positive message that serves the public so if they complain they’d put themselves as the bad guys.

ohhhh, now wouldn’t THAT spark off some anti atheist rantings!!!! Could be fun ….. no, we shouldn’t, we should be above such things….

Can God make a puppy do cute He can’t stand it?

I also like the puppy one. Add kittens and have it say “Puppies and kittens are cute.”

I’d love to see a billboard like one of those. My favs are the puppies, blue skies, and drive safely.

“Good without God” should
have been a completely inoffensive slogan – Turns out it wasn’t. I
think any billboard with the word “Atheist” in it will get blowback.
They simply don’t want us to exist in the public eye.

I like this idea, but it’s actually not the best way of answering the question. There’s an analogy to be made with sentences that begin, “I’m not racist but…” The reason this is a bad way to begin a sentence is that, *whatever* follows it, you’re priming the audience to expect you to say something racist. If you say, “I’m not racist, but chocolate is great!” then there’s a real danger that people will assume what you’ve just said about chocolate is subtly racist.

There’s a similar problem in the case of the atheists ads. Because it’s not obvious why on earth an Atheist society would be posting such an ad, you imply (through the very act of putting up the ad) that there’s some connection between puppies, or chocolate (or whatever) and atheism. And the person who sees the ad may assume all sorts of bizarre things, which would introduce an extraneous variable.

In other words, this might not actually be the best way to test whether or not it is the mere existence of Atheist societies that offends people. Much less fun though it may be, a better way to answer that question is to have an ad saying simply, “Hi, we’re atheists”.

One of the basics of advertising is pairing your product with something pleasant — it’s basic behavioral conditioning. That is why the “I’m a Mormon” Youtube shorts are so good. 98% off the  video is about an attractive person leading a productive, happy life. The very last bit is where you find out the person in the vid is a Mormon.

I like Please Drive Carefully.  It conveys the image that atheists care about people (which, if we’re also humanists, of course we do).  I think we should be doing more to push Sean Faircloth’s agenda of showing that not only are atheists normal people, but that we’re on the right side 

I accidentally cut off this comment, so it’s reposted below.  Sorry!  I’d delete it if I could.

you imply (through the very act of putting up the ad) that there’s some
connection between puppies, or chocolate (or whatever) and atheism.

I can see the headline. “The Devil’s Tools: Church Leaders Condemn Puppies, Chocolate, Safe Driving” 😀

This whole proposition made me smile and have a good laugh. Great stress relief for a Thursday. I really would like to put one of these ideas to the test. Puppies and drive carefully were my favorites.

Doesn’t “Buses carry many people.” avoid this problem? The ad points to its own medium, and after a good laugh, I would thankfully look for who used the ad space in such a bemusing fashion, sparing me the usual onslaught of “Buy this!” As for “Please drive carefully.”, I worry that someone who feels threatened by atheists may assume any instruction would include an automatic “or else…”

I like these…. I prefer a kinder, gentler approach… I am very put off by the militant atheists. I liken them to the militant christians who equally offend me. I’m more drawn in by kindness and consideration, so these appeal to me.

I like them all, but I think my favorite is “Buses carry many people.”  You can’t logically argue the truth of that statement, but it might be amusing to watch some people try.

I love them all. I just know some christian would complain about any one of them.
I think the “Buses carry many people” one has the best/only actual message. All the more reason for someone like Bill O’Reilly to start a tamptrum about how intolerance is part of his rights etc. and it offends him to know there might be atheist on a buss.

I can hear the responses now…

“How DARE those atheists tell me how to drive?  Boy, when they die they’ll find out about being careful!”
[Add lot’s more caps, exclamation points, poor grammar and spelling for improved accuracy of the prediction.]

I think this is an awesome idea.  Tell me when and where to send it and I’ll write a check.

  It would not matter one iota what the message said. The term Atheist is what they hate, period. They believe we have no right to exist. Their omni-potent infallible god made us. That is what they can not stand. It is their perfect god that made the mistakes. That they can not reconcile in their little minds. It must put them all in vertigo.

 I was talking to my wife yesterday about our beliefs. A being(s) that could/can do more than humans is just as possible to exist as we are. It is the magical  creation and eternal punishment we reject. Religious people say magic is wrong, but it is perfectly alright for their god to use magic.

  We came to the conclusion that we are merely Amagic.

The fundies of every religion would consider that a threat. That is how
what they call their minds work.

I vote for the “Puppies are Cute” one, the Chocolate one, and the Drive Safe one!

Herp-a-derp

Just in the public eye? They don’t want us to exist at all.

ha in santa clarita, ca there used to be a billboard that just said “FEAR GOD,” which few saw as controversial. i vote for “drive carefully” though.

Not in my name. Can’t abide puppies.

For every cat knows that Ceiling Cat is in each one of us 🙂

This article made me convert to Christianity then back to atheism based on how awesome it is

The worst problem with ‘good without god’ is semantic.  The phrase implies that there *is* a god and that the billboards acknowledge it.  Of course, the other problem is exactly as you described.

Should they also add unnecessary apotrophes?  😉

Who would be an example of a “militant atheist”???

THANKS CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brilliant! I would suggest that they go up in easily vandalized locations, so there’s no physical barrier for them to overcome.

The last “extreme” xtian billboard example wouldn’t draw much attention in most of the south. If you take the interstate from Little Rock, Arkansas to Memphis, TN there are many white text on black billboards that scream about rejecting god and going to hell. My particular favorite is about not sparing the rod on your children. They’ve been up for ages, I remember them as a kid and even from just a few years ago.

For a few months last year, here in Vegas we had a billboard along the I-15 that just said ‘GOD’ with an arrow pointing upward. The businesses that surrounded it? Stripclubs, naturally.

Pretty sure the “or else…” is usually implied in most driving safety billboards anyway.

On that note, my favourite one of those was a massive one on the side of a road in my city that said in big, red and black letters “Distracted Drivers Kill”. Thanks for that, government.

I’ll have to chime in for the “Blue skies and fluffy clouds” one.  With all of those awful religious billboards out there trumpeting some message or other about heaven, I love the subtle dig that ours is just about the sky.

But no kittens?  Puppies are cute, sure, but not nearly as cute as kittens!

The people who appear (sometimes on threads such as this) and insult theists, call them (not just their beliefs) ridiculous and wrong, and refuse to be respectful toward them. 

I happen to be an atheist who believes that there was something to that “turn the other cheek” thing, if only as a guideline, rather than a rule. I believe one of the comments up above sarcastically remarked that “That is how what they call their minds work.” It’s needlessly inflammatory. Even if there are some theists who rail against atheists and make sweeping generalizations about how evil or unintelligent or hateful they are, there is no need for some atheists to turn around and do the same to all theists.I’m not the original poster, of course; this is just my interpretation.

 That ruins the joke, you dingus-head.

…

-presents proposal to Skepticon team-

Just to name a few qualities of militants: pretty much anyone who thinks the entire world should convert to atheism or anyone who calls religious people “morons”. There’s no shortage of atheists who fall into that realm of belief. You can find large numbers of them in most internet forums.

Yes, there’s a sizable contingent of religious people who are intolerant toward atheists and other minority philosophies and religions. There are more than a few who call for our conversion to the dominant faith and actively encourage the ridicule and condemnation of anyone who does not share in their version of theism. So too, there is no shortage of religious leaders who will readily dismiss atheism and other competing faiths/philosophies as hurtful foolishness. We don’t have to repeat their terrible behaviors. We could actually try for something better, rather than stooping to the lowest common denominator.

Love it!

“Babies are cute” would work really well too.

I think the word ‘atheist’ should be in the actual message. People who are driving and see these things won’t necessarily look at the sponsor print at the bottom, so:

“Atheists love puppies too.” would be better for testing the hypothesis given.

Tell them “devil’s food” has been trying to reach them for three weeks and they’d damn well better answer.

“Just to name a few qualities of militants: pretty much anyone who thinks
the entire world should convert to atheism or anyone who calls
religious people “morons”.

I’d agree with the first part and the second if that is applied scattershot to ALL religious people.  But I hardly think that since I’ve called the likes of Ray Comfort, Eric Hovind, and Sye Ten Bruggencate morons, that makes me “militant.” 

Come to think of it, using that test for militant atheism, many Christians are militant atheists since they do, in fact, label morons like Comfort, morons. 

Thes posters made my day. I was cracking up at the thought of someone finding them offensive, but you can bet the farm someone will object.

The truth sometimes hurts.

Richard,

This is such a brilliant idea! I posted this on Tumblr this afternoon (with links to this page) and it has already been ‘liked’ and reblogged by over 500 people. I’m seeing a lot of nice feedback from both atheists and theists, which is unheard of! 

You can see the Tumblr blog post here: http://marmoulak.tumblr.com/post/16539639305/richard-wade-from-the-friendly-atheists-blog

I will send an e-mail to NYC atheists tomorrow, and I think everyone should do the same with their local atheist group and get this going.

Kudos! Love the idea!

Sometimes rocks and/or fire do too. Especially if thrown from a small distance or lit directly at your feet. In fairness, however, it’s rare to have a rock lit directly at your feet. 

I like the “puppies”, “chocolate”, and “drive safe” signs.

I’m almost positive that last one — “Worship at our Church or BURN IN HELL” — would, in fact, not even raise an eyebrow from the Christers.

I like the “Buses carry many people” ad. If someone would donate the money, I am sure I can get PhillyCoR to get these on buses in Philadelphia.

Am I the only one here who LOVES “Blue skies and fluffy clouds”?

SAYS CAPTAIN ASSHOLE.

Oh look, the douche with the funny name can read. Still a douche.

You have not read the post that accompanies the pictures:

“I propose that we try displaying billboards that are truly innocuous, so that the only thing that might provoke “offense” would be the word “atheist” in the billboard sponsor’s name. Then we would see if the claim is true that “our mere existence is what offends them.” “

“pretty much anyone who thinks the entire world should convert to atheism”
So you are honestly saying that any atheist who believes that not only atheism is true, but that it is advantageous, and the world would be a better place if everyone were atheistic is ‘militant’?

Seriously now? You’re essentially saying any atheist with the courage of their convictions is ‘militant’. I can’t agree with you there.

I guess it’s the old joke – militant Muslims become suicide bombers; militant Christians blow up abortion clinics; militant atheists write books.

Or that puppies are atheists?

The Amazing Atheist is a douchebag, but a bold one. I don’t see why being bold requires being called “militant”. it cheapens the word and makes it trivial

I never thought the intention of putting up billboards was to encourage the devout to question their beliefs.  There are several reasons why a group might spend the money on billboards, and I thought is was more for these reasons:

1. To let closet atheists know there is a group in their area and to attract more atheists to these groups (“you are not alone signs”).
2. To let people know that atheists are not bad people, we are ‘regular’ people who the reader may interact with often (NC ads).
3. The recent ads with the babies on them were great for new parents to consider that there is no rule that you must baptize your baby… even if your parents/inlaws make it seem that there is.

The mission of any group is often to attract more members and to create a positive image of their group.  Richard’s clever signs above would, in my view, accomplish both of these things… plus they would bring a smile to many faces.

Agreed. There is no need for us to stoop to the fundies’ level of name calling, insults, and bigotry. Absolutely, we need not respect their beliefs, but I still believe everyone deserves respect as a fellow human being.
On the Freedom From Religion Foundation page on Facebook, things were pretty heated around Christmas. There was one young woman who came to the page and posted that she didn’t understand how anyone could be an atheist. Naturally, this sparked a lot of commentary, and from her replies you could tell that she was just coming to pick a fight….but I was shocked and disgusted when one of our own called her a “dumb fucking cunt” and later said “come here bitch I’m going to hold you down and make you pregnant”. In my opinion, attacking someone’s gender is just as bad as attacking their race. No one else batted an eye until I called the guy out on his comments. And even then I had to explain the difference between “relevant insults” (such as, “You’re a moron if you believe in talking snakes”) and irrelevant insults (which merely attack someone’s gender, race, etc and don’t pertain to the actual issues). I mean, everyone would have understood that calling someone a “dumb nigger” is bad when someone starts a religious debate….but no one reacted to “dumb cunt” and rape threats. Unbelievable.
Anyway, to me that’s what a militant atheist is….someone who simply attacks and belittles, dropping themselves to the level of people like, say, Shirley Phelps. They’re not interested in constructive debate and discussion; they just want to make people mad. They make the rest of us look bad.

I think they want us to waste money without getting our point across, while they continue to do just as they please.  We don’t need inoffensive billboards, we need shock value and hit  ’em where it hurts billboards!

This somewhat reminds me of the recent flood of Scientologist backed billboards, put up under the guise of A Foundation for A Better Life (or some-such non committal BS).   They say general gooditudes and have a positive picture attached, kinda like one of those Motivational Posters. Should the [a][A] theists  take a similar course?

Skepticon accepts.

http://skepticon.org/challenge-accepted/ 

since when was making fun of christians “forcing atheism”??? 

Cat lovers don’t have souls.   Wait, nevermind.

Where was the town?

Turn the other cheek, gets you slapped on both sides of the face, Neville Chamberlain.

Since when was being an activist a requirement for being an atheist? To my knowledge being an atheist just means that you don’t believe there are any gods. If that definition has changed to demanding that we must also proselytize, I may drop the label and start calling myself something else.

I don’t think I’ve ever met a Militant Atheist, but by your wording, I assume that you would call yourself one. If you are a typical example of them, I may agree with the original commenter. At least in the sense that the Militant Atheists are approximately as offensive as the Militant Christians. In a sense, I hope you’re just trolling.

Oh, and as far as I’m concerned, if you want the whole world to be atheist, then not only are you militant, but you aren’t much better than the average evangelical Christian who thinks the whole world should believe in his/her version of god. Wanting to eradicate everyone else’s version of god-belief is intolerant, regardless of whether you are a believer or a non-believer.

Yes, I’m quite aware that I’ve just described a very large fraction of people who visit websites such as this–perhaps the majority.

I am not a friend to this kind of atheism. Nor will I ever be. I’d rather spend time around a group of theists and spiritualists who truly embrace pluralism rather than a bunch of atheists who think the entire world should convert to their way of thinking.

Ironically, you reproduce the tribalism so much of you criticize and thus have fashioned your non-belief into a religion.

I’m impressed with the level of discussion here! It is so nice to hear people for the most part making sense and sharing laughter and good info.  Thanks!

This is a great idea!  I love them all and would be happy to donate to the cause.

Co-evolutionarily,

~ Michael

Picture a newborn baby : I AM AN ATHEIST : DO YOU HATE ME ?

Keep in mind, the freedom to offend with billboards is strictly a theist privilege.  Us atheists are just too damn uppity it would seem:  http://larianlequella.blogspot.com/2010/12/start-2010-war-on-christmyth.html

I’m not an atheist. I’m a Christian who is not offended by your very existence. Anyway, I like the safe driving message. The other ones just seem silly and a little snarky. I think that public service messages would give atheists a better public image and make some people more accepting of you and your message. I say “some people” because, hey, it’s a free country. Some people will just hate you no matter what you do.

That would indicate that it’s not the mention of atheism that angers the Christians; it is anything that even tangentially hints at our existence. (Scratch that; many Christians say Happy Holidays as well, and these are also the bad guys in the “War on Christmas”. So what angers them is the very concept of someone who does not shape their life around religion.)

No, you didn’t get that right.

A militant atheist is someone who attacks others for *their* beliefs, forcing them to then, in turn, stand up for themselves.

Attacking others != standing up for yourself. Basic difference between offense and defense, there.

WORD

Well, all children are atheists..

So..

Funny. After life doesn’t exist though. 

I can see how people who are fearful of atheists could take many of these in the wrong way.  They may see us as wanting to hurt or attack the puppies or terrorize the busload of people. 

I think I’d prefer to see a slogan that attempts to show how we atheists are/can be good people, too.  Not that we’re better, but just showing our goodness.  Maybe even showing real life atheists who do/did good deeds. 

For instance an atheist firefighter who saved a lot of lives, atheist soldiers who won medals, etc. 

Slogans like “Ethics are the product of our own minds.” “Morality comes from within.”  “I know right from wrong and I choose to be good.”   “Helping others comes naturally.  I don’t need any reward for it.”  “I don’t need anyone to tell me to be a good person.  I do good because I want to help people.”  “I treat my fellow humans with respect.”
“I respect your beliefs.  Please respect mine.”  “I respect your opinion.  Please respect mine.”

I’m interested in getting them to see us as real people, just like them.  We can go Shakespeare: “Hath not an Atheist eyes?” Something to gain their sympathy for us as humans.

Here’s a good one then, “Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. Whatever floats your boat.” -American Atheists 

Then have all sorts of holiday symbols to include a Festivus pole.