If you sometimes find yourself praying for a seat on a crowded Metrobus, some atheists have a message for you: Don't bother.
They would say that, wouldn't they? Prayer's not their thing. And starting Tuesday they'll be bringing their unique brand of holiday message to area commuters. Advertisements will begin popping up on Metrobuses in the District that read: "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake."
At a news conference at the National Press Club yesterday, members of the American Humanist Association -- one of the country's leading atheist and agnostic organizations -- explained what they're up to.
"Our message is that all of us can have moral values as a natural result of who we are as a species and who we have become as a civilization," said Fred Edwords, the association's director of communications. "Each one of us knows what it means, generally, to be ethical."
And apparently I missed this story:
Jan Meshon was at the news conference. He helped organize the placement of billboards on Interstate 95 and the New Jersey Turnpike that read: "Don't believe in God? You're not alone."
18 comments:
I came to visit your blog to specifically see if I could find an email address for you to tell you about this. Awesome huh?
It is just a matter of time. . .
Yay! Go atheists!
You guys are totally cool.
Maybe you will have your own football team soon :)
pretty awesome, considering we see religious urgings EVERYWHERE. it is actually really nice to know i'm not alone. i see this as reaching out to other athiests vs. trying to convert christians (or any other religion for that matter) to our way of thinking. wouldn't it be nice if they could adopt that theory too?
Snort. I was wondering if you'd post about this. It's good to see that atheists can take pride in being as annoying as they complain religions to be. :)
Ezzie:
As I said about the British ads, that was my first response too. But I think the message of "you are not alone" is a good one to get out there. The community you belong to is just one of many that can make people who don't believe feel like dirt.
>The community you belong to is just one of many that can make people who don't believe feel like dirt.
Come now.
At the very least you are better than dirt :)
Are you Jewish or an atheist?
Anon: See FAQ.
I like the highway ad.
Go atheists! Finally getting into the game. You'll find there's big bucks in this religion stuff. Chicks, too.
Christianity is like the Borg - "You will be one of the hive."
It's nice to know there are other people who dont sucumb to superstition.
I have absolutely no problem with atheists or atheism, but I have to say that theism works for me, though I don't believe everyone should be required to think as I do.
stumbled on your site after doing a research on how hard it is for a non-jew to be with a jew, relationship/marriage etc.
(I am a non-jew Atheist)
and i started reading a bit, and now your blog is on my RSS Reader :).
Excellent blog, keep up the good work :)
I was wondering who is paying for the ads. Who benefits if more people profess atheism?
Mike, humanity benefits if atheists are accepted. Right now, an out atheist has no chance to become President.
Separation of church and state and parties dropping the idea of social conservatism leads to progress.
JA, did you see this post. An orthodox Jew eats his first piece of bacon.
The community you belong to is just one of many that can make people who don't believe feel like dirt.
How does that work exactly? You take so much to heart the opinions of people who you think a. are totally off base in a crazy beleif in a deity you find w/o merit b. behave in a way that you time and again paint as being just above that of Atilla the Hun.
G:
I was thinking more of children and teens who aren't yet confident enough about their beliefs or independent enough to leave the community. Even for adults, though, it's got to be hard to live in a community where you would be considered evil or woefully misguided (at best) if people knew the truth about your beliefs. I'm just glad I was able to leave before I got married and started a family -- then I might have been stuck like many other adult skeptics are.
Can you imagine having the choice between risking divorce and loss of custody on the one hand and sending your kids to a school that indoctrinates them into thinking that people like you (if they knew the real you) are evil and wrong?
I love this story. It's great to reach out to other people and tell them they are not alone.
To those who see this as proselytizing, telling atheists that they are not alone isn't really proselytizing. The other one, "Be good for goodness sake," yes, might be called proselytizing, but in this case, so what? Think of what religious people say on their billboards: you'll burn in hell, etc.
Not My God
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