Atheism Billboard Planned For Dallas Sparks Controversy (VIDEO)

Members of the Dallas religious community are speaking up about a national organization's controversial plans to display an Atheist message on a prominent billboard, the Christian Chronicle reports.

The billboard was proposed by the national organization African Americans for Humanism as part of their country-wide Black History Month campaign aimed at encouraging African Americans to look critically at their faith, according to KDAF TV.

The message was scheduled to be posted Monday, but the billboard remains blank as community members continue to voice strong opinions on the plans, some of whom have even sent hate mail to African Americans for Humanism members.

David Lane, the pastor of a church about a mile down the road from the billboard site, told reporters he believes the plans will lead to important discussion in the African American community, where faith has long held a strong place.

"Traditionally African Americans come out of a tradition that is led and motivated by faith. We are where we are and we are who we are primarily because we've chosen to believe in a power that's bigger than ourselves," Lane told Fox 4 News. "It will create a lot of dialogue. There will be congregations of all kinds in this area who will be challenged by the fact that such a movement is at our door."

But other members of the religious community have not been so welcoming. After a similar billboard was put up in Chicago, a representative at African American for Humanism's headquarters there received a series of angry letters and e-mails, according to the Dallas Observer.

One such e-mail read:

.WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.I have looked at your web cite [sic] and your billboards in Dallas. Your black Athiest Organizations make me sick. There is nothing worse than a bunch of blacks supporting Gays and Lesbians.. You are infesting are [sic] cities with your foolish beliefs! What is your reasoning behind your Athiest [sic] beliefs? It is groups like yours that are screwing up lives.

But supporters of the billboard argue that it's not meant to threaten religious beliefs, but rather provide a space for thought with people who may be in doubt.

Alix Jules, a member of the Dallas-Forth Worth Coalition of Reason, whose face will appear on the billboard, spoke to the Dallas Observer about the challenges many African Americans face when doubting their faith.

"When you wind up saying you don't believe, then you're walking away from a mating pool," Jules told the paper. "You're not going to be able to do that because now you're deemed unfit. And you wind up throwing back into your parent's face the belief they gave you isn't good enough for you."

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Comments

[bendertheoffender]

10:15 PM on 01/01/2013

Everyone is an atheist.

[Writeonwater]

02:02 PM on 04/15/2012

Regarding this

---"It will create a lot of dialogue. There will be congregations of all kinds in this area who will be challenged by the fact that such a movement is at our door."

This statement means nothing, NOTHING! Unless the billboard goes up. If not then there is censorship. Criticize the billboard if its facts are disputable, that's free speech. For power or community to censor is to deny rational discourse which leaves in its place only irrational discourse or worse.

The only reason to avoid a reasonable dispute is because your sides arguments are weak. Emotion or the sword do not establish validity or truth. Case in point this following piece of thoughtlessness.

---"When you wind up saying you don't believe, then you're walking away from a mating pool," Jules told the paper. "You're not going to be able to do that because now you're deemed unfit. And you wind up throwing back into your parent's face the belief they gave you isn't good enough for you."

1) Church is a mating pool. Now I understand why people go!
--> (Some sects won't make love standing. They're afraid to be accused of dancing)

2) Critical reasoning = unfit for sex. This does not follow. The fact is non-believes are growing in numbers.

3) 330 years of inquisition (many other examples) decimated people is Spain, robed their property for the church & state. That belief was NOT good enough regardless of parents believing it or not.

[dcmatern]

04:38 PM on 04/04/2012

Christian billboard in Utah, "Got Christ - It's Hell Without Him."
-People go about their daily business.

Atheists billboard in Dallas, "Doubts about religion? You're one of many."
-People go nuts.

So it's alright to say someone is going to hell for not accepting Jesus into their lives. But it is not alright to tell people they are not alone and will still be liked if they no longer accept Jesus as their one and only savior?

[geraghtyd59]

06:58 PM on 03/20/2012

I think the pastor forgot to mention the backstory behind African Americans being "motivated by faith", in this case the Christian faith, has to do with the slave trade and how slave traders and masters taught the "uncivilized" tribal people their religion. Another reason for such strong faith running through the black community is that faith is far more common in the lower class, which sadly many blacks traditionally and still are in. The reason for this being the case is that those with harder lives, such as those in the lower class, are taught by religion that if they worship God and pray every day then they can escape the difficulty of their lives in the oasis of heaven. So yeah, that was a small detail that the pastor glanced over I guess.

[Dennis Lurvey]

10:57 PM on 09/07/2012

There are white communities like that also. If I ask my Baptist mother a question about the Bible that didn't make sense, she would tell me it wasn't mine to know, that God would reveal on his time. That's how the religious keep their family and friends from asking questions, by fear and guilt..and by threat of losing everything. And they mean it, they will kick your ass out. Thank reason we dont need god anymore, we have google. An open mind and a month real research will make an atheist out of anyone.

[nonethewyzzer]

07:38 PM on 02/23/2012

Atheism IS my religion!

I'm sure Newt and St. Ricky will be riding to the rescue of my religious freedom any second now.

(I'm SO not holding my breath while I wait for them, although I do look good in blue.)

[notaspellingace]

04:21 PM on 06/26/2012

Atheism is a religion like bald is a hair color.

[bd64kcmo]

02:27 PM on 09/18/2012

So atheism IS a religion! Good to read! I have been getting the what-fer from militant atheists for concurrence with that concept, and have been called all sorts of names by them!

[nonethewyzzer]

03:10 PM on 09/18/2012

To each their own, it's what I call it for myself.

[bd64kcmo]

03:37 PM on 09/18/2012

Fair enough.

[Killermolls44]

04:44 AM on 02/22/2012

I guess people only want to protect freedom of speech when it runs in their favor.
Sigh....

[geraghtyd59]

06:39 PM on 03/20/2012

Perhaps because it is due to the fact that athiests such as myself are so fed up with religion being shoved down our throats constantly. Perhaps it is due to the fact that people like you say nothing when they see an advertisement for a particular religion. And yet when you see this, a perfectly fine ad running in order to reach out to those questioning their faith, the same people who are often stigmatized by their churches and communities for such inquiry, you reply with disgust. All I have to say to such behavior is well, sigh...

[bd64kcmo]

02:39 PM on 09/18/2012

the billboard was about questioning their religion, not their faith. There is a difference. Religion relates to ritual, and preset prayers, and motions. Faith is in the heart and soul and mind of humanity, about the existence and intecession of a Supreme Being. An atheist wrote elsewhere in here that 100 Atheists in 100 years could not have done the damage Christian and Muslim extremists have done in 10 years or less. Whether its in Dallas or Dubai, people are going to ask themselves if it is worth all this grief, and then quit faith altogether! I see no good coming from that.

[abby4ever]

10:08 PM on 02/18/2012

Leave it to HP to quote from the most offensive, even _vicious, e-mail, and not from any others that might be more temperate.  I'm sure there have been some...but of course they wouldn't be as much of a wind-up for us...

:]

[Fenrir Lokison]

05:45 PM on 02/21/2012

Actually, I looked back at the greyed portion and needed to added something...

That if this is what some believers are saying, then the majority should know why they (wrongfully) group every one of us together. This is not at all is what God tells us. And definitely not what Jesus would have done. At least when he did show his anger and did whip some people in the Bible, it were people defiling his father's house. However, the world is not ours. There is nothing for us to fight for save those spirits who will be lost to God's wrath if they receive not the word.

But, the problem is, and I think the non-believers are picking up on it like a heat seeking missile...We are behaving just like they are and just like we look for our spiritual leaders to lead by example, the non-believers are expecting believers to do the same.

In either case, HP did a good job in exposing the wrongs of believers. If we are to be the examples God wants us to be, we need to see our good and most importantly, our bad.

[notaspellingace]

04:47 PM on 06/26/2012

Welcome to the real world where all gods are myths, and Jesus is no more the dead myth on a stick.

[bd64kcmo]

02:41 PM on 09/18/2012

Thanks!

[Marisag]

09:49 PM on 03/17/2012

Do you think there may have been some that were worse? I bet there were.....

[CabinAgue]

03:18 PM on 02/18/2012

So if I read him correctly, Salty's argument is that much of the OT can be dismissed because it has passed its expiration date.  This is good news, IMO.  I'm still waiting for clarification on how to tell which parts are no longer valid, however.  I guess each book needs to come with a "best if used before ..." label?

Does this also mean the clock is ticking on the NT as well?

[abby4ever]

10:03 PM on 02/18/2012

No, it doesn't, sorry to disappoint you.

I wish I could recall the name of the poster who said, about a week ago and in so many words: that he was continually amazed how many _atheists in this country have so much to say about something that, given their _atheism,  shouldn't concern them in the least.

[CabinAgue]

10:51 PM on 02/18/2012

Did you actually read Salty's comments?  He is a terrible representative, and I was making fun of his pathetic arguments.  There are religious people who can hold their own, and you are one of them.  I can't see why you would defend him, however.

And you really think I can't comment on the topic of this billboard?  And I can't debate with someone who thinks he has every right to make comments about atheists?  Why am I so limited?

[CabinAgue]

11:01 PM on 02/18/2012

Did you actually read all of Salty's comments?  I was making fun of his pathetic arguments -- he is a lousy representative.  There are many religious people who can hold their own; you are one of them.  But I can't see why you would defend him.  He clearly knows very little about what he is supposedly an expert on.

And do you really think I don't have a right to comment on this article?  Or to debate someone who is posting what he thinks about atheists?  Why am I so limited?

[Cristancho]

02:07 PM on 02/18/2012

I can't wait to see it up. Dallas has plenty of Christian billboards, pro-Israel billboards, and even a "Where's the Birth Certificate" billboard. I'm sure a humanist message would really agitate fans of these billboards.

[ydnas639]

02:27 PM on 02/18/2012

Does Dallas not have any of the billboards stating Mormons are Magic? Atlanta has a passel of 'em.

[Marisag]

09:35 PM on 03/17/2012

LOL....That IS magic.

[J Michael Norris]

12:50 PM on 02/18/2012

I've driven past "billboards from God" on plenty of occasions and just laughed at the absurdity of someone putting a cheesy quote in front of a picture of a blue sky and claiming it was their creator and gaseous Ruler of the Universe speaking. But I never complained or wanted them taken down, because I am secure in my atheism.

If these "religious" folks truly thought their beliefs were true, they wouldn't be threatened by some words on a sign.

[Marisag]

09:37 PM on 03/17/2012

Exactly. Atheiophobes! They're REALLY closet atheists!

[bd64kcmo]

02:50 PM on 09/18/2012

Would atheists openly put that "non-threatening" sign up in Cairo or Islamabad? Just curious.

[Drumbeato]

11:06 AM on 02/18/2012

Free speech. It's in the Constitution. The same Constitution that guarantees these Churches the right to practice their faith's freely, also guarantees the right of that organization to display that Atheist billboard. As far as threats to this organization goes, the people responsible for them obviously don't feel secure in their religious views. If they did, they wouldn't be so moved to lash out in this manner.

[NWBrunette]

10:56 AM on 02/18/2012

They're so insecure in their faith they're upset by a billboard. Wow.

[EmmaDarian]

12:55 PM on 02/18/2012

Insecure Christians are why we have "God" on our money and in our pledge and in our schools and public buildings and why there's a supposed "War on Christmas" in which "Happy Holidays" is seen as an attack. Those insecure Christians (and there are some who aren't) need constant visual and verbal reminders and validations. That's why whatever the statistics show, many Christians are hanging on by a thread, like children trying to keep believing in Santa out of fear they won't get presents. That's how they all try to convert me, in fact. Pascal's Wager, over and over.

[Killermolls44]

04:42 AM on 02/22/2012

Hypocrites. I don't care if they post billboards or whatever, maybe they should learn to do the same.

[Freethinking American]

10:18 AM on 02/18/2012

The black tradition of faith is strong, but it is a legacy of slavery when religious services were the only times Masters allowed their slaves to congregate. Choosing reason over their ancestral masters' religion is a very positive sign in the advancement of African Americans in my book.

[Veluriel]

03:19 AM on 02/18/2012

Good on Pastor David Lane for having the right kind of Christian attitude! It's not everyday you get to read quotes by the moderate Christians, and we really should celebrate the inclusion of such a voice of reason. Regardless of his personal beliefs about African Americans and their "links" to religion, he welcomes discussion.

Seriously, we need more of this.
--
After watching the video, I have to say that the news team did a terrible job of covering this story. From the opening remarks by the anchor to the constant implication that they're trying to "convert" people it's just this side of ridiculous.

The reality is that the organization, like many "fringe" groups, is trying to get the word out there that they EXIST and that they can help people who feel the same way. The internet has gone a long way to make even the most marginalized of people feel less ashamed of who they are or what they believe by showing them that they're not alone.

And that's the big thing here - showing people that they're not alone. There isn't anything *wrong* with them. They can feel the way they do - and guess what? There are other people who feel the same way too!

[usorthem3]

12:15 AM on 02/18/2012

If your religious faith is shaken by the announcement that there are people that don't believe the same as you do, then your faith is on a shaky foundation to begin with. Christians get OUTRAGED when someone declares that they don't believe in Jesus Christ but scream about religious liberty, hypocrites to the core. 2 Chronicles 15 13 That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
Glad I read the Bible as a youth and became the atheist that I am today. My 1st Amendment rights are not trumped by Christianity as the USA is not a theocracy.