HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The billboard is down, but the issue's not gone.
A billboard erected in one of the city's most racially diverse neighborhoods featured an African slave with the biblical quote, "Slaves, obey your masters." It lasted less than a day before someone tore it down.
Now, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is investigating and is meeting with both the atheists who sponsored it as well as leaders of the NAACP who found it offensive and racially charged.
The atheists behind the sign said they were trying to draw attention to the state House's recent designation of 2012 as "The Year of the Bible" -- an action by lawmakers that the atheists have called offensive.
But there were concerns that erecting such a billboard is playing with fire.
"If this had been Detroit, there would have been a riot," said Aaron Selvey of Harrisburg, who visited the billboard site last Wednesday (March 7), the day after the sign was put up and later torn down.
"We don't want things to escalate into violence or community tension, so we try to address situations like that right away," added Shannon Powers, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. "We would not recommend tearing down because it could lead to escalation. It hasn't, and we're tremendously thankful for that."
The billboard was quickly replaced with an ad for the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.
Ernest Perce V, the Pennsylvania state director of American Atheists, said he won't press charges against whoever damaged the billboard he designed, and said he, too, is a victim after receiving death threats.
"We hope people can see just a little bit of discrimination we get," said Perce, who offended local Muslims last year when he dressed as a "Zombie Muhammad" in a Halloween parade.
Perce and the atheist sponsors of the billboard said they are dismayed that people were offended by the image instead of what he called injustices in the Bible and legislators naming 2012 "The Year of the Bible."
Perce said he will proceed with a 25-billboard statewide campaign against the Bible and the legislation.
"We ask that you turn your anger toward the (state) House of Representatives," he said, adding that his group does not support or condone slavery while the Bible, which he called "evil," does.
Brian Fields, president of the Pennsylvania Nonbelievers, understands the image was provocative.
"I want to say that I'm truly sorry that many people have misunderstood this billboard. It was never our intention to use race as our message itself," Fields said.
"I don't know if that would have had the impact, the same meaning if it wasn't tied into something visceral. The picture shows the consequences of the statement that the Bible makes."
Andrew Rebuck, general manager of the Lemar Advertising office in Lemoyne, Pa., said his firm will review all images from the atheists before posting any new billboards.
"We don't endorse the message," he said. "That is not my intent to have the community upset."
Stanley Lawson, president of the Greater Harrisburg Branch of the NAACP, said his group didn't advocate taking the sign down, "but, boy, was I pleased it was done."
"It caused a lot of hurt and a lot of pain in the community. I've gotten more phone calls about this than I have about any issues in the past three or four years. It wasn't just elderly people, it was young people, across the board."
Selvey, the man who visited the billboard site and made the comparison to Detroit, called the billboard a hit to his soul.
"That image, that was my ancestors. That represents their struggle and all the pain they went through," he said. "I don't think a lot of people understood how offensive that is. Schoolchildren will just see that black face and the words. They don't understand the context."
Diana Fishlock writes for The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. Staff writer Matthew Kemeny contributed to this report.
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By Diana Fishlock
Religion News Service
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The billboard is down, but the issue's not gone.
A billboard erected in one of the city's most racially diverse neighborhoods featu...
By Diana Fishlock
Religion News Service
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The billboard is down, but the issue's not gone.
A billboard erected in one of the city's most racially diverse neighborhoods featu...
The European By Alexander Görlach Alexander Görlach of The European sat down with the German writer and intellectual Martin Walser to discuss the role of...
An atheist billboard rejected by the heavily Jewish community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been resurrected in Greenpoint. The sign, made by the American Atheists, was...
An atheist group has been blocked from erecting a billboard in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. American Atheists had planned to place...
Ahead of the American Atheists National Convention and Reason Rally in DC later this month, the American Atheists are erecting a billboard in Brooklyn Monday,...
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...
Atheists have long criticised devout followers of faith. But now it seems Atheism is stealing from that very religious tradition by erecting a temple of...
On Monday, the Boulder Atheists along with the Colorado Coalition of Reason (COCORE), will be putting up three new billboards in Denver and Colorado Springs...
In a world beset by fundamentalists of believing and secular varieties, it must be possible to balance a rejection of religious faith with a selective reverence for religious rituals and concepts.
I am convinced that atheists -- at least the ones I have read and the ones I know -- are working largely with conceptual idols when it comes to their rejection of God. They are not rejecting God; they are rejecting ideas.
As the election season heats up, let's stop pretending our ideology comes straight from what the Bible says. The reality is, "what the Bible says" comes straight from our ideology.
John's Gospel highlights a tension in the library that is the New Testament. The velvet rope keeps changing position, with self-appointed bouncers appearing at random keeping "those people" out.
When God and belief are stripped out of the equation, we are left with rituals and practices that are primarily hedonistic and hollow. What de Botton offers us is "religion for atheists," but what he gives us is pseudo-religion and empty routine.
Besides these general stylistic factors, the most gaping wound in this book lies in de Botton's hesitancy to move past a utopian, almost naive sense of his endeavor into actual philosophy.
It bothers me when other atheists are too quick to do away with the beauty religion cultivates, as if it were necessary to toss the beauty out right along with the cosmology. I think we make a mistake when we fail to distinguish the form from the content of religion.
OK - JUST to play devil's advocate here, I wonder how the Jewish community would've responded if it had been a picture of Hebrews building the pyramids. I guess the point I'm trying to make is we all have some slavery in our ancestry somewhere, whether that was 150 years ago or 3,000 years ago. What we should focus on is LEARNING from the past to create a better future instead of letting the past define and divide us.
lebari762: OK - JUST to play devil's advocate here, I wonder
Looks like I might be eating crow......I took your comment as sarcasm, the normal attitude toward "religion" in this environment, and perhaps mistakenly....
acts4him: Looks like I might be eating crow......I took your comment
I believe fervently that there is no god, gods, goblins or unicorns. That is my right and my perogative. I also believe that books that promote evil such as debasing women, encourage slavery, offer celar examples of genocide, racism and other "sins" should be so labeled. The billboard would fall within my first amendment rights. Every church in America has such a billboard planted on their front lawns, attached to their building and paraded around the towns that they infest. I read them in the same way that I read Budweiser ads. If you truly believe that you will be happier as a drunk than you probably believe that the lord wants you to enslave your neighbor, stone his aduletrous wife and sacrifice the first born in a large african country.
browpeter: I believe fervently that there is no god, gods, goblins
I may interest some of the anti-Christians to know that the abolition of slavery in the United States was largely driven by . . . . Christians:
"The goal of the abolitionist movement was the immediate emancipation of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and segregation. Advocating for immediate emancipation distinguished abolitionists from more moderate anti-slavery advocates who argued for gradual emancipation, and from free-soil activists who sought to restrict slavery to existing areas and prevent its spread further west. Radical abolitionism was partly fueled by the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening, which prompted many people to advocate for emancipation on religious grounds. Abolitionist ideas became increasingly prominent in Northern churches and politics beginning in the 1830s, which contributed to the regional animosity between North and South leading up to the Civil War."
You are correct - it was about time that some Christians were able to grow past the filthy morality of the Bible and do the right thing. Don't forget that during and immediately after this time - the majority of clergy and churches were opposed to emancipation, and equality, and desegregation, and interracial marriage, etc etc. etc...
Arthur_Ward: You are correct - it was about time that some
And again, the bigots against religion are wrong in their "majority" attacks. The MAJORITY of those who founded this country were abolitionists and only acquiesced to the ENGLISH support of slavery of certain colonies to get a majority to sign onto the Declaration and subsequent Constitution.
acts4him: And again, the bigots against religion are wrong in their
EternalTormentisaLie: Some Answers concerning slavery in the Bible. http://christianthinktank.com/qnoslave.html http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/slavery_bible.html http://www.rationalchristianity.net/slavery_ot.html
Example please? Anything can seem like a lie, but it depends on the environment of the writing, and as well, your understanding. And then again, like statistics, many statements can be "made out" as lies "on purpose".
acts4him: Example please? Anything can seem like a lie, but it
"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
"History I believe furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose. " — Thomas Jefferson to Baron von Humboldt, 1813
"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites" –Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782.
"Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first great corrupter of the teaching of Jesus."
"The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ."
"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."
SOURCE: Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President, author, scientist, architect, educator, and diplomat
stageplay: "It does me no injury for my neighbor to say
Sounds like he adored rather than shunned the teachings of Jesus and a true religion. All of those quotes refer to what society and human nature had done with them. Interesting choices....
acts4him: Sounds like he adored rather than shunned the teachings of
What is up with all of the evangelist atheists these days? I thought the entire point of being an atheist was to avoid religion. Next thing you know they will be opening missions, taking donations, and applying for tax status.
I'm an atheist and I could care less what someone else believes as long as it does not encroach on me.
jl13: What is up with all of the evangelist atheists these
Traditionally you could be an atheist as long as you kept your mouth shut about it. I think more vocal atheists are a great thing.
And of course christians are trying to get the laws and education system changed frequently to suit their needs. I'd like that to stop. More atheists will help with that.
erhuh: Traditionally you could be an atheist as long as you
"I could care less what someone else believes as long as it does not encroach on me. "
That's exactly why they're doing it. More and more, atheists are refusing to be silent. They are standing up for their rights against the suppression and oppression from religion, most specifically Christianity.
grayplace: "I could care less what someone else believes as long
As a black man I like this sign. To many people blindly follow the Bible and the Koran with out actually knowing how racist and sexist they are. For instance a lot of women follow the bible with out knowing about the laws of rape and never actually read the bible to see how much rape is encouraged.
sathosiel: As a black man I like this sign. To many
I remember watching the movie Roots in fifth grade. I had nightmares (and slept in my parents bed) for weeks after. Discussions about history, especially African American history, were an everyday occurrence in my home as a child. But the movie (Roots) made it real to me, seeing people chained and tightly packed in the belly of a boat, seeing women give birth shackled to wooden planks covered in vomit, urine and feces.My grandmother was forced to witness the lynching of her own father in 1935 in Alabama, she was only 10. He was lynch because he respectfully corrected the store clerk who short changed him by 1 penny As a kid my brown skin became a constant reminder of the brutal dehumanization of a people. As an adult I can acknowledge that slavery was/is a blemish on the face of a beautiful America. But these images, to most people who share this history, communicate an entirely different message. The message on the billboard to some may be true and relevant however to others it is truly tasteless and
horribly expressed. ..although I don't think that the atheist group had any racially motivated intentions.It is virtually impossible to garner support/consideration for a concept/idea while offending your target audience in the process. Just my thoughts.
Chandra_Samone: I remember watching the movie Roots in fifth grade. I
I get the quote, but there had to have been a more tasteful way about going about this campaign. I'm pretty sure the attention they're getting isn't what they were expecting.
ShaSha_Tucker: I get the quote, but there had to have been
ok first and foremost i dont agree with any advertising on that level. so you and this attitude of yours can relax. Everyone can have an opinion about things and want the support of others. But in my personal opinion you cant just go around putting up advertisment like this. and NO IT'S NOT OK to post billboards with mangled fetuses. I don't even know where you get the idea that I condone foolishness like that. Get it together!
ShaSha_Tucker: ok first and foremost i dont agree with any advertising
Thing though is the Pro life mangled fetuses are at least accurate and truthful. The Atheist...Obey your slaves...isn't. They are assuming that slavery in the Bible was the same as slavery in America. However, they don't bother to question that and see if that is actually true.
Problem is that people who read it won't do any research on what Biblical slavery entailed. They will just assume, as Atheists do, that it was the same thing as slavery in America. Atheists complain Christians never question anything, but when Atheists cherry pick the Bible, they also do not question.
For an example, they just assume the genocides were unjust cause God killed all those innocent people. They never question, "Were those people really innocent?"
Same thing here. They do not question. They do not ask, "What is Biblical slavery? Is it the same as American slavery or what was it all about?"
Can you really say EVERYONE in the cities god nuked was corrupt? And what about the Exodus massacre? Children? You think they deserved to die, just so your god could make a point? It seems like a good idea to be an atheist because I don't believe in an all-powerful serial killer.
And as for your "Biblical slavery," cruelty is not the only reason to oppose slavery. Enforced inequality is reason enough.
Mandalor_te_Siit: Can you really say EVERYONE in the cities god nuked
All your links say basically the same thing, due to humankind's original sin, and free will it was ok to keep slaves back then because it was a fact of life, it was important for those ancient peoples economy so god allowed it but wasn't happy about it. Trying to use a sliding scale of justice due to changes in cultural norms throughout history isn't a particularly good argument, as you end with the possibility of almost anything becoming acceptable at any time if it's a part of a given society and "just the way things are done".
Also only SOME slaves were in effect indentured servants, most were people captured as war prizes, that's just the way it was done back then.
The idea that children in particular weren't really innocent because of something that their great-great-great-great-grandparents did so it was OK to be killed or made slaves is truly repulsive, and is against the ideals of innocent before proven guilty, effectively making biblical law inferior to a human made law
Or you can just drag out the argument that god's laws aren't for man to question which is equally lame.........
jaydc: All your links say basically the same thing, due to
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First Posted: 03/13/2012 2:41 pm Updated: 03/13/2012 4:19 pm