Featured on the two new billboards are former Presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Texas Governor Rick Perry. The billboards promote American Atheists’ 50th Anniversary Celebration & Convention, which will take place in Austin, Texas the weekend of March 29th.

The Huckabee billboard reads: “Amend the Constitution to what I say are ‘God’s Standards.” Below is an invitation to “Go Godless Instead,” with the website atheists.org.

The Perry billboard reads, “His solution to school shootings? Prayer,” in reference to a January speech from this year.

American Atheists approached several Texas billboard companies, but all refused to run the Perry design in Austin, the city in which Perry resides as Governor. When contacted by CNN about the rejection, one billboard company did agree to run the design, replacing a billboard featuring Sarah Palin.

American Atheists President Dave Silverman said, “Rick Perry’s statement is out of touch with reality. Prayer does not solve problems, rather it masks them. Asking Americans to pray to solve the violence problem is an admission of administrative impotence. Playing the God card is not a valid substitute for real action.”

American Atheists Public Relations Director Dave Muscato added, “Huckabee’s statement is terrifying. The First Amendment exists to protect us from being forced to live in a theocracy. This is not just an issue for atheists: Whose interpretation of God’s standards would we even use? This is why the Founding Fathers insisted on separation of church & state in the first place.”

[March 18, 2013]

Featured on the two new billboards are former Presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Texas Governor Rick Perry. The billboards promote American Atheists’ 50th Anniversary Celebration & Convention, which will take place in Austin, Texas the weekend of March 29th.

The Huckabee billboard reads: “Amend the Constitution to what I say are ‘God’s Standards.” Below is an invitation to “Go Godless Instead,” with the website atheists.org.

The Perry billboard reads, “His solution to school shootings? Prayer,” in reference to a January speech from this year.

American Atheists approached several Texas billboard companies, but all refused to run the Perry design in Austin, the city in which Perry resides as Governor. When contacted by CNN about the rejection, one billboard company did agree to run the design, replacing a billboard featuring Sarah Palin.

American Atheists President Dave Silverman said, “Rick Perry’s statement is out of touch with reality. Prayer does not solve problems, rather it masks them. Asking Americans to pray to solve the violence problem is an admission of administrative impotence. Playing the God card is not a valid substitute for real action.”

American Atheists Public Relations Director Dave Muscato added, “Huckabee’s statement is terrifying. The First Amendment exists to protect us from being forced to live in a theocracy. This is not just an issue for atheists: Whose interpretation of God’s standards would we even use? This is why the Founding Fathers insisted on separation of church & state in the first place.”

[March 18, 2013]

Thanks to the hard work of Dave and Chris, the first of our Billboards has been placed on 31 south of Charlevoix. I have already been contacted by one new person that found us through the billboard. Keep an eye out for others to show up around Petoskey and on 131. If you see one up, please send me a message so I can get a picture like the one above.

Also, a new Northern Express ad should appear soon so keep an eye out and contact me when you find it.

Our goal is to increase our visibility and let other freethinkers know that we are here.

[March 13, 2013]

“Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.”

These words, superimposed over an image of a blue sky with clouds, can be seen on two prominent 14 x 48 foot billboards in Corpus Christi. Their appearance marks the formal launch of the South Texas Coalition of Reason (South Texas CoR), an alliance of six non-theistic (atheist and agnostic) groups in South Texas spanning from Corpus Christi to Kingsville, Laredo and Brownsville. Member organizations include: Ateos de Laredo, Brownsville Skeptics Atheists, Corpus Christi Atheists, the Humanist Society of South Texas, Individuals for Freethought and the Secular Student Alliance at Texas A&M University–Kingsville.

Sponsored by the new South Texas CoR, with $5,616 in funding from the United Coalition of Reason (UnitedCoR), the billboards will remain up through March, covering Spring Break and the Easter season. They can be found at the following locations:

* On the south (right-hand) side of I-37 at Peabody, as viewed by eastbound traffic heading into downtown Corpus Christi.

* On the east (right-hand) side of North Padre Island Drive at Bates, as viewed by northbound traffic heading toward the airport or I-37.

Both billboards are illuminated at night. For hi-res images, free for media use, visit SouthTexasCoR.org .

The campaign is part of a coordinated nationwide program that began in 2009. From then to now, similar campaigns have been launched in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Each local campaign is sponsored by a multi-organizational coalition of non-theistic groups in the area.

“The point of our national awareness campaign is to reach out to the millions of humanists, atheists and agnostics living in the United States,” explained Fred Edwords, national director of UnitedCoR. “Non-theists sometimes don’t realize there’s a community for them because they’re inundated with religious messages at every turn. So we hope our effort will serve as a beacon and let them know they aren’t alone.”

Reaching out to the like minded isn’t the only goal of the effort. “We want people to know that atheists and agnostics are a regular part of the community here,” added Christian Ferris, coordinator of South Texas CoR. “Non-theists live all over South Texas. We’re your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers and family members. And we want to be as free as everyone else to be open about our views on religion.”

“Being visible is important to us,” Edwords concluded, “because in our society non-religious people often don’t know many others like themselves.”

This campaign is the latest in a statewide and nationwide effort. Previously in Texas, from 2009 to 2012, billboard or bus ad campaigns were launched in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. There have been similar billboards, bus ads or Internet campaigns over this same period in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

[March 6, 2013]

American Atheists announced a billboard campaign in Austin and Dallas, Texas, which features four designs with quotes from Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, and Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress about the place of faith in government and their views on homosexuality. One billboard features former GOP vice presidential nominee Palin and her statement, “We should create law based on the God of the Bible,” and calls upon Americans to “Go godless instead,” with an invitation to attend American Atheists’ 50th Anniversary celebration and national convention March 29-31, in Austin.

Also launched were two billboards, including one in Spanish, which highlight the history of child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church and another which is critical of religion more generally.

“We’re very proud of these billboards,” said American Atheists President Dave Silverman. “Prominent figures in the public sphere continue to make abhorrent statements, all justified by their religion. The time in American history where overt bigotry against atheists is acceptable is finally coming to an end, and good riddance! We invite reasonable people to stand up, come out, and join us in celebrating 50 years of fighting for the separation of church & state and the civil rights of atheists.”

The national convention will include such speakers as former California Congressman Pete Stark, Twisted Sister lead guitarist Jay Jay French, authors A.C. Grayling and Katherine Stewart, popular debater Matt Dillahunty, former pastors-turned-atheists Teresa MacBain and Jerry DeWitt, and American Atheists President David Silverman. The convention will also feature a costume dinner, free concerts, a comedy show, an art show and silent auction, more than 25 national and local vendors and exhibitors, and childcare options for attending families.

[March 3, 2013]

American Atheists announced a billboard campaign in Austin and Dallas, Texas, which features four designs with quotes from Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, and Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress about the place of faith in government and their views on homosexuality. One billboard features former GOP vice presidential nominee Palin and her statement, “We should create law based on the God of the Bible,” and calls upon Americans to “Go godless instead,” with an invitation to attend American Atheists’ 50th Anniversary celebration and national convention March 29-31, in Austin.

Also launched were two billboards, including one in Spanish, which highlight the history of child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church and another which is critical of religion more generally.

“We’re very proud of these billboards,” said American Atheists President Dave Silverman. “Prominent figures in the public sphere continue to make abhorrent statements, all justified by their religion. The time in American history where overt bigotry against atheists is acceptable is finally coming to an end, and good riddance! We invite reasonable people to stand up, come out, and join us in celebrating 50 years of fighting for the separation of church & state and the civil rights of atheists.”

The national convention will include such speakers as former California Congressman Pete Stark, Twisted Sister lead guitarist Jay Jay French, authors A.C. Grayling and Katherine Stewart, popular debater Matt Dillahunty, former pastors-turned-atheists Teresa MacBain and Jerry DeWitt, and American Atheists President David Silverman. The convention will also feature a costume dinner, free concerts, a comedy show, an art show and silent auction, more than 25 national and local vendors and exhibitors, and childcare options for attending families.

[March 3, 2013]

American Atheists announced a billboard campaign in Austin and Dallas, Texas, which features four designs with quotes from Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, and Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress about the place of faith in government and their views on homosexuality. One billboard features former GOP vice presidential nominee Palin and her statement, “We should create law based on the God of the Bible,” and calls upon Americans to “Go godless instead,” with an invitation to attend American Atheists’ 50th Anniversary celebration and national convention March 29-31, in Austin.

Also launched were two billboards, including one in Spanish, which highlight the history of child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church and another which is critical of religion more generally.

“We’re very proud of these billboards,” said American Atheists President Dave Silverman. “Prominent figures in the public sphere continue to make abhorrent statements, all justified by their religion. The time in American history where overt bigotry against atheists is acceptable is finally coming to an end, and good riddance! We invite reasonable people to stand up, come out, and join us in celebrating 50 years of fighting for the separation of church & state and the civil rights of atheists.”

The national convention will include such speakers as former California Congressman Pete Stark, Twisted Sister lead guitarist Jay Jay French, authors A.C. Grayling and Katherine Stewart, popular debater Matt Dillahunty, former pastors-turned-atheists Teresa MacBain and Jerry DeWitt, and American Atheists President David Silverman. The convention will also feature a costume dinner, free concerts, a comedy show, an art show and silent auction, more than 25 national and local vendors and exhibitors, and childcare options for attending families.

[March 3, 2013]

American Atheists announced a billboard campaign in Austin and Dallas, Texas, which features four designs with quotes from Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, and Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress about the place of faith in government and their views on homosexuality. One billboard features former GOP vice presidential nominee Palin and her statement, “We should create law based on the God of the Bible,” and calls upon Americans to “Go godless instead,” with an invitation to attend American Atheists’ 50th Anniversary celebration and national convention March 29-31, in Austin.

Also launched were two billboards, including one in Spanish, which highlight the history of child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church and another which is critical of religion more generally.

“We’re very proud of these billboards,” said American Atheists President Dave Silverman. “Prominent figures in the public sphere continue to make abhorrent statements, all justified by their religion. The time in American history where overt bigotry against atheists is acceptable is finally coming to an end, and good riddance! We invite reasonable people to stand up, come out, and join us in celebrating 50 years of fighting for the separation of church & state and the civil rights of atheists.”

The national convention will include such speakers as former California Congressman Pete Stark, Twisted Sister lead guitarist Jay Jay French, authors A.C. Grayling and Katherine Stewart, popular debater Matt Dillahunty, former pastors-turned-atheists Teresa MacBain and Jerry DeWitt, and American Atheists President David Silverman. The convention will also feature a costume dinner, free concerts, a comedy show, an art show and silent auction, more than 25 national and local vendors and exhibitors, and childcare options for attending families.

[March 3, 2013]

An atheist organization known for being provocative plans to take that reputation to the next level this week by putting up seven billboards that call out prominent politicians and religious leaders.

American Atheists plans to target three Republican politicians: former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former House Speak Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

The seven signs will go up around Dallas and Austin, Texas.

In one billboard, a picture of Palin is featured on the left, with a quote attributed to her. “We should create law based on the God of the Bible,” the quote reads. Underneath the graphic is a tag line “GO GODLESS INSTEAD.”

Each of the billboards has a similar format and includes a pitch for the group’s 50th anniversary convention in Austin.

Santorum is condemned for when he told an Iowa crowd last November that, “our civil laws have to comport with a higher law: God’s law,” while Gingrich is criticized for a remark he made at a CNN debate on October 18, 2011, in Las Vegas. “How can I trust you with power if you don’t pray,” Gingrich posited.

Two religious leaders, the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor at the First Baptist Dallas, and Benedict XVI, now the pope emeritus, also are featured on billboards.

Jeffress’ billboard includes a quote the pastor said during a 2008 sermon titled, “Gay Is Not OK.” “What they [homosexuals] do is filthy,” reads the billboard. Under the quote is the phrase “Go Godless Instead” and a rainbow flag, a symbol of gay rights.

This will be the only ad placed in Dallas, featured in a busy stretch of Interstate 30 and only a few miles from Jeffress’ large church.

The billboard featuring Benedict XVI, who stepped down Thursday, cites a New York Times article entitled, “Vatican Declined to Defrock U.S. Priest Who Abused Boys.” “The Church Protected Priests Who Abused Children,” reads the billboard.

Silverman says the group plans to spend $25,000 on the billboards, which will go up on Monday and remain up for the rest of March.

Six of the billboards will be dispersed around the Austin area, with four placed on high traffic freeways.

[March 3, 2013]

American Atheists announced a billboard campaign in Austin and Dallas, Texas, which features four designs with quotes from Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, and Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress about the place of faith in government and their views on homosexuality. One billboard features former GOP vice presidential nominee Palin and her statement, “We should create law based on the God of the Bible,” and calls upon Americans to “Go godless instead,” with an invitation to attend American Atheists’ 50th Anniversary celebration and national convention March 29-31, in Austin.

Also launched were two billboards, including one in Spanish, which highlight the history of child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church and another which is critical of religion more generally.

“We’re very proud of these billboards,” said American Atheists President Dave Silverman. “Prominent figures in the public sphere continue to make abhorrent statements, all justified by their religion. The time in American history where overt bigotry against atheists is acceptable is finally coming to an end, and good riddance! We invite reasonable people to stand up, come out, and join us in celebrating 50 years of fighting for the separation of church & state and the civil rights of atheists.”

The national convention will include such speakers as former California Congressman Pete Stark, Twisted Sister lead guitarist Jay Jay French, authors A.C. Grayling and Katherine Stewart, popular debater Matt Dillahunty, former pastors-turned-atheists Teresa MacBain and Jerry DeWitt, and American Atheists President David Silverman. The convention will also feature a costume dinner, free concerts, a comedy show, an art show and silent auction, more than 25 national and local vendors and exhibitors, and childcare options for attending families.

[March 3, 2013]