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Atheist Ad Campaigns Are All the Rage
By
Sarah Bibi
Published Dec 3, 2010
Modified Dec 3, 2010
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By
Sarah Bibi
Published Dec 3, 2010
Modified Dec 3, 2010
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Atheists have been trying to get out their message, from city bus ads to the recent controversial billboard displayed at the Lincoln Tunnel which prompted a counter-billboard from the Catholic League. The latest: Co-opting rich billionaires into the act. Recently, the Illini Secular Student Alliance (ISSA), at the University of Illinois, launched a bus ad campaign to set the record straight when it comes to the charitable atheists of our world.
ISSA explains, "A consequence of the centuries-spanning PR campaign conflating theism (and especially Christianity) with the impulse to charity has largely duped Americans into believing that Christians are the major givers and that non-believers are selfish, angry loners unconcerned with the struggles of the less fortunate...Not only is the stereotype untrue, it is perversely untrue." The bus campaign ads feature high profile philanthropists including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. The ISSA's tagline? "Good without god."
Back to the Lincoln Tunnel billboards: American Atheists' president David Silverman said, the response has been overwhelming, "I've gotten angry calls from angry Christians who don't like their religion to be challenged. But that's too bad, it's freedom of speech. Christians go after us every day with billboards all over the country that say we're going to hell."
Tagged
american atheists
atheists
bill gates
Catholic League
god
ISSA
warren buffett
Sarah Bibi
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