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Atheists Double Down On Anti-Religion Billboard For The Holidays
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 7, 2011
Modified Dec 7, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 7, 2011
Modified Dec 7, 2011
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Last year the atheists and the Christians got into an entertaining billboard war around Christmastime, with the God-deniers putting up a billboard outside the Lincoln Tunnel calling Christ a "myth" and the God-vocates firing back with their own ad showing Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, with the copy "You Know It's Real." It's unclear how many souls were saved or minds liberated (depending on your preferences) but it was good for the billboard business. However, this year Team God isn't taking the bait... at least not yet.
The atheist's billboard, seen here, was put up earlier this week outside the Lincoln Tunnel on the New Jersey side. A spokesman for American Atheists says, "Offending people is not our goal, but we know people are going to be offended. When you question someone’s long-held beliefs and doctrine they are going to be immediately offended and be on the defensive: it’s a known psychological phenomenon."
But are the believers offended? Last year an anonymous 80-year-old Austrian man donated thousands of dollars to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, so they could put up the counter billboard. Bill Donohue, league president, says the billboard doesn't merit a response. "It’s inane," Donohue tells City Room. "Nobody knows what this means. I mean, Neptune? Over here, we just looked at each other in puzzlement." (Also, the anonymous Austrian didn't come through with the cash.)
But there could be some holy wars yet—the atheists are planning to replace this billboard with an even more provocative "call to action," which will be exclusively revealed on FOX’s Huckabee with Mike Huckabee on December 10th! Not that you need any extra incentive to tune into FOX's Huckabee, of course.
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atheists
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Catholic League
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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