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See Monday's Controversial Anti-Religion Billboard, Today!
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 1, 2012
Modified Mar 1, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 1, 2012
Modified Mar 1, 2012
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It's been more than two months since the last atheist billboard controversy, so the time seems ripe for something new to rile up the religious masses! To that end, American Atheists are switching up their strategy this time: instead of putting a billboard over the Lincoln Tunnel (as they've done for the last few years), they are putting up two billboards in Muslim and Jewish enclaves in Paterson, NJ and Williamsburg, with messages in Arabic and Hebrew.
American Atheists will unveil the billboards Monday on Broadway in heavily Muslim Paterson, New Jersey and in heavily Jewish section of Williamsburg, immediately after the Williamsburg Bridge. Dave Silverman, the president of American Atheists, said the signs are intended to reach atheists in the Muslim and Jewish enclaves who may feel isolated: “Those communities are designed to keep atheists in the ranks,” he says. “If there are atheists in those communities, we are reaching out to them. We are letting them know that we see them, we acknowledge them and they don't have to live that way if they don’t want to.”
Whether this will provoke a reaction from Team God—as it has in the past—has yet to be seen, but Silverman expects people will be upset by the message on the billboards: “We are not trying to inflame anything,” he continued. “We are trying to advertise our existence to atheist in those communities. The objective is not to inflame but rather to advertise the atheist movement in the Muslim and Jewish community.” He added that his group plans to put up multiple billboards in multiple communities "in order to get atheists to come out of the closet."
Mohamed Elfilali, executive director of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, told CNN he was surprised that someone is spending money on such a billboard, but agreed it was their right to do so: “It is not the first and won’t be the last time people have said things about God or religion,” Elfilali says. “I respect people’s opinion about God; obviously they are entitled to it. I don’t think God is a myth, but that doesn’t exclude people to have a different opinion.” He added that it was sad to see people being hyper-polarizing: “Sadly, there is a need to polarize society as opposed to build bridges,” he says. “That is the century that we live in. It is very polarized, very politicized.”
Tagged
american atheists
anti-religion
atheists
billboard
jewish
muslim
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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