God Wanted These Censored

[alzan]

That makes perfect sense to me, but kind of throws the stamp collecting analogy out the window. It does however bring up other questions. Why atheism? Why not the big bang, or string theory? Why aren't there billboards proclaiming the benefits of the higgs boson? Why are there no anti astrology organizations?

I know the answer to all of those questions as well as you do, and they always come back to where you put your faith.
I'm not a religious man, but I'm also not nearly arrogant enough to assume that I know the unknowable. Any discussion of a supreme being is by definition outside the realm of human knowledge. Taking the written word of religion and applying an obtuse or literal meaning to it to make it appear foolish is intellectual dishonesty. It's done only to make the non believer feel superior, and that is the essence of my personal issue with atheism.

Your post seemed to be suggesting that you considered atheism a religion, the only reason I substituted stamp collecting was to show the ridiculousness of your post. My apologies if that's not what you were saying.

I have no ego to massage, no need to feel superior to anyone. The only person I have to be better than is the person I am right now. People need ways of coping with life's uncertainties and religion fills that need rather nicely.

But like atheism, various addictions, etc., religion can be taken to the extreme. In Utah the Mormon church has a stranglehold on various businesses, communities, and state and local governments. It may have been private companies in Utah that refused to run the billboards in the OP but I'd bet my bottom dollar that some (all) of the companies are owned and/or run by Mormons.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I wonder if those that complain about these billboards defended the anti-Islam billboards that one group was trying to put up in the NYC transit system...

Granted, some of the billboards are over the top and unnecessarily antagonistic, most of those shown in the OP are rather benign, so I don't see how they could 'violate community standards' that the advertising company claimed in their denial of those ads.

They're in Utah, admittedly heavily influenced by the Mormon church. It may violate that communities standards, whereas placing Atheist billboards in a less religious environment probably wouldn't have the same results.

 

[her209]

When a billboard deliberately tries to insult Christians, you can expect some push back.

Mormons are Christian now? Didn't seem like it was when Mittens was running in President.

 

[Greenman]

Your post seemed to be suggesting that you considered atheism a religion, the only reason I substituted stamp collecting was to show the ridiculousness of your post. My apologies if that's not what you were saying.

I have no ego to massage, no need to feel superior to anyone. The only person I have to be better than is the person I am right now. People need ways of coping with life's uncertainties and religion fills that need rather nicely.

But like atheism, various addictions, etc., religion can be taken to the extreme. In Utah the Mormon church has a stranglehold on various businesses, communities, and state and local governments. It may have been private companies in Utah that refused to run the billboards in the OP but I'd bet my bottom dollar that some (all) of the companies are owned and/or run by Mormons.

Anything taken to the extreme is ludicrous, even atheism.

The entire reason for those billboards was to mock the religious community. As such, the people that own the billboards wisely decided not to allow them to do it.

 

[smitbret]

I disagree. Looking at it at face value I see the billboard as stating that Susan Smith used to be Mormon and perhaps had a crisis of faith or disagreement with LDS elders over how they treat non-Mormons; she then thought to identify as an ex-Mormon, both to strengthen her emotionally against the teachings and dictums of her former religion and to tell others in her community of her displeasure with the LDS leadership. Finally she came to grips with her former need for faith in a deity and became atheist, able to live to both community and her own ethical standards.

You should probably visit Utah or the surrounding areas of it's bordering states then, Mormons are incredibly oppressive in their dealings with non-Mormons. Buy a home, rent an apartment or start a business as a non-Mormon and you'll see just how oppressive they really are. If your non-Mormon son or daughter falls in love with a Mormon and wants to marry, guess what, you won't be allowed to attend the wedding if it's in a tabernacle.

I was following along with everything you said until that completely incorrect statement blew all of your credibility.

 

[jackstar7]

The entire reason for those billboards was to mock the religious community. As such, the people that own the billboards wisely decided not to allow them to do it.

Funny, I'm pretty sure the intention of those billboards was to remind people that there are atheists out there and they look just like everyone else... so remain vigilant!

 

[manimal]

Does this violation of religious freedom make you upset? What if they were Christian or Jewish messages?

If the athiests can't have billboards lefts take god off all of them as well.

 

[alzan]

I was following along with everything you said until that completely incorrect statement blew all of your credibility.

You're correct, I was wrong in that statement. Although according to this link, relatives and friends may attend as long as the total guest attendees is kept as small as possible: http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/mormon/weddings/

Wow, one mistake and all my credibility with you is blown. Gee, I guess I've learned my lesson!

Anything taken to the extreme is ludicrous, even atheism.

The entire reason for those billboards was to mock the religious community. As such, the people that own the billboards wisely decided not to allow them to do it.

It's your opinion that the content of the billboards is ludicrous and that the only reason for them was to mock the theistic community; not all people, theist or atheist, would agree.

 

[Cozarkian]

It's your opinion that the content of the billboards is ludicrous and that the only reason for them was to mock the theistic community; not all people, theist or atheist, would agree.

The advertising businesses that the organization wanted to hire seem to agree.

 

[Greenman]

You're correct, I was wrong in that statement. Although according to this link, relatives and friends may attend as long as the total guest attendees is kept as small as possible: http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/mormon/weddings/

Wow, one mistake and all my credibility with you is blown. Gee, I guess I've learned my lesson!



It's your opinion that the content of the billboards is ludicrous and that the only reason for them was to mock the theistic community; not all people, theist or atheist, would agree.

I didn't say the content was ludicrous, I said anything taken to an extreme was.
But yes, I do believe the point was to mock the religious community.

 

[irishScott]

Yet another example of Atheism turning into the religion of the non-religious. What's the point of these billboards beyond Atheist proselytizing?

I'm not religious and if I owned the billboard company I wouldn't put those up simply because they're stupid.

 

[irishScott]

They're in Utah, admittedly heavily influenced by the Mormon church. It may violate that communities standards, whereas placing Atheist billboards in a less religious environment probably wouldn't have the same results.

It's only going to have 2 results wherever you place them.

Angsty Atheists looking to feel pissed off will see them and go "fuck yeah!"
Angsty Christians looking to feel pissed off will see them and start fuming.

Regular people will pass on by and forget about them within 10 minutes.

It's just an attempt to slap a dumb, unfunny internet meme on a billboard.

 

[Greenman]

It's only going to have 2 results wherever you place them.

Angsty Atheists looking to feel pissed off will see them and go "fuck yeah!"
Angsty Christians looking to feel pissed off will see them and start fuming.

Regular people will pass on by and forget about them within 10 minutes.

It's just an attempt to slap a dumb, unfunny internet meme on a billboard.

Thats an almost unbelievably rational point of view, are you tricking us?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Yet another example of Atheism turning into the religion of the non-religious. What's the point of these billboards beyond Atheist proselytizing?

I'm not religious and if I owned the billboard company I wouldn't put those up simply because they're stupid.

If you read them, the point seems to be advertising for a Antheist convention at least most of them

 

[werepossum]

Mormons are Christian now? Didn't seem like it was when Mittens was running in President.

Um, Mormons have always been Christian. They may not be Christian enough for some fundamentalists, but Mormonism is definitely a Christian sect.

I was following along with everything you said until that completely incorrect statement blew all of your credibility.

Um, his statement was actually correct. My wife's best friend was not allowed to attend her niece's wedding this year because she never converted (her mother and sisters did, so the niece is Mormon) and not being Mormon, she is not allowed to enter the tabernacle. (This is in Georgia, not Utah.)

I've seen other things I consider crazy from the Mormon faith. I worked with a plant manager who was a deacon in the Dalton GA tabernacle when they discovered that he was divorced. They demanded that he divorce his wife, re-marry his first wife (who had also remarried and spawned again), and renounce his children with his second wife to be right with G-d. If it's THAT important, might wanna ask before you make someone a deacon. And a friend's very gay and very nice son was put through exorcism and finally excommunicated for the sin of being gay. While Mormons have been almost universally some of the nicest people I've ever met, like all religions it has its warts and its people who insist that the Church is more important than the reason for the Church.

Yet another example of Atheism turning into the religion of the non-religious. What's the point of these billboards beyond Atheist proselytizing?

I'm not religious and if I owned the billboard company I wouldn't put those up simply because they're stupid.

This, exactly.

 

[Perknose]

While Mormons have been almost universally some of the nicest people I've ever met, like all religions it has its warts and its people who insist that the Church is more important than the reason for the Church.

Very well put!

 

[werepossum]

Very well put!

Thanks.

 

[kage69]

Yet another example of Atheism turning into the religion of the non-religious. What's the point of these billboards beyond Atheist proselytizing?

I'm not religious and if I owned the billboard company I wouldn't put those up simply because they're stupid.

The point was to advertise an event and to illustrate a faulty stereotype which related to the venue of said event. How you missed that and cut straight to the indignant feeling of persecution is rather strange.

I think it's just another example of the butthurt victim routine the religious in this country enjoy performing when it suits them, which these days is quite often.

This one in particular really cracks me up. I've seen so many billboards and signs across the country put up by churches informing motorists and pedestrians what the fires of hell look and feel like, how homosexual people corrupt families, what an aborted fetus looks like, generally stuff extremely contentious and/or inappropriate, and for something as mundane and non offensive as the billboards in the OP to have gotten that reaction is pathetically hypocritical in my mind.

Grow thicker skin you Mormon pussies. If the mention of people who no longer agree with you is cause enough to become fearful and make you question your faith or business, maybe it's time to re-evaluate them? This just makes the Mormon church seem more afraid of free thinkers than normal.

 

[irishScott]

The point was to advertise an event and to illustrate a faulty stereotype which related to the venue of said event. How you missed that and cut straight to the indignant feeling of persecution is rather strange.

I think it's just another example of the butthurt victim routine the religious in this country enjoy performing when it suits them, which these days is quite often.

This one in particular really cracks me up. I've seen so many billboards and signs across the country put up by churches informing motorists and pedestrians what the fires of hell look and feel like, how homosexual people corrupt families, what an aborted fetus looks like, generally stuff extremely contentious and/or inappropriate, and for something as mundane and non offensive as the billboards in the OP to have gotten that reaction is pathetically hypocritical in my mind.

Grow thicker skin you Mormon pussies. If the mention of people who no longer agree with you is cause enough to become fearful and make you question your faith or business, maybe it's time to re-evaluate them? This just makes the Mormon church seem more afraid of free thinkers than normal.

Then perhaps they should be doing more advertising and less cat scratching. Note the font advertising the convention is a few times smaller than the snark.

I'll admit it's hypocritical given some of the religious banners that are up, but most people look at those and think "oh, Christian fundamentalist nutjobs" and look away. Do Atheists really want themselves equated to that? Poor Atheists, not being allowed to project their stupidity like radical Christians do.

 

[irishScott]

If you read them, the point seems to be advertising for a Antheist convention at least most of them

Yeah, if you read the fine print at the bottom. The main message is clearly just a snarky stab at Christians worthy of 4Chan.

 

[jackstar7]

Yeah, if you read the fine print at the bottom. The main message is clearly just a snarky stab at Christians worthy of 4Chan.

See, this relies on thinking Christians and other religious folk are the audience and not the atheists in the exposed population.

 

[irishScott]

See, this relies on thinking Christians and other religious folk are the audience and not the atheists in the exposed population.

The audience is whomever reads the signs, which can be assumed to be everyone on the road. Even if the audience was intended to be purely Atheist, then I think a simple "AMERICAN ATHEIST NATIONAL CONVENTION" banner with the corresponding contact info would better serve said audience without the backhanded slap at religion.

Organized Atheism's main problems nowadays are that it's too damn angsty (as many of its members first came to Atheism purely as a rebellion against religious parents) and is demanding to be treated as a religion despite by definition not being a religion. Atheists by and large seems more interested in the negatives of religion than the positives of Atheism.

 

[werepossum]

The audience is whomever reads the signs, which can be assumed to be everyone on the road. Even if the audience was intended to be purely Atheist, then I think a simple "AMERICAN ATHEIST NATIONAL CONVENTION" banner with the corresponding contact info would better serve said audience without the backhanded slap at religion.

Organized Atheism's main problems nowadays are that it's too damn angsty (as many of its members first came to Atheism purely as a rebellion against religious parents) and is demanding to be treated as a religion despite by definition not being a religion. Atheists by and large seems more interested in the negatives of religion than the positives of Atheism.

Well said, sir.

It's worth pointing out that you won't see billboards advertising the National Convention of People Who Don't Believe in Leprechauns. It is exactly as you say, some atheists want to make a religion of it and then proselytize if not force that religion on others. Strictly for their own good of course. (Hey - it IS like a real religion!)

 

[jackstar7]

The audience is whomever reads the signs, which can be assumed to be everyone on the road. Even if the audience was intended to be purely Atheist, then I think a simple "AMERICAN ATHEIST NATIONAL CONVENTION" banner with the corresponding contact info would better serve said audience without the backhanded slap at religion.

Organized Atheism's main problems nowadays are that it's too damn angsty (as many of its members first came to Atheism purely as a rebellion against religious parents) and is demanding to be treated as a religion despite by definition not being a religion. Atheists by and large seems more interested in the negatives of religion than the positives of Atheism.

Where do you get your ideas about marketing? You think a simple banner would have done the job? Have you organized any kind of event before?

And again, all these do is communicate that there is a community of people out there that don't have to hide what they believe due to the overwhelming pressure of the vast majority.

All of these could be changed to say "D&D players" instead of atheists and they would be just as non-antagonistic as they actually are. It's the desire of the majority to still enjoy the excitement of victimhood that makes these provocative in any way.

Honestly, they could hardly be more benign in trying to encourage people to attend a convention.

But they offend hyper-sensitive religious folks, because Jesus said in the Book of Juke 1:19 "And shun the non-believers because they should feel like the others among you and they are, of course, not to be loved, even though I told you guys to love everybody. Now, who wants to get tacos, bros?"

And I say that to illustrate that I will denigrate religious beliefs all day, but those billboards do not at all.

 

[irishScott]

Where do you get your ideas about marketing? You think a simple banner would have done the job? Have you organized any kind of event before?

And again, all these do is communicate that there is a community of people out there that don't have to hide what they believe due to the overwhelming pressure of the vast majority.

All of these could be changed to say "D&D players" instead of atheists and they would be just as non-antagonistic as they actually are. It's the desire of the majority to still enjoy the excitement of victimhood that makes these provocative in any way.

Honestly, they could hardly be more benign in trying to encourage people to attend a convention.

But they offend hyper-sensitive religious folks, because Jesus said in the Book of Juke 1:19 "And shun the non-believers because they should feel like the others among you and they are, of course, not to be loved, even though I told you guys to love everybody. Now, who wants to get tacos, bros?"

I think most conventions don't do their primary advertising by billboard. And a banner would communicate the existence of said community just as well.

And actually no, changing "Atheists" to "D&D players" would still be a backhand slap at religion, it would just be one that made no sense.

And thanks for proving my point with that Bible quote. Perhaps Atheists would get a little further if they had a little more positive message and a little less teenage angst. From what I know of organized Atheism and those that participate in it, they might as well change the name of the convention to "Come-bitch-about-religion Circle-Jerk". But I guess the atmosphere of such things is usually so acidic I could see how one used to said atmosphere could see these banners as "benign".