# Are these very insulting Atheist billboards attacking Christianity & Mormonism really the way to go? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357 "2012-08-23T05:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/21 "2012-08-23T08:56:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’d like to see atheism promoted the same way I’d like to see Christianity or any other religion promoted; by presenting its positive aspects rather than by attacking the negative aspects of other beliefs. The problem is, its lack of those negative attributes IS the positive aspect of atheism. Atheism isn’t a belief or belief system; it’s a _lack_ of belief. It’s not good or bad; it isn’t anything. It’s better than religion because religion is _bad_; not because atheism is _good_. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/22 "2012-08-23T09:06:03Z")
Are these the same douchebags who are trying to get the cross taken out of the 9/11 museum? It sucks that you don’t get to choose who’s on your team or what message they spread on “your” behalf, but that’s just the way of things. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/23 "2012-08-23T09:23:00Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Judging from history, it wouldn’t have any effect whatsoever. You have to actually try it. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/24 "2012-08-23T10:19:40Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Whispering at people who have been shouted at their whole lives until they’re almost deaf is not particularly effective. I’m not sure what your point is. But to take your analogy and run with it, what I’m suggesting is that atheists need to talk to Xtians. Not whisper, not shout. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/25 "2012-08-23T10:20:43Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > You have to actually try it. It’s been tried for centuries and hasn’t worked. No amount of tiptoeing around the sensitivities of believers placates them. Again; sucking up to the believers and making a show of how much they are respected is the practice that resulted in a society that hates and fears unbelievers. They don’t hate atheists because of anything that atheists do or don’t do; they hate atheists because the very existence of people who don’t believe is an affront to them. > [@Eliahna](#): > > Are these the same douchebags who are trying to get the cross taken out of the 9/11 museum? Or for the symbols of other religions to be displayed as well. You know, fairness and religious inclusion. As opposed to Christians taking the opportunity to make the 9-11 museum all about their holy war with Islam, while underlining the fact that a great many don’t care at all about the non-Christians who died. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/26 "2012-08-23T10:42:03Z")
Remember what this group is- it’s not Freedom From Religion Foundation or Americans United For Separation of Church & State. It’s “American Atheists”, founded by Madalyn Murray O’Hair. Snark & anger is in its very DNA. Since the murder of her & her son & granddaughter, it’s mellowed a bit, but not by much. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/27 "2012-08-23T10:55:28Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > It’s been tried for centuries and hasn’t worked. I meant YOU have to actually try it. Respect is something that individuals do to each other, or not. Individually. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/28 "2012-08-23T11:09:31Z")
I, for one, have no objection to the billboards or their content. Anything that reminds people that we exist and we aren’t going away is a good thing in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/29 "2012-08-23T11:11:34Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I meant YOU have to actually try it. Respect is something that individuals do to each other, or not. Individually. Nonsense. Atheist are despised by hundreds of millions of Christians who will never meet them or know anything about them personally. What I do is irrelevant; I could save the typical believer’s life and he’d _still_ probably hate me; and all of those millions who’ll never know anything about me will _certainly_ still hate me and every other atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/30 "2012-08-23T11:16:52Z")
I think the billboards are pointless and dickish, but it’s their money to waste. And while I think more polite discourse helps get the message across better, even [this campaign](http://www.humanism.org.uk/bus-campaign) had Christian groups howling at the grievous insult it delivered; to wit, that they might possibly be mistaken. The horror, the horror… ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/31 "2012-08-23T11:18:02Z")
Religion has traditionally been off-limits to criticism, but I think it’s time the gloves came off. As W.C. Fields once said, “There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/32 "2012-08-23T11:27:20Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The problem is, its lack of those negative attributes IS the positive aspect of atheism. Hostility and intolerance are not positive attributes, regardless of whether it’s atheists or believers who have them. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/33 "2012-08-23T11:43:18Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Nonsense. Atheist are despised by hundreds of millions of Christians who will never meet them or know anything about them personally. What I do is irrelevant; I’d say what you do, or more precisely, _they way you often do it_ ain’t helping. > [@](#): > > I could save the typical believer’s life and he’d _still_ probably hate me; I just think you’re wrong here. that’s a ridiculous thing to say - maybe it’s hyperbole (if so, again, ain’t helping). > [@](#): > > and all of those millions who’ll never know anything about me will _certainly_ still hate me and every other atheist. Is this very different from the way you (appear to) feel about millions of religious people who you don’t know? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/34 "2012-08-23T12:08:48Z")
As a Christian, I think those billboards are an excellent argument _against_ atheism. Imagine a Demotivators-style poster, showing a picture of that billboard, with the following caption: > [@](#): > > Do you really want to be the sort of person who puts up this billboard? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/35 "2012-08-23T12:12:04Z")
One thing is true though – there isn’t a mild enough billboard that someone won’t get offended by it. Take the famous “God mostly likely doesn’t exist – now get on with your lives” was still considered offensive despite not directly attacking religion and not declaring the non-existence of God dogmatically. ---
**Author:** ![Dioptre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/278dde/32.png) [@Dioptre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dioptre)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/36 "2012-08-23T12:15:19Z")
I don’t think “angry” advertising particularly harms less angry forms of communication. It can be very effective in changing the message. In this case the goal (presumably) is to have a chilling effect on the over-the-top use of religious language at the conventions. The ads are bad because they are confusing, not because they are insulting. “Mormonism: values invented by a lying cheating fraudster” and “Good people reject most of what the bible teaches, including rape and murder” would be more insulting, but also more effective. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/37 "2012-08-23T12:24:34Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > I’m a hardcore atheist. I think the signs do more harm than good. I would like to get the message out but in a more compassionate way. I’m a live and let live hardcore atheist. I don’t think those billboards help at all, and probably harm. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/38 "2012-08-23T12:35:53Z")
I, for one, welcome our new Christian and Mormon overlords. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/39 "2012-08-23T12:40:06Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > As a Christian, I think those billboards are an excellent argument _against_ atheism. > > Imagine a Demotivators-style poster, showing a picture of that billboard, with the following caption: O.K. then-as a Christian, what kind of billboard would be an effective argument _for_ atheism? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357/40 "2012-08-23T12:40:21Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Or for the symbols of other religions to be displayed as well. You know, fairness and religious inclusion. As opposed to Christians taking the opportunity to make the 9-11 museum all about their holy war with Islam, while underlining the fact that a great many don’t care at all about the non-Christians who died. _It’s a piece of the building_. It’s a 17 foot chunk of debris that just happens to resemble a cross. I wouldn’t be in favour of the museum showing a cross that was purchased, but it’s just a chunk of wreckage that some people felt comforted by at a really horrible time. Now some people want it removed because it’s special to some other people, no other reason. That’s petty, childish and stupid, and it’s embarrassing to see the word “atheist” attached to these actions because we’re all being tarred with the same brush. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-very-insulting-atheist-billboards-attacking-christianity-mormonism-really-the-way-to-go/632357.md?page=3)