# Your beliefs and thoughts on the "atheist billboard" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 28, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195 "2010-11-28T19:26:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/21 "2010-11-28T22:10:28Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Because part of the belief system in question requires that you go forth and concert people, and that you impose those beliefs by law. > > And I think that the more liberal believers who think that are fooling themselves; they think they are the norm, when in fact they are the fringe. Wanting to force your beliefs into law is the norm for believers not the exception. > > But not as many. They have fewer motives and excuses for it. Actually since Jesus says “My Kingdom is not of this world” a lot of believers are against imposing laws that force Christianity on people. About as far as most believers here get is maybe banning abortion and gay marriage and then there are some who remain aloof like the Amish. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/22 "2010-11-28T22:11:29Z")
While I don’t find it more interfering or condescending than many other religious billboards, I’d like to think that, using REASON, it’s a given that you aren’t going to change anyone’s mind with any billboard. Following that line of REASON, the billboard is just bullying and pointless. So…I don’t care for it. It makes atheists look…unreasonable. For the record, I’m probably atheist. If there IS any kind of superpower out there, I’m pissed that s/he/it isn’t doing it right, and we need to have a TALK. :dubious: I’ll stick to believing in nothing rather than what I’ve seen brought up as possibilities so far. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/23 "2010-11-28T22:18:29Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > But not as many. They have fewer motives and excuses for it. Ha! I suspect that’s confirmation bias. We’ll just have to agree to disagree; in my experience, being a dick knows no creed. I’ve run across dicks who were agnostic, pagan, and everything in between. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/24 "2010-11-28T22:23:18Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The people who put this particular billboard up are being obnoxious dicks, they undoubtedly KNOW they’re being obnoxious dicks, and are probably PROUD of being obnoxious dicks. And the people who put up Christian billboards aren’t? ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/25 "2010-11-28T22:29:20Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > And the people who put up Christian billboards aren’t? Yeah, but. Yeah, but. Doesn’t playing tit-for-tat make one side look as obnoxious as the other? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/26 "2010-11-28T22:31:08Z")
Question: Do the people in this thread view [this billboard](http://www.loonwatch.com/2010/06/anti-muslim-billboard-islam-rising-be-warned/) as “awesome”? The two billboards are fundamentally the same in that they are direct attacks on a religion. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/27 "2010-11-28T22:39:55Z")
Neither bothers me particularly. People can put up whatever billboards they want. It’s their money. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/28 "2010-11-28T22:46:19Z")
I’m not a fan of “attack ads” that belittle other people’s lifestyles or beliefs. I don’t like this billboard, and I also wouldn’t like anti-Jew, anti-gay, anti-black, anti-Wicca, anti-Islam, anti-scientist, or anti-Canadian billboards. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/29 "2010-11-28T22:50:56Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Question: Do the people in this thread view [this billboard](http://www.loonwatch.com/2010/06/anti-muslim-billboard-islam-rising-be-warned/) as “awesome”? > > The two billboards are fundamentally the same in that they are direct attacks on a religion. They aren’t the same. One is pointing out that religion is a myth, the other is telling you to fear a rival religion. There’s also the fact that the facts and logic supports atheism, while there’s no evidence based reason to consider any religion more plausible than the other. > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Actually since Jesus says “My Kingdom is not of this world” a lot of believers are against imposing laws that force Christianity on people. Yeah, suuuure they do. Christianity didn’t get to where it is today because its followers bought that. > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > About as far as most believers here get is maybe banning abortion and gay marriage and then there are some who remain aloof like the Amish. Banning abortion and gay marriage alone are enough to brand them as evil. Both are acts of malice. Nor do the Christians and other believers remotely constrain themselves to that anyway. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/30 "2010-11-28T22:58:05Z")
**Der Tris** , do you hate Islam with the same fervor you hate Christianity? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/31 "2010-11-28T23:01:40Z")
I think some of the responses to this thread is bizarre. Obnoxious dicks? _Bullying_? Tit for tat? Nobody is guaranteed the right to pass through this world without seeing anything that might annoy, irritate, or trouble them. Maybe somebody should put up a billboard with a pair of glasses that says “Get Some Fucking Perspective.” ---
**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:** [November 28, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/32 "2010-11-28T23:05:57Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > **Der Tris** , do you hate Islam with the same fervor you hate Christianity? Not quite, since they aren’t in my face every day. It’s not Islamic people who are pushing their beliefs into American law - or for that matter usually the ones pushing their dogma on the SDMB. It’s Christians. If I lived in a Muslim dominated country I expect I’d complain more of Islam; if I lived in India I expect I’d be more prone to complain of the evils of Hinduism than of either. Besides, Islam gets plenty of hate here in America; it is Christianity that gets treated as if it was a good thing. So i don’t need to make the effort. I notice I get occasional flack here on the SDMB for “supporting” Islam when I all i do is point out that Christianity isn’t any better than Islam. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/33 "2010-11-28T23:07:02Z")
Atheist here. I think it’s tacky and stupid. There is no point to going out of one’s way to tweak the nose of the 76% of the population that has a religious faith. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/34 "2010-11-28T23:14:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, suuuure they do. Christianity didn’t get to where it is today because its followers bought that. I think the Roman Empire’s banning of all other religions than Christianity was immoral and so do most Protestants. If I was Constantine I would not have made Christianity a state religion. Plus Christianity thrived in Rome when it was intermittently persecuted and it also thrives in China to-day again despite persecutions. [/QUOTE] Banning abortion and gay marriage alone are enough to brand them as evil. Both are acts of malice. Nor do the Christians and other believers remotely constrain themselves to that anyway. [/QUOTE] I wish you’d stop your generalization. Just because some Christians advocate that doesn’t mean every Christian or even most Christians do. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Not quite, since they aren’t in my face every day. It’s not Islamic people who are pushing their beliefs into American law - or for that matter usually the ones pushing their dogma on the SDMB. It’s Christians. If I lived in a Muslim dominated country I expect I’d complain more of Islam; if I lived in India I expect I’d be more prone to complain of the evils of Hinduism than of either. > > Besides, Islam gets plenty of hate here in America; it is Christianity that gets treated as if it was a good thing. So i don’t need to make the effort. I notice I get occasional flack here on the SDMB for “supporting” Islam when I all i do is point out that Christianity isn’t any better than Islam. Are you against all religions, denominations, sects, etc. with equal fervour? Or do you make a difference between say the Amish and the Branch Davidians? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/35 "2010-11-28T23:20:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > **Your beliefs and thoughts on the “atheist billboard”** > > [Story here](http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/atheist_billboard_near_lincoln.html) Atheist here. In a vacuum, I’d say the billboard was needless and doesn’t do anything to assist in whatever they feel their cause is; quite the opposite actually. That said, we’re not in a vacuum, and I pass two Christian billboards facing northbound traffic on the NJ Turnpike, between exits 8 and 10, every day on the way to work that I find offensive. I’m not saying that two wrongs make a right, but I see no need to make a stink about an atheist billboard as long as Christian billboards are allowed to propagate. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/36 "2010-11-28T23:20:43Z")
‘They did it too’ is supposed to end as a rationalisation around age 4. Christmas is one of the fun times of year for most people making it one of the sillier targets to attack, it comes off looking like its an association of funless killjoys. Otara ---
**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:** [November 28, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/37 "2010-11-28T23:24:23Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I think the Roman Empire’s banning of all other religions than Christianity was immoral and so do most Protestants. Of course not, they’d have wanted the Empire to make _their_ particular sect the state religion and kill everyone who disagreed, not early Catholicism. > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I wish you’d stop your generalization. Just because some Christians advocate that doesn’t mean every Christian or even most Christians do. Enough believe it to pass laws enforcing it. > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Are you against all religions, denominations, sects, etc. with equal fervour? Or do you make a difference between say the Amish and the Branch Davidians? Ideally, all religion would be eliminated. For practical reasons the more openly violent sects are a priority, but all religion is destructive by nature. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/38 "2010-11-28T23:24:36Z")
Atheist. I think it is pointless and antagonistic just like religious signs proclaiming Jesus is Lord. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/39 "2010-11-28T23:29:15Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > just like religious signs proclaiming Jesus is Lord. A line that always makes me picture Jesus as “_Lord_ Garth” from the original Star Trek Series. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/40 "2010-11-28T23:32:48Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I think the Roman Empire’s banning of all other religions than Christianity was immoral and so do most Protestants. If I was Constantine I would not have made Christianity a state religion. Plus Christianity thrived in Rome when it was intermittently persecuted and it also thrives in China to-day again despite persecutions. While Constantine may have made Christianity the state religion, he most certainly did NOT persecute other religions, nor make a law against them. That would have been the Emperor Justinian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195.md?page=3)