# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/41 "2010-11-28T23:39:15Z")
Atheist and I like it just fine. It’s just an ad for an organization. It’s no worse than the “Choose Life” or “God is watching” type billboards I see every day around here. ---
**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, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/42 "2010-11-28T23:43:06Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > 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. LOL. > [@](#): > > Ideally, all religion would be eliminated. For practical reasons the more openly violent sects are a priority, but all religion is destructive by nature. [/QUOTE] How should they be eliminated? Via education or through mass persecution? > [@Guinastasia](#): > > 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. Thanks. Although wasn’t it Theodorian who persecuted other “heretical” Christian sects? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/43 "2010-11-28T23:44:19Z")
Mostly agnostic/confused here – and while the concept of an atheist billboard is fine by me, this one just seems dickish. Why not something along the lines of “Happy Winter Solstice” or something? Seems like it’d get a point across without being needlessly antagonistic. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/44 "2010-11-28T23:52:04Z")
Gosh, as an atheist, I’d sure hate to be deliberately [offensive.](http://cdn.wn.com/ph/img/6d/44/0a6478f6be7a147df88a6429e027-grande.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/45 "2010-11-28T23:52:35Z")
> [@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”? How could it not be awesome? They’ve used [Shinobi](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCdeNYz57hA&feature=related) for their campaign! ---
**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, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/46 "2010-11-28T23:55:18Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > LOL. “LOL” doesn’t make it any less true. Protestants are no more prone to religious tolerance than Catholics. Just look at all the wars both have fought with each other trying to impose one or the other as a state religion. Or just to slaughter the other side. > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > How should they be eliminated? Via education or through mass persecution? Persecution doesn’t work very well, besides lowering me to their level. Education in the short run; eventually genetic engineering or other augmentation making people too rational to take something like religion seriously. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/47 "2010-11-29T00:10:02Z")
**Slithy Tove** , there is a vast gray area between “kinda dickish” and “totally offensive on every possible level.” ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/48 "2010-11-29T00:10:07Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > …eventually genetic engineering or other augmentation making people too rational to take something like religion seriously. You know, I’m honestly not sure if you’re serious or joking about advocating eugenics. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/49 "2010-11-29T00:11:36Z")
I prefer “The SEASON is the reason for the Season. Celebrate the Solstice”. But it’s not bad. ---
**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 29, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/50 "2010-11-29T00:13:04Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “LOL” doesn’t make it any less true. Protestants are no more prone to religious tolerance than Catholics. Just look at all the wars both have fought with each other trying to impose one or the other as a state religion. Or just to slaughter the other side. There were no “Protestants” in 313 AD first of all. Indeed the Protestants left the Catholic Church long after 313 AD as it gradually grew corrupt and theologically problematic. Plus some Christian sects such as the Baptists strongly believe in church-state separation. > [@](#): > > Persecution doesn’t work very well, besides lowering me to their level. Education in the short run; eventually genetic engineering or other augmentation making people too rational to take something like religion seriously. What if some people want to preserve their humanity and don’t want them (or their children) to be genetically engineered? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/51 "2010-11-29T00:13:40Z")
This is kind of OT, but if the average person in the US today (who is, no denying it, Christian) were instead born as the average person in the Roman Empire 2000 years ago, he or she would probably be more anti-Christian than any atheist today. It’s not Christianity per se that I object to; it’s conformity. And this billboard as well as the bus ads are little specs of “huh?” in the mass-conformists’ day. ---
**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 29, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/52 "2010-11-29T00:15:19Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > This is kind of OT, but if the average person in the US today (who is, no denying it, Christian) were instead born as the average person in the Roman Empire 2000 years ago, he or she would probably be more anti-Christian than any atheist today. It’s not Christianity per se that I object to; it’s conformity. And this billboard as well as the bus ads are little specs of “huh?” in the mass-conformists’ day. Indeed. Christians were regarded as traitors for not sacrificing to the Emperor as a god. ---
**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 29, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/53 "2010-11-29T00:47:03Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > You know, I’m honestly not sure if you’re serious or joking about advocating eugenics. Genetic engineering isn’t eugenics. Or cybernetic enhancement. Or brain-to-computer downloading. Or any number of other things. I said “augmentation”: when was the last time you heard of eugenics augmenting anyone beyond natural human limits? > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > There were no “Protestants” in 313 AD first of all. Indeed the Protestants left the Catholic Church long after 313 AD as it gradually grew corrupt and theologically problematic. Well, duh, that’s why I said “if”. > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > What if some people want to preserve their humanity and don’t want them (or their children) to be genetically engineered? Then they’ll be outcompeted into irrelevancy and likely eventually kill themselves off. And possibly take the rest of the planet with them. Religion is insane; in the long run either it (and other irrational human tendencies) goes away or it will kill us. Or at the least either destroy civilization or destroy humanity as we know it. The latter being the scenario where everyone is not engineered to be more rational, but less; where humanity is turned into a species of genetically hardwired and brainwashed believers. Something that many believers would approve of, but I find disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/54 "2010-11-29T01:22:12Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Genetic engineering isn’t eugenics. Or cybernetic enhancement. Or brain-to-computer downloading. Or any number of other things. I said “augmentation”: when was the last time you heard of eugenics augmenting anyone beyond natural human limits? So you are serious? Well that’s an… interesting perspective. Zero to Godwin in under 50 posts. > [@](#): > > …where humanity is turned into a species of genetically hardwired and brainwashed believers. Something that many believers would approve of, but I find disgusting. Oh I see. It’s disgusting if Christians were to do it, but you’d get a pass. ---
**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 29, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/55 "2010-11-29T01:39:43Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > So you are serious? Well that’s an… interesting perspective. Zero to Godwin in under 50 posts. No, you are simply trying to create a false comparison. > [@Kaio](#): > > Oh I see. It’s disgusting if Christians were to do it, but you’d get a pass. No; I’m interested in improving humanity, and the elimination of religion is an inevitable side effect of that because religion requires that humanity be defective to survive. Christians and other believers on the other hand would want to make those defects inescapable. They would if they could eliminate all freedom of thought and belief, turn us into religious automatons. A society of zombies for all intents and purposes.. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/56 "2010-11-29T01:51:47Z")
Christian, don’t like it, but I don’t really like religious billboards in general. (and if you’re going to be pedantic and say “atheism isn’t a religion”, you know what I mean.) ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/57 "2010-11-29T02:22:45Z")
Wow. I’d ask if you can even hear what you’re saying, but it’s pretty obvious the answer is “no.” > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No; I’m interested in improving humanity… Yeah, and so was that other guy. The trouble is, one man’s standards for a master race are not necessarily standards that the other 7 billion of us agree with. Bowing out now. I have work to do, this is a hijack anyway, and I have no desire to teach a pig to sing. ---
**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 29, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/58 "2010-11-29T02:40:58Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Yeah, and so was that other guy. The trouble is, one man’s standards for a master race are not necessarily standards that the other 7 billion of us agree with. :rolleyes: As if there’s no such thing as objective standards of performance. And as if Hitler even actually cared about genuine ability; Jesse Owens winning all those gold medals didn’t persuade him that blacks weren’t inferior. You are just trying to lump together two very different things. And to pretend that anyone who wants to improve humanity is a genocidal maniac. Guess we should shoot all those doctors trying to cure genetic diseases before they run wild and massacre a few million people, right? ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/59 "2010-11-29T02:57:26Z")
It’s kinda cute, but nowhere near as awesome as [this billboard](http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/7/20/128925790510481527.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/60 "2010-11-29T03:05:34Z")
Atheist here, love the billboard. I’d change my mind if they stop pushing their views on me by passing laws but alas, they are dicks [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195.md?page=4)