# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/161 "2010-11-30T15:35:28Z")
> [@Otara](#): > > ‘They did it too’ is supposed to end as a rationalisation around age 4. This. Yes, Christian billboards are annoying. These are too. As someone else said, it would be nice if Christians who were annoyed at this but not at proselytizing Christian billboards would examine themselves and come to a better understanding of how their own behavior is received, but that is so unlikely to happen in this manner, that its just rudeness because someone else was rude. ---
**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 30, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/162 "2010-11-30T16:35:21Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > “God. Loving slavery since 4,000 BC” is verbatim? > > I am done here. Debating with many of the atheists on this board is pointless. They do not use reason in debate, but instead are blind apologists for even their most distasteful extremists. Good because anyone calling an atheist a _distasteful extremist_ for putting up a billboard promoting their opinion isn’t exactly coming off as rational anyway. When someone starts shooting up a public building in the name of atheism, now that’s distasteful extremism. Being vocal in public about your opinion on a religious holiday is not in any way extreme, although some people might find it distasteful because they’d prefer people with unpopular opinions to just keep their heads down and their mouths shut. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/163 "2010-11-30T16:49:01Z")
One December day I was waiting for a store in NYC to open, and another person waiting started mouthing off on how disgraceful it was for them to be open December 25th. I asked her why and she said because it’s Christmas. I then pointed out to her that everone was not a Christian and why shouldn’t we have the option of shoping on that day if we don’t believe in the holiday. Shut her right up. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/164 "2010-11-30T16:51:21Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Atheist here. Don’t believe in attack ads of any type. > > Atheists should put up billboards telling people that they’ve got each other, and that’s all they’ve got… that is, stop searching for magic and **start looking out for yourself, your family, your community and your country**. > [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Atheist here, also, and this is exactly what I’m thinking. > [@the lone cashew](#): > > I agree.^^ There are several posters I have agreed with in this thread and **K364** is one of them. > > Also, did I mention I don’t agree with that cranky **Czarcasm**? 😉 I agree with the general sentiment, except the bolding, which is mine. That is really too limited in scope, and as fracturing and factious, and well, just as tribal as modern churches and religion. That’s the whole problem with religion of any type including relgions of thought, philosophy, and politics having nothing to do with the holy except in practiced dogmatics and discrimination. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/165 "2010-11-30T17:57:36Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > One December day I was waiting for a store in NYC to open, and **another person waiting** started mouthing off on how disgraceful it was for them to be open December 25th. I asked her why and she said because it’s Christmas. I then pointed out to her that everone was not a Christian and why shouldn’t we have the option of shoping on that day if we don’t believe in the holiday. > > Shut her right up. Bolding mine: you didn’t say “well, why are YOU shopping here if you’re against it?” ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/166 "2010-11-30T18:38:00Z")
nvm ---
**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 30, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/167 "2010-11-30T18:43:59Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Bolding mine: you didn’t say “well, why are YOU shopping here if you’re against it?” Heh. Read **Annie** ’s post again. She didn’t say it was December 25, she said it was “One December day”. I read it that they were at the store a number of days before the 25th. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/168 "2010-11-30T19:14:10Z")
I had written my post to address the same thing **Onomatopoeia**. But then realized **Ludovic** most likely meant “why do business at an establishment that has offensive policies, in this case being open on Christmas? (If it’s that offensive to you, why do business there at all - on any day of the year?)” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/169 "2010-11-30T19:25:26Z")
Nope, I thought they were queueing up on X-mas day, although the argument does hold up on other days as well (although not as strongly and I might not even support that line of argumentation.) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/170 "2010-11-30T19:27:10Z")
I should have noted that it was a day in early December. The store had a notice of “Holiday Hours” that included they would be open on December 25th. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/171 "2010-11-30T20:46:43Z")
Here’s a wrinkle to the story of the Lincoln Tunnel atheist billboard. It’s not really aimed at Christians but rather [atheists who nonetheless celebrate Christmas (in particular, “closeted” ones).](http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/11/27/atheist-groups-billboard-targets-closet-non-believers/) So what’s the harm if I, as an agnostic or atheist, still do things like give gifts, put up a tree, get together with friends and family, and do other things that can outwardly interpreted as celebrating the holiday? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/172 "2010-11-30T20:53:24Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > So what’s the harm if I, as an agnostic or atheist, still do things like give gifts, put up a tree, get together with friends and family, and do other things that can outwardly interpreted as celebrating the holiday? I say there’s no harm. Especially since things like putting an evergreen tree in your livingroom has precisely dick to do with Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/173 "2010-11-30T20:59:34Z")
Did the “You KNOW it’s true: This season, celebrate Jesus” billboard come before this one, or after? ---
**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:** [November 30, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/174 "2010-11-30T21:03:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Did the “You KNOW it’s true: This season, celebrate Jesus” billboard come before this one, or after? I’m not sure, but I think I saw the “…celebrate Jesus” one at least five years back. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/175 "2010-11-30T21:05:03Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Atheist here. Don’t believe in attack ads of any type. > > Atheists should put up billboards telling people that they’ve got each other, and that’s all they’ve got… that is, stop searching for magic and start looking out for yourself, your family, your community and your country. This nails my opinion as well. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/176 "2010-11-30T21:51:29Z")
As an atheist, I don’t like it because it’s counterproductive and makes us look like assholes. As someone who believes in the freedom of belief, it pisses on the faith of other people. As a guy with a background in advertising, I hate it because the headline is weak and does nothing to persuade “potential buyers,” rather makes a statement that is contrary to most of its audience’s beliefs — losing any persuasive power right off the bat. People won’t even get to the second line, which is simultaneously smaller yet more compelling and something likely buyers could get on board with. As a graphic designer, they’re going with a bastardization of the _Jewish_ star? Granted, Jesus was Jewish but this holiday is celebrated in the Christian faith. It’s an awkward muddling of symbology. As a typographer, they need to learn how to fucking kern between the “Y” and “ou.” Crap all the way around. ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/177 "2010-12-01T00:41:05Z")
Whoops. Somehow I put “Christian and like it” although I’m not Christian (agnostic) and am leaning more towards “don’t have a problem”. I agree with what the billboard says, but I wish in this case what I always wish - that everything presented from the side of Reason was completely reasonable and appropriate. Otherwise the message gets muddled. I don’t think this case was completely reasonable/appropriate, as unsolicited proselytizing rather sucks. I’d’ve suggested cutting out the “know it’s a myth” part and making the message more subtle, but then I guess a lot of people wouldn’t get it. That said, I can’t recall ever seeing a Christian billboard around here 🙂 Living in SF does have its advantages, I guess. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/178 "2010-12-01T03:20:37Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Because the Buddhists and Muslims aren’t a major threat to most of the people who post here. For religious reasons, you’re far more likely to be killed by a Moslem than by a Christian as seen by the '93 WTC bombing, 9-11 attacks, the Beltway Sniper, and the Fort Hood incident not to mention dozens of plots including the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, the Times Square bomber, and the Portland Christmas Tree bomber. Against that what acts of terrorists have Christians committed [1] in America? Branch Davidians and a couple of abortion bombers going all the way back to the 90s along with a couple of moronic militia plots by gun crazy rednecks. Timothy McVeigh BTW was largely political. [1] Using broad definition of Christian here to include heretical sects such as the Branch Davidians ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/179 "2010-12-01T03:32:20Z")
To put in in the general form of a modern-day parable: The billboard is like an atheist South Korea firing a volley of artillery shells into disputed waters off the coast of Christian North Korea. The crazy Christian North Koreans will claim this is the start of a War on Christmas and fire back with endless propaganda news and feature stories on Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195/180 "2010-12-01T03:33:28Z")
nm, double post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-beliefs-and-thoughts-on-the-atheist-billboard/562195.md?page=10)