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 A billboard criticizing Christianity is going up in Charlotte, North Carolina, host city of the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
August 13th, 2012
10:03 AM ET
First on CNN: Atheist group targets presidential candidates' faith with billboardsBy Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) - A prominent atheist group is using next month's Democratic National Convention to take aim at the presidential candidates' religion, putting up billboards targeting Mormonism and Christianity in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Our political system is rife with religion and it depends too much on religion and not enough on substance," said David Silverman, president of American Atheists, sponsor of the ads. "Religion is silly and religion has components that are inherently divisive. … There is no place for any of that in the political system,” he said. The billboards go up Monday in Charlotte and will stay up for a month at a cost of roughly $15,000. The Democratic convention runs September 3-6. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories The billboard targeting Christianity features an image of Jesus Christ on toast and this description of the faith: "Sadistic God; Useless Savior, 30,000+ Versions of ‘Truth,’ Promotes Hates, Calls it ‘Love.’ ”
The billboard targeting Mormonism lambastes - and, Mormons would say, distorts - specific Mormon doctrines: "God is a Space Alien, Baptizes Dead People, Big Money, Big Bigotry.” The Mormon billboard features a man in white underwear, a reference to special Mormon garments. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Both billboards feature the line "Atheism: Simply Reasonable." American Atheists had wanted to put the anti-Mormon billboard in Tampa, Florida, to coincide with the Republican National Convention there later this month. Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney is a Mormon. When no billboard company in the city would lease the group space for such a sign, Silverman said the organization decided to focus solely on the Democrats in Charlotte. “Presidential conventions are for ideas, not ideology - platforms, not platitudes," Silverman said. "If a person believes stupid things, we have every right to question his or her judgment, and that directly impacts how the nonreligious voter votes.” CNN Belief Blog: Atheist leader hopes to mobilize closeted nonbelievers Some religious leaders said the billboards showed a misunderstanding of how faith works. "That billboard makes the most common high-school error when it comes to atheism," wrote the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author, in an e-mail to CNN. "It's not arguing against the existence of God, but against religion. The American Atheists need to go back to school on this one." Martin also questioned the language used on the billboard: "And as for 'promoting hate' they're doing a bang-up job themselves with that billboard." Terryl Givens, a Mormon professor at the University of Richmond, called American Atheists "petty and vindictive." “If this example of adolescent silliness is what atheists mean by being reasonable, then neither Mormons nor other Christians have much to worry about," he said of the billboards. "When atheists organize to serve the poor and needy of the world, they will be taken more seriously." CNN Belief Blog: Unbelieving preachers 'come out' as atheists It's not the first time the American Atheists group has released in-your-face billboards. Earlier this year, the group put up two billboards in heavily Muslim and Jewish enclaves in New Jersey and New York bearing messages in Arabic and Hebrew. “You know it’s a myth … and you have a choice,” the billboards said. At the time, Silverman said the signs were intended to reach atheists in Muslim and Jewish areas who may feel isolated because they are surrounded by believers. In addition to the billboards, Silverman said his group plans to stage protests at both conventions. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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It's amusing in a twisted sort of way that in spite of all the evidence of God, there remain many who pretend He does not exist. Atheists remind me of the petulant child screaming at his mommy to buy him a candy bar, and if she doesn't buy it he'll scream some more. The same is true with atheists. They want all spiritual and religious signage and the like removed from public view. Nobody is denying the rights of atheists to foolishly think that God does not exist by erecting a cross or a Star of David. I doubt the atheists are ever as noble in their efforts to remove signs of religion. Atheists are a small minded simple-thinking sect with the tendency of whiny children. And we should not give in to their juvenile behavior.
Well, that was bigoted.
Well I have yet to see a more "JUVENILE" post than YOURS!!! mr "LIZARD"
Religious fanatics such as yourself remind me of monkeys looking at their own reflection! They seem to believe that their OWN REFLECTION is a "magic monkey" that lives in ponds and mirrors and follows them where ever they go!...
Newsflash...anti-religious sentiment has been around for thousands of years, and yet, religion still flourishes. These billboards are a waste of money...if these atheists really wanted to do something worthwhile they'd donate their $15,000 to AIDS relief in Africa or something.
Religion will be around as long as small-minded people can't accept their own mortality, and as long as fascists wish to control their fellow man. in other words, forever.
69oneear on August 9, 2011 A resource-based ecmonoy would utilize existing resources from the land and sea, physical equipment, industrial plants, etc. to enhance the lives of the total population. In an ecmonoy based on resources rather than money, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life and provide a high standard of living for all
Why do Atheists so fear a God that they don't believe exists?
It's not god we fear. It's the people that believe these Myths and fairy tales. Believers of any faith have the ability to cause damage in our world. Have faith all you wish, but enough with the crusades ,jihads,etc. And please don't teach this non sense to your kids. The world needs straight thinking people to help sort out the mess you've made.
fsjunkie: why do you think atheists fear something that doesn't exist? That's just silly.
What atheists oppose is the conceit that the leaders of our secular nation should be chosen by the myth they personally believe in. Until someone can prove that ANY god exists, the entire question is moot. An elected official should serve their consti.tuents, not a supernatural being.
However, I can see why believers fear atheists. We actually exist.
Because religion makes people crazy and crazy people are scary.
We don't fear God. We fear the mind-rot that has inflicted believers for thousands of years. In the name of God, Christians from Europe carried on Crusades for two hundred against Moslems in the holy lands. Once they saw that the Moslems could fight back they turned their wrath on the heretics who professed their objection to Catholicism. Burning at the stake seemed to be their favorite form of entertainment. After their escape from Egypt the Jews killed everyone in their path on the way to the Promised Land. The Catholics and Protestants killed each other with relish in Ireland (I defy you to distinguish a Catholic from a Protestant in Ireland) Just yesterday in Iraq Sunnis killed 92 Shiites in Iraq ( or was thatShiites who killed 92 Sunnis (whats the difference). Do you really think that any just God would tolerate these killings? Would you say that He was helpless to prevent them? Do you think that He is a dimwit who would accept your justifications for these and many other atrocities commited in His name?
lol yeah I kind of dont like it how I tell people im his great neice and my gedanfathrr wrote this too but no one even knows, and we didnt get a dime for the song
Praise the Lord! So much has happened in the past month.First I want to thank the owner of Mediatronics in NH, who gcuiroasly donates time on his sign all day, cycling in Signs For Jesus and a bible scripture. This alone is a testimony, the Lord orchestrated it all! Having this sign displaying scripture in the city of Manchester everyday has given us the opportunity to show others what we intend to do all across the country! If you haven't seen any of the signs, you can look us up on face-book at signs for Jesus, go to our profile and you can view some of the currenta0 pictures. Currently I work full time during the day so I cannot always get away to take these pictures, but I will do my best to post at least a couple sign pictures each week.Second, the Planning Board meeting went great! The zoning ordinance being appealed was ultimately overturned. This seemingly insurmountable mountain which we once faced,is now been made a smooth plain- right before our eyes! Yes, the Lord has made our crooked path straight and even made a highway through the dessert.a0 We are going back to the Planning Board with all three of their previous denials- overturned! Please continue to pray for the next Planning Board meeting to go smooth; so we can finally move on with the sign!Think on this for a moment. God's Word, being displayed publicly, every day, for every passer by to read. This is going to be powerful! I know He will use these signs to make a difference in our communities, and in our lives. Once this first sign is up, we move to the next one, each time wiser and more prepared.One of my favorite scriptures we are using in Manchester right now is Gen 1:1a0 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Think on this, in a day an age when we send our kids off to school and they are taught the “big bang” theory or when our own government promotes the theory of evolution, how powerful is this short scripture? It can no longer be hidden, we must shine this light He has given us, we are taking the bible of the bookshelf! His Truth must go forth into the streets. And that's exactly what these signs will do, using God's Word, we can expose all of the “theories” for what they truly are, lies from the enemy. No one has to yell, argue or proselytize, it's simple, it's God's word going forth not ours, and It's His Word and His Spirit that will do the convincing. The signs will go up, God will provide, I know this will all my heart. Meanwhile, the very best part is, God is giving you and I the opportunity to be a part of His work! This is the beauty of being His children. He doesn't need our donations, all the riches of the world are His! Yet, He allows the opportunities for us to be a part of advancing His Kingdom and His blessings. Don't miss out on what He has for you, we are still $25,000.00 away from purchasing this sign and we are asking everyone to get involved and be a part of making the difference in our land.More to come, Many Blessings to you all,Fab Cusson
It's so ironic that organizations like AA and their ilk parade themselves as "Reasonable", "Scholarly", "Logical", and the like... and turn out to be even more irrational than the religious groups they vilify!
Alcholics Anonymous IS a RELIGOUS GROUP isn't it?...
So what will the atheist do when they see 1st hand revelations happening?
People being put to death because they are Christian. People being forced to be micro chipped?
They will turn a blind eye and come up with lame excuses due to fear of being put to death.
We can assume some of you will utter "OH CRAP! It was true"
Your hatred towards GOD is nothing more then your rebellious spirit. I have a lot of atheist at work and they blame GOD for everything. Odd....why do they blame what they deem does not exist?
Life on earth is finite, but after you die you have en eternity to spend in heaven or hell.
So in perspective who has the biggest gamble? Christians or atheist?
If atheist are right nothing happens after you die no matter if you was evil or not. Makes no sense to be good, might as well live life to the fullest at any cost. No God means nothing bad will happen to you. Being good just means you DO know God exist, why else would you follow most the 10 commandments in the bible?
If Christians are right...........well you know....
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." true that for sure.
3 words sum everything up : GOD IS GOD
God loves you all.
Don't worry I'm praying for you all.
So God loves everyone? How about all the sick and infirm? Their loved ones pray fervently for their recovery, but God doesn't answer their prayers. Why do you suppose that is? Does he enjoy watching how much pain and anguish they can endure? Did he have so much fun tormenting Job that he decided to extend His sadism to all of civilization? People who doubt that God could be this evil are called heretics. They who believe that God should relieve the suffering of the ill are denied access to a heaven that is reserved for cowardly sycophants. I think that the believers have God confused with Satan.
Could you sacrifice a goat to make sure? Thank
What you are suggesting is that you would be a barbarian if not for the constraints placed on you by your vengeful God. If you believe that you have free will you are deluding yourself. God's threat of Hell (which he never made by the way) is tantamount to having a gun placed at your head. Do people with guns at their head have free will? And then there is the bribe. You mean that you wouldn't stop to help the poor, sick, and infirm with out a reward (Heaven) being promised you? What kind of a Christian are you? You must think that Jesus is stupid. Do you really think that he would be fooled by your hypocrisy?
B"H
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=947by3X6_RU
LET MY PEOPLE GO SENETOR HILLIARY CLINTON AND hussein OBAMA. LET JONATHAN POLLARD GO NOW
LET MY PEOPLE GO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyBZhTaf1oU
WORLD VS ISRAEL. HILLARY CLINTON-THIS IS A MESSAGE FOR YOU – LET MY PEOPLE GO. FREE JONATHAN POLLARD NOW. LET MY PEOPLE GO BARRAK HUSSEIN OBAMA – NOW!
The Land of Israel is the Promised Land given to our forefathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob and is given to us, their seed, as
an everlasting Inheritance.
!!
JONATHAN POLLARD should remain a guest of the United States. What he stole:
"The information that Jonathan provided to Israel included Iranian, Iraqi, Libyan and Syrian nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities – all being developed for use against Israel. He also provided information on ballistic missile development by these countries and information on up-coming terrorist attacks planned against Israeli civilian targets. "
Israel felt entitled to this information, but was not entitled to steal it. Spies and thieves should be punished regardless of whether they were sent by a friend or sent by an enemy. Keeping Pollard in permanent custody will send a message to our friends and especially to our enemies that we will not tolerate spies and thieves.
It's hard to know what Pollard stole and who he passed it to. He's a favorite son of Israel now, but Israel may not have been his only client. Something worth reading from Wikipedia (see the associated references):
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigator Ronald olive has alleged that Pollard passed classified information to South africa,[21] and attempted, through a third party, to sell classified information to Pakistan on multiple occasions.[22] Pollard also stole classified documents related to China on behalf of his wife, who used the information to advance her personal business interests and kept them around the house, where they were discovered by investigating authorities when Pollard's espionage activity came to light.[23][24][25]
See the references at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard
Clergyman John McMartin to catch sight the truly and feel remorseful of lies and thievery
Come and see for yourself http://www.bible-truths.Com
“Everything about Christianity is contained in the pathetic image of 'the flock.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22: A Memoir
If God truly does not exist; then, there by reason would be no definition whatsoever for the word "God".
Its like saying : "Beauty" does not exist.
There is no right or wrong answer to "beauty" its one of those eye of the beholder type things.
You can say : "God" does not exist.
I can say "Behold" "God" is "beautiful".
Either way....what then would be the point? Who's answer is better? Its irrelevant.
You could argue that religion itself is responsible for bad behavior..but badly behaving religious persons are
proof that behavior exists independant of religion.
You could attempt to control behavior by expressing opinion...but either way that makes the assumption that
the behavior of others is contingent upon our opinions.
"Unicorn", "Dragon", "Santa Claus". We have all sorts of words for things that don't exist...
You can say any combination of words, it doesn't make true, meaningful, or relevant.
And, yes, religious and secular individuals do bad things. That doesn't mean that religion is not a cause of some portion of those bad things.
So many invalid arguments and twisted logic.
Julie
You've pointed out what is probably the greatest weakness in the cultural phenomena called Evolutionary-Atheist Complex.
It is the sheer ugliness of their manifesto, application, and adherents. They have no sense of beauty themselves, and whatever beauty they discover they deface. The spirit of vandalism is profoundly ingrained in the modern materialist lunacy that is Atheism. Just listen to the following responses:
@BMFG. Atheists simply don't believe in god. That's it.... you have quite an imagination, and you're ignorance is truly astounding!...
@BFMG Your ignorance of the issue is astounding. You really should have a face to face with a real atheist and learn something. We are as diverse a group as there is anywhere. You simply can not put us all in one group or characterize us in the way that you have. Some of us simply do not believe in a god, any god... Julie's analogy is totally off in so many ways, I can't begin to work it out in such a short space. Saying god does not exist is nothing like saying beauty does not exist. I can see beauty, I can test beauty in a lab, I can prove beauty, I can not; however, prove the existence of any god.
Atheists don't believe that there is a sentient being who is responsible for creation. The rest of your comment is wild unfounded supposition.
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I'm hoping that in the future religion will be educated out of the population and that what remains of religion will be philosophical and underground.
sounds a bit like you are pining for the good old days of USSR under Stalin....
Silly cooper. Nothing was mentioned about communism or despotism. All that was hoped for was that someday it will be recognized that the christian god is no more real than any of the other thousands of gods once worshiped by humanity. After all, there is no proof that any of them, even yours, has ever existed.
In conclusion, I have taken the stand that Atheism is only another fundamentalist point of view. I have taken a lot of heat for that. No matter, I was a debate student in college it was a fact in debate that you had won the argument when your opponent resorted to personal attacks. I wish to clarify one point. The Blessed Cheese Maker has accused me of being either "ignorant or dishonest" for claiming both to be agnostic and seeing miracles. I do claim to be agnostic, defined as a belief that some things can not be known Being agnostic does not preclude my having a spiritual life, in fact being agnostic allows me to practice my own faith, faith is not knowing, it is something more powerful. Faith will carry me where knowledge can not. I do not go to church. I do not have any idea what God is, nor do I care so much. Just as I have a physical self, a mental self, an emotional self, I also have a spiritual self. I nurture this spiritual self so that I am allowed to never lose sight of this amazing mystery that is life. You question God, You want proof. You demand that God reveal himself, show you the Sun coming up at night. Does the Sun not come up out of the night every morning? And still you see no miracles.Could it be that those who have no spiritual life are blind, even jaded to the miracles all around them ? How sad. So you see, I find "Not knowing" or even needing to know rich. I believe it is by design that there is no god walking among us, correcting our every move like puppets. I believe not knowing allows me to exercise free will, to choose, to create my own relationship with Life. To claim agnosticism is to live as a seeker, "Seek and you shall find" the verb is seek. I believe we are not here to find but to seek. Seeking requires an opened mind. Therefore I am not closed or threatened by your spiritual belief. I do not require that you ascribe to what I believe. Agnosticism is the road to peaceful coexistence. Just imagine an Agnostic billboard : I JUST DON'T KNOW. I wish you all a peace that surpasses all human understanding
I do consider all of the ideas you have introduced for your post. They are very convincing and can definitely work. Nonetheless, the posts are very short for beginners. May you please lengthen them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.
There is a God, He created worlds without number. I do believe He loves all his children. He lives in a perfect world. we come to this planet we live as a baby; He wants us to progress and be a perfect person by following all the good things He created. I do know the rules of life and the laws of the land prepare us to be a good citizen and be prepare to understand Him in the High place. God created a pre mortal life a place we lived When God laid the foundations of the of the earth : Job 38 :1-7; Proverbs 8 :22-31; ISaiah 14 :12-15; Jeremiah 1 :4-5; Ephesians 1 :4-11; 3 :15; St John 1;1-4. We are here in this planet because God has a great plan for us, the only way to know Him and his plan is to pray because there is no other way to know that; by praying to Him, He will reveals Himself by the power of His own Spirit. This earth was created for his own purpose; life on earth : Genesis 2 :4-24; Ephesians 3 :15; St Mark 12 :29-30; Exodus 20 :1-17; St Mark 16 : 9-19. And He created a planet after this life name world spirits or life after death; that place divide by two places calling Paradise and prison : St Luke 23 :26-43; St Luke 16 :19-31; 1 Peter 3 :18-19; 4 : 6. I do believe in this life we are free to choose good or evil. I do know the Lord Our God is going to judge us; for our choice and give us the place we deserve for good or evil.
'There is a god because the bible says so, the bible is true because god says so'
Circular logic
coocoo
I'm not right about Christianity because I'm right. I'm right because I've been rescued by God, the blinders have been taken off my eyes, and they haven't been taken off of yours. So please just beg God to give you sight to see the glories of Jesus in the Bible.
Pilgrim's Progress is a pathetic joke of a book. It actually shows up the massive and glaring insanity within Christianity yet it was supposed to have the opposite effect when it was written. Ridiculous nonsense. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Thaddeus F
To those who perish the message of God's love, and the message of the Cross is foolishness. You are one of them
Thanks for the Piper sermon. Superb.
There is an erroneous doctrine of hell, described as "Eternal Separation from God". Almost every church teaches it, though it is without scriptural basis.
Once each person is resurrected to stand in judgement, there is no escaping the full blazing presence of God. The difference between believers and the unbelieving is that believers enter into the fullness of God's grace, and the unbelieving enter into the fulness of his wrath. God himself IS the consuming fire of hell (Deut33,Heb12,2Peter3). The fullness of his presence is inescapable in the spirit realm. The tormented will wish for separation from his heat, but will not be granted it. His fierce anger against those who mock his slain son will not cool in a place where TIME DOES NOT PASS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK00Tcb6ROY&feature=related
For anyone that thinks that Christianity is vile and unloving and hateful and causes wars and should be wiped off the planet, I BEG you to watch this whole video and ESPECIALLY the last 10 minutes. I'm just begging with you and want to plead with you.
Actually watch the last 20 minutes.
We do not add anything to this poor deluded preacher, who does no end of feeling and mistakes it for thinking, as one Samuel Clemens once pointed out about the windbags of his day. There is no original sin therefore his whole position is invalid from the start and he missed the point of reality and life on this planet completely. He is part of the problem and no matter how much you want to have a view of righteousness as one begging and pleading with sweat and tears for goodness and love, all while relegating those who don't believe the same way to some imaginary place of torment. The reason all religion must go is because it's fake, false, a sham, a lie, a big con, which should be enough to discard it as the used condom it is, not just the violence and hate and wars and death it has brought to the earth for thousands of years.
Look, I'm not relegating anyone to any place of eternal suffering. Everyone in hell right now WANTS to be there. If God were to swing the gates of hell wide open and say "I'm giving everyone a second chance, all you have to do is proclaim that my son Jesus is Lord." You know what they would do? They'd slam the door in his face.
The fairest possible explanation of the afterlife is the Christian one where God only gives people what they want in the end.
John Bunyan,
"If God were to swing the gates of hell wide open and say "I'm giving everyone a second chance, all you have to do is proclaim that my son Jesus is Lord." You know what they would do? They'd slam the door in his face."
This is a classic Straw Man argument. You know nothing of the sort.
Unfortunately, until someone proves there is any god, even just one, all you have is a bullsh!t story, no better than astrology.
@John Bunyan
I believe you mean well, but you are wrong when you say those in Hell want to be there and would shut the door wanting to stay there. Hell is a place where there is weeping, mourning, unimaginable hopelessness , regret and sense of loss, and every person who is there KNOWS that they deserve it. But to say that they would all want to stay there is not according to the Scriptures, nor does the Spirit of God bear witness to what you said. It serves no purpose to make off the wall statements.
Threats of eternal punishment betray a weak argument.
The video is full of cult logic.
And now we have two Christians arguing about what hell really means, Prism and John. Classic Two Stooges!
Hmmmm...And now we have two Christians arguing about what hell really means, Prism and John. Classic Two Stooges!
what a comical statement at the end of your post. if someone disagrees with how "loving" your god is should be killed. brilliant
I see that as of midnight EDT, this thread "First on CNN: Atheist group targets presidential candidates' faith with billboards" has been removed from the banner at the top of the "Belief Blog" page.
Perhaps we can anticipate a story tomorrow along the lines of "Atheist group billboards removed"?
Given that this topic ran to almost 7,300 posts, one would think they would still link to it?
7,300 posts in just two weeks has been a good ride.
The other threads at the front of the banner are hard pressed to add up to 7,000 posts combined.