Sioux Falls Atheists and Humanists push billboard campaign

[rug]

Posted: Fri 12:36 PM, May 05, 2017

The latest Sioux Falls Atheists billboard is up on W. 12th St. in Sioux Falls.

Like most of the billboards from the Sioux Falls Atheists, Agnostics and Humanists, it's not your conventional billboard. As expected it's getting mixed reviews.

"It's unnecessary, if you don't believe in God, you don't believe in God. No need to go plaster it all over a billboard," one bystander said.

"It just seems like it's a cry for attention to me," Jim Jensen said.

"It's freedom of speech as far as I'm concerned. It might be offensive to some people, and it might not offend some people," Jenny Reymundo said.

"I'm not really religious at all, but I can tell you anytime I see one of these signs I just shake my head and try to turn the other way," Jensen said.

http://www.ksfy.com/content/news/Sioux-Falls-Atheists-and-Humanists-push-billboard-campaign-421469023.html

Somewhat overwrought if you ask me. I have a similar reaction to Tom Arnold.

[Cartoonist]

1. No need to go plaster it all over a billboard

Tell that to the Evangelists

[rug]

2. For all his faults, Jack Chick never took to the billboards.

[Cartoonist]

3. Didn't have enough money, probably.

Was he ever on TV?

[rug]

4. $4500 a month according to the article.

Apparently all paid for by one guy.

Too rich for my blood.

[Cartoonist]

5. graffiti is free

only cost is the paint

[MineralMan]

6. I'll just leave this here:

If you can afford it, you can put up whatever billboard you wish...

[rug]

7. I'll just leave this one over here:

Paying for it doesn't make anyone less an idiot.

[uriel1972]

8. Yes, reminding people of what is actually in their Holy Book...

Makes you an idiot of course

[rug]

9. Actually, the apt word here is "asshole".

It's tone deaf, demeaning, and backfired. Hmmm, the third one does indeed make them idiots too.

https://the-orbit.net/blackskeptics/2012/03/12/slaves-like-us-american-atheists-on-the-plantation/

[MineralMan]

10. One may say what one wishes on a billboard,

whether one is an idiot or a genius. I see genius only rarely on them, though. Of course, not all billboard companies allow all content on their billboards. Still, if one has the money, one can generally find one that will allow what you wish to say. Personally, I have never advertised in that way.

The one you posted, though, accurately quotes scripture. Not one of my favorite verses, though.

[rug]

11. And completely misconstrues it with an anachronistic, racist image.

Maybe you should read this too to see what's wrong with it.

https://the-orbit.net/blackskeptics/2012/03/12/slaves-like-us-american-atheists-on-the-plantation/

[MineralMan]

12. Thanks for the link. However, that very verse

has been used more recently in this country to justify slavery. Despite the anachronistic nature of the verse, it, like other scripture, it has been used to oppress people. That's a shame, I think, but is part and parcel of fundamentalism.

As recently as the middle of the 19th century, slavery existed in this nation, in part justified by that and other verses from the Bible. Slavery still exists on this planet. That is more than just regrettable, I think.

And even so, there are those who would still interpret that verse as a justification for slavery. It's a problem, rug. I realize that apologists have an explanation for the verse, but I'm afraid it's not a very good one.

[rug]

13. Since we're discussing billboards, not exegesis, I'll keep it simple.

The group married a racist image to a selected quote to send a message to people in cars that Christianity = slavery.

Period.

It is not a thoughtful discussion on whether and how christianity encouraged slavery for 2,000 years, and the metaphorical slavery of the mind it engenders. Nor was that ever their intent.

I realize that antitheists have an explanation for the billboard, but I'm afraid it's not a very good one, I think.

[MineralMan]

14. Well, I rarely see any useful messages on billboards, so

I tend to ignore them. I'm not sure what antitheists are up to, though. I'm bored with such things, really. What people believe or disbelieve about deities and such things rarely has any impact on me, frankly.

However, the message that the Bible has been used to support slavery is a valid one. It has. I find that appalling, from a humanistic point of view. It's a misuse of old writings, really, as are many things. As people have gained considerable knowledge over the past few millennia, most have discarded what incorrectly passed for knowledge long ago. Most have done that. Not all, sadly, which leads to all sorts of misunderstandings and friction.

Foolish people with all sorts of issues to promote use billboards in foolish ways. Your original post illustrated one of those ways. We could do that all day, since foolish ideas often are expressed in public. However, I fail to see where it leads to any reasonable discussion in most cases.

[rug]

15. In that case, it must have been a tremendous personal sacrifice for you to drudge up the wretched

billboard you did post. I really appreciate you overcoming the inertia and noninterest you speak of.

[MineralMan]

16. Well, interestingly enough, it was an obscure billboard that you found that

prompted my post. The billboard I posted took only seconds to find. There are so many that are similar. Speaking of which, I've always been interested in why you post things, but almost never comment on what you have posted. That always makes me wonder what, exactly, you think of the things you post. You post about atheists frequently, but rarely comment on atheism, from your own point of view.

How many atheists do you know? The ones whose writings you post are clearly people you don't know. Some are even dead. Most of the ones I know are really unconcerned about what people who profess some religion think. They have no real reason to care. Certainly, there are atheists who dislike religions beliefs, but most don't really care what religious people believe. We simply do not believe in such things. Most atheists don't really care what people believe, as long as their beliefs do not affect their lives.

The most prominent atheists do not represent most atheists in any way. It's much like most theological thinkers not really representing those who profess to be of some religion or another. Most people, really, have their own approach to such things and pay little attention to those to seek fame and media attention.

I'd be fascinated to see you post your opinion of the many, many things you quote here in the Religion forum. Then, we'd have some idea of what you actually think. Since you do not offer your interpretation of what you post, I usually have no idea of what your opinion about what you post might be. Perhaps you could add a line or two to give us a glimpse into your own thinking. That would be wonderful.

[rug]

17. That billboard is hardly obscure.

It was widely criticized in many communities, including those atheist communities that are critical but not bigoted on religious matters.

I know dozens who call themselves atheist, some going back to college. The only ones I don't respect are the ones who voted for trump.

My opinions are not hard to discern. They're all over the board. You just have to be Socratic. The main reason I don't put my spin on things is I don't proselytise. And I rarely preach to the choir.

[MineralMan]

18. First time I saw it.

Have you ever been to Sioux Falls? I have. My wife's family is from there. Hardly a hotbed of atheism.

[rug]

19. I haven't been to Sioux Falls but I've been to Rapid City on the other end of the state and to

Porcupine in Pine Ridge.

[uriel1972]

20. Misconstrues it? how?

And as for the anachronistic and racist image, I believe it is appropriate for an anachronistic, racist system. An image you can't explain away with clever theology, an image of suffering, an image of the dehumanising nature of slavery, which the Bible is keen to support in many places in the Old and New Testament.

It is obvious you don't support slavery and I'm not going to accuse you of it, but your Holy Book does. When will you condemn your Holy Book for the evil that lies within. Oh and Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris, I condemn them for the absolute privileged shite they spew, so don't even bother.

[AtheistCrusader]

21. Anachronistic? We are talking about religion here, after all.

[rug]

22. No, we're discussing a particularly ignorant billboard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anachronism

It must have been clever in Cranford, New Jersey.

[AtheistCrusader]

23. ignorant billboard about religion.

I get it, poor taste, and misses the mark for convincing any of the target audience.

But my point about 'anachronism' stands.