<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:series="http://unfoldingneurons.com/"
	
	xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>The Inquisitr</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.inquisitr.com/300408/atheists-put-up-anti-religious-billboards-just-in-time-for-democratic-national-convention/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.inquisitr.com</link>
	<description>The Better Mix</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 18:17:51 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en-US</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Atheists Put Up Anti-Religious Billboards Just In Time For Democratic National Convention</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/300408/atheists-put-up-anti-religious-billboards-just-in-time-for-democratic-national-convention/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/300408/atheists-put-up-anti-religious-billboards-just-in-time-for-democratic-national-convention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2012 17:15:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dusten Carlson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[american atheists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[american atheists billboards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[american atheists twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti religious billboards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[barack obama religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[david silverman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Democratic National Convention]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitt Romney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mitt romney religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics and religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=300408</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Atheists are working over-time to deliver their message to folks headed to the Democratic National Convention this year. If you find yourself in the area, you&#8217;ll be treated to billboards that aren&#8217;t exactly complimentary of religion. The group, American Atheists, are putting up billboards for a month in Charlotte, North Carolina that specifically target the [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/300408/atheists-put-up-anti-religious-billboards-just-in-time-for-democratic-national-convention/">Atheists Put Up Anti-Religious Billboards Just In Time For Democratic National Convention</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/300408/atheists-put-up-anti-religious-billboards-just-in-time-for-democratic-national-convention/holiday-billboard-battle/" rel="attachment wp-att-300445"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-300445" title="American Atheists are at it again" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/image1-e1344877868122.jpg" alt="American Atheists are at it again with their billboards" width="475" height="275" /></a></p>
<p>Atheists are working over-time to deliver their message to folks headed to the Democratic National Convention this year. If you find yourself in the area, you&#8217;ll be treated to billboards that aren&#8217;t exactly complimentary of religion.</p>
<p>The group, American Atheists, are putting up billboards for a month in Charlotte, North Carolina that specifically target the religions of President Barack Obama (Christian) and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (Mormon).</p>
<p>&#8220;Sadistic God; Useless Savior, 30,000+ Versions of &#8216;Truth,&#8217; Promotes Hate, Calls it &#8216;Love,&#8217;&#8221; says the Christianity version, accompanied by a picture of Jesus&#8217; image on toast. &#8220;God is a Space Alien, Baptizes Dead People, Big Money, Big Bigotry,&#8221; says the Mormonism billboard, along with a picture of a guy in, presumably, special Mormon underwear, notes <a title="Atheist Billboards Go Up for Democratic Convention" href="http://www.newser.com/story/151992/atheist-billboards-go-up-for-democratic-convention.html">Newser</a>.</p>
<p>Both billboards feature the line &#8220;Atheism: Simply Reasonable,&#8221; reports <a title="First on CNN: Atheist group targets presidential candidates' faith with billboards" href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/13/first-on-cnn-atheist-group-targets-presidential-candidates-faith-with-billboards/">CNN</a>.</p>
<p>“Presidential conventions are for ideas, not ideology <strong>–</strong> platforms, not platitudes,&#8221; said David Silverman, president of American Atheists. &#8220;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.”</p>
<p>&#8220;Religion is silly and religion has components that are inherently divisive. … There is no place for any of that in the political system,” he continued.</p>
<p>The reaction? About what you might expect. While religious figures don&#8217;t exactly <em>hate</em> the billboards, many have scoffed at what they perceive to be a poor understanding of faith on the part of American Atheists. Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author, told CNN that &#8220;The American Atheists need to go back to school on this one,&#8221; pointing out that &#8220;as for &#8216;promoting hate&#8217; they&#8217;re doing a bang-up job themselves with that billboard.&#8221;</p>
<p>“If this example of adolescent silliness is what atheists mean by being reasonable, then neither Mormons nor other Christians have much to worry about,&#8221; said Terryl Givens, a Mormon professor. &#8220;When atheists organize to serve the poor and needy of the world, they will be taken more seriously,&#8221; calling the group headed by Silverman &#8220;petty and vindictive.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p>For everyone making comments on our billboards about how we can&#8217;t convert religious people by &#8220;attacking them:&#8221;&#8230; <a title="http://fb.me/10vgP0Jow" href="http://t.co/uCZdyBEG">fb.me/10vgP0Jow</a></p>
<p>— American Atheists (@AmericanAtheist) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmericanAtheist/status/235043211280805888" data-datetime="2012-08-13T16:00:43+00:00">August 13, 2012</a></p></blockquote>

<p>The American Atheists group has also put up billboards targeting <a title="Atheist group targets Muslims, Jews with ‘myth’ billboards in Arabic and Hebrew" href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/01/atheist-group-targets-muslims-jews-with-myth-billboards-in-arabic-and-hebrew/">Jews and Muslims in the past</a>. Silverman has also said that he and his group plan on staging protests at both conventions in addition to the billboards.</p>
<p>I could ask you many questions about this one, but I think I&#8217;ll just ask you to share your general thoughts on the group American Atheists and their anti-religious billboards below.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/300408/atheists-put-up-anti-religious-billboards-just-in-time-for-democratic-national-convention/">Atheists Put Up Anti-Religious Billboards Just In Time For Democratic National Convention</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/300408/atheists-put-up-anti-religious-billboards-just-in-time-for-democratic-national-convention/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>92</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/image1-e1344877868122-100x100.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/image1-e1344877868122.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">American Atheists are at it again</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/image1-e1344877868122-100x100.jpg" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
