REPORT TAKEN FROM gothamist.com
The campaign will take over 20 Manhattan buses for about one month, and president of New York City Atheists, Ken Bronstein, says the test run could be reaching other boroughs later this year (the group’s website is taking donations for the next roll out). The ads read: “You don’t have to believe in God to be a moral and ethical person.”
Joseph Zwilling, the director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York, told CityRoom the ads were “not offensive in the Catholic Church’s view, given their wording. They’re not attacking or disparaging the Church as far as I can see.” While the message isn’t a rebuttal to that of another religious group’s, the site reports that the inspiration came from a similar campaign in London last year, which was in response to a Christian group’s whose message told nonbelievers that they would “spend all eternity in torment.”
The goal of the $10,000 NYC ad campaign is to increase membership—Bronstein says there has been an “atheism awakening” lately, and the practice was made more acceptable when President Obama included a reference to “nonbelievers” in his inaugural address. Previously, the MTA explained that the Jews for Jesus ads in the Times Square subway station were protected under the First Amendment.
Tagged as:
Atheist,
Search Campaign,
search HELP
Report Taken from townhall.com
An anonymous donor is apparently donating thousands of dollars for the express purpose of advertising atheism in the New York City subway system. According to blogger Gothamist, yesterday kicked-off a month-long advertising blitz in a dozen Manhattan subway stations with signs advertising the slogan, “A Million New Yorkers Are Good Without God. Are You?”
In addition to promoting godlessness, the advertising will reportedly also be promoting a new book called Good Without God, by Greg Epstein.
The ads are being coordinated by “New York City Coalition for Reason,” an umbrella organization comprised of local atheist groups, City Room reports. According to their website, “All Big Apple COR organizations share common ground—promoting wider acceptance of a more rational and realistic view of the universe—but each has its own particular emphasis. Some advocate for scientific knowledge, reason, and skeptical inquiry. Some focus on the promotion of dogma-free humanist ethics, and an appreciation for life and the lives of other persons.”
New York isn’t the only city being targeted by these outspoken atheists. Chicagoist is also reporting on billboards that have popped-up in the Windy City: The billboard, located at LaSalle and Grand and paid for by the Chicago Coalition For Reason, says, “Are You Good Without God? Millions Are.”
The CCoR describes itself as “an exciting group of organizations in the Chicago area, each of which celebrates a human-centered and naturalistic approach to life. For us, non-dogmatic and rational approaches to ethics, culture and the human experience are the most meaningful and satisfying.”
www.nyc-atheists.org
Tagged as:
Atheist,
search HELP
