Score One FOR the god squad and AGAINST Free Speech
By Michael Lang on Nov 21, 2008 in RELIGION - OR LACK OF
Score one FOR the god squad and AGAINST free speech and expression.
An Ontario billboard company is removing a controversial billboard promoting atheism after receiving complaints, according to the "Freedom From Religion Foundation," the group that paid for the advertisement.
The billboard was at a busy corner and said, "Imagine No Religion" in large letters on a stained-glass background. Underneath is the name of the group, "Freedom From Religion Foundation," and the group’s Web address.
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of Freedom From Religion, which calls itself the nation’s largest association of atheists and agnostics, said an advertising representative at the company called her Thursday to notify her the billboard would be coming down.
"We’re being censored," Gaylor said.
The billboard was the group’s first in California. Nine others had previously gone up in other cities.
Gaylor said advertising companies in four cities refused to display the ad, but General was the first to take down an existing billboard in the middle of a contract.
It is sad, shameful and and a slam against our Constitution when a company bends to the wishes “of a few” when their only objection is a difference of opinion and belief.
It’s not like the billboard was obscene or endangered children or the community in any real way. The bottom line is it made a few people uncomfortable.
…………SO F___ING WHAT!
The billboard went up last week and was scheduled to run through January however the company did agreed to refund the $1,379 fee.
Gaylor said the billboard was put up to recruit new members and provoke discussion.
"It’s asking people to think," she said. "We want people to realize you don’t need religion to do good, and that if we didn’t have religion, the world would be less divisive. . . . Think of how many people have been killed in the name of a supernatural being that there has never been any evidence for."
Now that is surely a topic that scares the shit out of these cowards as it tests the structural integrity of their belief. Think about it. How strong can someone’s belief in a higher power be if a roadside billboard rattles them?
The inspiration for the billboard was John Lennon’s song "Imagine." Here are the “subversive” lyrics to the song….
Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
1 Comment(s)
By Bob S on Nov 26, 2008 | Reply
I would like to see the wording of the contract signed with the billboard owner. This could be a breach of contract requiring specific performane under the contract and not just a refund because at this time of year many religious institutions have their largest fund raising drives. The group should get help from the ACLU to fight this issue. Their Freedom of Speach rights have been violated. Religion is just another way to separate people. “I am better than you because I believe and my way is the only one because it says so in my book. You are a bad if you don’t believe and the only way to heaven is my way.”