Sunday, September 27, 2009

Billboards draw criticism from religious community | detnews.com | The Detroit News


The Freedom from Religion Foundation has posted anti-religion statements on various billboards in Detroit and other cities. To see all the possibilities click here. Clicking on the title of this post will send you to The Detroit News article on the billboards in Detroit. While some residents of Detroit may find the billboards offensive, others see them as increasing the debate about religion in public life.

I feel that any advertisement that calls attention to faith and God is good for all religions because what the faithful need to fear is indifference, not dislike. Too many people in this country have, at best, a cultural belief in a supreme being but no personal experience with God. These billboards will make people think about the role of faith in our national life. The atheist is far closer to God than someone who never thinks about faith.

These billboards do have a pernicious result. I have noticed that atheists like to portray Christianity in its most conservative form. Fundamentalism is easily caricatured and ridiculed. These billboards will cement that image in the minds of non-believers. Christians are already portrayed in simplistic fashion by the media. These billboards enforce the worst image of the faith as anti-science and anti-intellectual; Christianity is neither. Believers need to make our viewpoint heard. We must contact the media and demand a balanced view of all religions, not just ours. The time has come for the truth to set us free.


Billboards draw criticism from religious community | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Shared via AddThis

No comments: