Recently a church in South Africa was ordered to take down a billboard. It was erected last year in a prominent position on the property of the Rivers Church in the Sandton suburb of Johannesburg. The billboard states, “An Atheist is a man who believes himself to be an accident” which is a famous quote from English poet Francis Thompson. For those unfamiliar with Thompson, he was a poet in the late 1800′s. He was addicted to opium and lived as an “unbalanced invalid” in Wales and at Storrington. He died of tuberculosis is 1907. You can read more here. Now back to the story!
A non-Christian (probably an Atheist unfortunately) seeing the billboard contacted South Africa’s Advertising Standards Authority and voiced a complaint. The ASA forced the church to remove the offending billboard stating:
“The visuals of a man holding the sides of his empty head suggest that atheists are “empty-headed” or lack intelligence, presumably as a result of the above “belief” communicated”
The church submitted that the advertisement is based on Psalm 14v and Psalm 53v1, which say “only foolish say in their hearts there is no God”.
Now my first impression of the matter is that it’s a pretty damn funny advertisement. I’m not too pleased that a non-Christian, probably an Atheist, was offended and actually complained. But honestly, do Atheists actually think they’re ignorant? Not a chance. Christians, Muslims, and other believers may think we Atheists/Agnostics are stupid, but there are studies that show quite the opposite especially when dealing with matters of religion. One well-known study, The U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey, was conducted in 2010 by The Pew Forum. The results speak for themselves:
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love that chart…I always suspected that atheists were more knowledgeable about the very thing they refuse to practice
Those statistics actually make a lot of sense. Atheists today are persecuted in America for their ‘lack of faith.’ Just as anyone else who’s views are being attacked, Atheists are learning about their attackers so they know how to defend themselves.
What this proves is that the American religious are comfortable (and therefor can become lackadaisical) and American atheists are not.
BTW – I am a Christian and LOVE your site. It is so refreshing to see someone on the other side of the battle being respectful towards those whom you disagree with. I am so sick of the hate mongering (on both sides) and don’t see the benefit for anyone. It is the first step towards better communication between differing views.
A lot of things are to do the know will be successful.
the famous quote that i really like is “its always darkest before the dawn”. in life there are things that gets worst first before it gets better.:
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Oh my goodness! Awesome article dude! Many thanks, However I am encountering difficulties with your RSS. I don’t know the reason why I cannot join it. Is there anyone else having similar RSS problems? Anyone that knows the answer will you kindly respond? Thanx!
I wrote a book, an ebook which I give away for free.
It is called “Creed of Assiah” and it is to do with my experiences as a satanist (which I was twice).
In it I tell all about my magic practices, how and why it works and how religious faiths are being corrupted into political creeds and decidedly atheist ones at that.
I also show why atheism is essentially a form of baalism and why atheism is more evil than satanism.
You can get it at…
http://creedofassiah.webs.com
Your astroturfing sucks, boy Leon.
“The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins is a much better book to read, for people wanting to learn the truth about religions. Unlike your amateur vomit of a “book”, it’s well-researched and accurate:
http://www.amazon.com/The-God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618918248
If your baal Dawkins was sooooo committed to ‘his’ atheism and to telling the ‘truth’ to all then he would give his mumbo jumbo book away for free.
But he always charges top dollar because he thinks he is entitled to be rich by telling clowns and fools like you his musings. And you like the brain dead idiot that you are, do pay whatever he wants and accept his pap as gospel.
Go lick a dead dogs arse till it barks.
PRAISE JEHOVAH – THE ONLY GOD EVER!
Um, leon, you’re the sore loser here. People pay money for Dawkins’ books because they are interesting, and thoughtful books and they are well-written. You should learn from that. However, despite your childhood authorship aspirations, you probably should go on to the job that suits your skills and intelligence the best: flipping fatty burgers for fat kids.
Now, did your jehovah teach you to write such coarse insults? You are disgusting, but in that way, you do represent your horrid religion suitably.
And leon, nice show of desperation by shouting in all caps about your god. Why does your “god” need you to try to sell him at us so desperately?