The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is the nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics, is unveiling what is believed to be the first nontheistic billboard in Madison, Wis.
The whimsical full-color 48-foot billboard mimics a stained-glass window and warns, "Beware of Dogma."
"We are launching a campaign to place freethought billboards up around the country, wherever an irreverent billboard is needed--which is practically everywhere!" says Annie Laurie Gaylor, Foundation spokeswoman.
"We don't go to Mass, but we can go to the masses," adds Dan Barker, Foundation co-president. "We think it is time for the rest of us to use the mass media to counter the ubiquity of religious messages on roadsides everywhere!"
The Foundation will be erecting another billboard to greet attendees of its 30th national convention, meeting on Oct. 12-13 in Madison. A smaller billboard on East Johnson Street by Fordem Avenue (passed by nearly everyone coming in from the airport) will carry the "Beware of Dogma" message on one side, while the other side will sport the stained-glass motif and the words "Imagine No Religion." http://www.ffrf.org/
"I have also noted that many studies have shown that students
become less religious as they proceed through college, probably in
part because average IQ rises.
All but four of the forty-three polls I have reviewed support
the conclusion that native intelligence varies inversely with
degree of religious faith; i.e., that, other factors being equal,
the more intelligent a person is, the less religious he is. It
is easy to find fault with the studies I have reviewed, for all
were imperfect. But the fact that all but four of them
supported the general conclusion provides overwhelming evidence
that, among American students and adults, the amount of religious
faith tends to vary inversely and appreciably with intelligence."
"Disbelief in God and immortality among NAS biological scientists was 65.2% and 69.0%, respectively, and among NAS physical scientists it was 79.0% and 76.3%. Most of the rest were agnostics on both issues, with few believers. We found the highest percentage of belief among NAS mathematicians (14.3% in God, 15.0% in immortality). Biological scientists had the lowest rate of belief (5.5% in God, 7.1% in immortality), with physicists and astronomers slightly higher (7.5% in God, 7.5% in immortality). "