Atheists and Catholics have posted dueling billboards in New York City, creating a metaphysical face-off near the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. One, put up by the group American Atheists, proclaims that Christmas is a "myth." The other, posted by the Catholic League in response, urges commuters: "You know it's real. This season, celebrate Jesus."
This is not the first such religion-themed ad showdown. Atheist groups around the country have taken to advertising campaigns to get out their message -- and Christian groups, disapproving commuters, and the occasional anonymous vandal have taken notice.
Atheist organizations have tens of thousands of members, and the number of American adults who say they have no religion has doubled to 15 percent over the past 20 years. The stepped-up ad campaigns are a way for these secular organizations to compete for the increasing market share of potential atheists, experts told the New York Times.
"There's a competitive environment for 'no religion,' and they're grabbing for all the constituents they can get," Mark Silk, founding director of the Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life, told the paper.
The outreach is also a way to fight the "stigma" atheists face -- even though the same campaigns also frequently provoke acts of vandalism that remind nonbelievers that they still can be pariahs.
Atheists and Catholics...
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