Do you know what Neptune, Jesus, Santa Claus, and Satan have in common?
They're going to be alongside each other on some billboards in several states under the headline, "37 Million Americans know MYTHS when they see them."
That announcement comes today from American Atheists, which says it will put the seasonal billboards in Florida, Ohio, and on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel. In case the God-fearing portion of our readership isn't pissed off yet, we suppose it's time to tell you Florida gets its own special variety of billboards.
The 2011 American Atheists Regional Convention is slated to be held at the Sheraton Suites Cypress Creek Hotel in Fort Lauderdale on December 17 and 18, which means there's a special billboard announcing that with crossed-out pictures of Neptune and Jesus under the headline, "2 Million Floridians don't believe in gods."
"Every year groups like the Catholic League and American Family Association told Americans about a war on Christmas that simply did not exist," American Atheists Communications Director Blair Scott says in the announcement. "Last year we thought we would give them what they seemed to want and fired the first shot in the war on Christmas. To both groups we say, 'Happy Holidays!'"
Naturally, this is going to piss off a whole lot of folks, but that's not the point, according to Scott.
"Offending people is not our goal, but we know people are going to be offended," he says. "When you question someone's long-held beliefs and doctrine, they are going to be immediately offended and be on the defensive: It's a known psychological phenomenon."
The billboards are a bit less subtle than last year's seasonal billboards, which included silhouettes of three men on camels under text that read, "You KNOW It's a Myth/This Season, Celebrate REASON."
It's also a lot less subtle than the last time there was an atheist billboard in Fort Lauderdale, when the Florida Atheist and Secular Humanist Society put one up, reading, "Being a good person doesn't require God. Don't believe in God? You're NOT alone."
We're still trying to find out when these billboards are going up and where, as our call to American Atheists was not immediately returned. You'll probably figure it out when you notice Jesus with a red x across him.
Check out the new billboards below:
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