Verbatim

Atheist-themed ads appear on Fort Worth buses

That is the headline you’ll find on the Fort Worth Star Telegram’s online edition, but the print edition I picked up this morning had a very different slant. That above the fold, bold font heading read…

Atheist T ads called insult

Although I usually let these stories speak for themselves, this time around I’ll interspace the piece with an occasional editorial comment. My first is regarding the Startlegram's headline writers. I find it tremendously interesting that they decided to choose the word "insult" as part of the headline when that word plays such a small part of the story. Nothing new there, but still very interesting.

Starting today, the sides of four Fort Worth city buses will bear this message: "Millions of Americans are Good Without God."

Their sponsor, the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason, says it's only coincidence that the atheist-themed ads will debut during Christmas season. They are not exactly apologizing.

"We've been trying to put these ads together for awhile and we didn't plan for them to come out now," said Terry McDonald of the Coalition of Reason. "But I'm not unhappy it's running during Christmas. Why do Christians own December? There were people that said this may cause a problem. That doesn't bother me."

The ads on buses of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, also known as the T, feature a collage of faces that make up an American flag, and the Web address of the coalition, the local chapter of a new national group called the United Coalition of Reason. According to national Director Fred Edwords, the ads' target audience is not Christians but nontheists who might feel isolated.

"December would be a good time of year to let people know that these nontheist groups exist," he said. "These are people who during the holidays might feel a little left out. The holidays might be a good time [to run the ads]. People are thinking about these things."

To some Fort Worth clergy, the timing is an insult.

"I'm not a Christian, but I cannot help but feel it is done to hurt and to insult," said Rabbi Gary Perras of Congregation Ahavath Sholom in Fort Worth. "There is a better way of making your point. It's an in-your-face, mean kind of thing."

Several comments could be made concerning Rabbi Perras’ statement. Firstly, to accuse that the timing of the ads is done with intent, with the goal being to cause insult, is unsustainable and little more than assumption. Mr. McDonald has already stated that this is not the case.

Additionally, I can personally testify that the fact that the ads would coincide with Christmas did not occur to me until I read this story.  An argument could also be made that Christians seem not to consider the feelings of non-Christians when planning their advertising... or when promoting the insertion of their particular brand of myth into public school textbooks... or when supporting the Ten Commandment displayed in public (tax supported) institutions... so is not disingenuous for anyone to hold non-Christians to a higher standard?

To Rev. Ralph Emerson Jr., pastor of Rising Star Baptist Church, the message is not offensive, just wrong.

"I'm not offended because they offend themselves," Emerson said. "We just accept there are persons who just don't fit into where we fit in. We'll pray for them and hope one day they'll come to see the light."

Seeing the light is exactly what we non-theists wish the religionists would do. 

Similar ad campaigns sponsored by the national coalition have taken place in several cities. However, the ads won't appear on Dallas buses because Dallas Area Rapid Transit refused to accept them. DART also turns down ads for alcoholic beverages and some movies, spokesman Morgan Lyons said.

"For us, the point is to stay true to what we do -- we're a transit provider -- and not create a public forum," Lyons said. "We rejected the ads because we don't accept ads from religious groups."

The T does accept religious ads.

"We try to be fair to all parties in accepting advertising, and we do not discriminate among faiths or beliefs," T spokeswoman Joan Hunter said. "They met the criteria. If we receive other requests from other faiths, we'll evaluate them as well."

She said the ads would appear on four buses for the next 30 days. The ads, called "king boards," cover the sides of the buses, she said. Printing the ads and buying the space costs about $2,480, she said.

The local reason coalition includes 15 groups with various beliefs, McDonald said. One is Metroplex Atheists, which has several hundred members that actively campaign on issues such as separation of church and state. That group recently protested a pre-meeting prayer traditionally held by the North Richland Hills City Council, McDonald said.

Other agencies involved in the coalition are based at colleges, or are primarily for social interaction, he said. No political agenda is behind the bus campaign, McDonald said, other than to raise awareness of the groups.

"We're not trying to convert anybody," McDonald said. "There's so much religion in this area, and it's so visible. We're just trying to let people who are not believers know that there's a lot of people like them."

With every passing day I find myself intrigued by the number of closeted non-theists. As these individuals learn of groups like CoR and come out, the ranks of the reasonable swell.  Without public displays such as the bus ads, many of these people would have had no idea that there are others of similar thinking. It is only natural they would want to "spread the word." 

The Rev. Tim Bruster, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, said he distinguished the coming ad campaign from more aggressive attacks on religious faith by writers such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins.

"There is more of an anti-religious bent to what they are doing," Bruster said. "I haven't seen the ad, but it doesn't sound like it's anti-Christian. It doesn't sound like it's a frontal attack."

How very interesting that the Rev. Bruster would single out Hitchens and Dawkins. Those two, although outspoken, are among the milder atheists on the international scene. There are plenty of others who are much more aggressive and far less tolerant of the religionists. Hell, I’m more aggressive than Hitchins.

But Bruster took issue with the sponsor's name, which suggests that people of faith do not possess reason.

"I think for folks in that camp to suggest that claiming the Christian faith is unreasonable or that it's anti-reason, that's not a fair characterization," Bruster said. "I do find that insulting.

Again this man displays amazing cluelessness. As Christians, Bruster and his ilk deny science while promoting mythology, the supernatural, bigotry, chauvinism, and misogyny… calling all of this “truth.”

Yet the man takes issue with a group promoting science as a reasonable alternative.

Give me a break.

"But my reaction is not to lash out, but to demonstrate with our words and actions that we have a faith that is both reasonable and passionate. What we do in this season -- feeding the hungry, reaching out to the poor -- demonstrates in a concrete way who we are. Not issuing condemnations of someone with whom we obviously and strongly disagree."

Members of the various groups that comprise the Coalition of Reason (United CoR) are responsible for thousands of acts of kindness, on a random, daily basis, and not just “-- feeding the hungry, reaching out to the poor” over a particular “season.”

I belong to four of the 15 groups that make up the DFW CoR and one out of Austin. We have participated in multiple outreach events, supporting people and institutions that help people. One does not need to be religious to be morally good.

This is the message behind the various “Good Without God” campaigns across the nation. Being good to the members of our tribe should not be contingent on some external provocation… it should come from the knowledge that doing so is natural to the human condition.

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Star Telegram story By Tim Madigan and Gordon Dickson

tmadigan@star-telegram.com, gdickson@star-telegram.com

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