A controversial new billboard is slated to appear January 26 on westbound I-26 just south of the Spruill Avenue exit in Charleston. It will carry a brief message emblazoned on a background of a blue cloud-filled sky: "Don't Believe in God? You Are Not Alone." Below that will be the website address lowcountryhumanists.org.
"This billboard is unlike any that has ever appeared in South Carolina," declared Herb Silverman, vice president of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry. "We expect it to generate a mix of reactions from surprise, curiosity, and even uplift."
The billboard is jointly sponsored by the local Secular Humanists of the Lowcounty as well as FreeThoughtAction, a division of the American Humanist Association. Similar billboards appeared previously in the New York City area, Philadelphia, and in both Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado. (A high-resolution image of this billboard is available online at http://lowcountryhumanists.org/billboard.jpg.)
"In the past, some individuals have taken offense at this message," Silverman added. "But that isn't our purpose. Rather, it is to introduce likeminded people to the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry as well as let others know that it's OK to be openly nonreligious."
The billboard will be up until February 25 and is one of a series planned to appear this year around the country, raising the public profile of atheists, agnostics, and humanists. The billboard is backed by an active Web site at http://www.freethoughtaction.org/ that sets forth the larger mission of the effort and offers ways that individuals can get involved.
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