To be candid, I hadn't.But yesterday I read an article about them. FFRF stands for Freedom from Religion Foundation. It is a group of atheists and agnostics who claim a membership of around 14,000 across the United States.
Recently they've funded a bill board campaign in 10 states and more than 30 cities. Currently the billboards are in Detroit, Indianapolis and suburban St Louis. The billboards have a stained glass, religious, look to them and have these phrases : “Imagine No Religion” or “Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief”. In addition to billboards, the FFRF currently has 75 large bus displays in San Francisco that read “Imagine No Religion” or Mark Twain’s “Faith is believing what you know ain’t so”. Next month, the group plans a “billboard blitz” in Las Vegas.
Paul Pearson, a member of the Michigan FFRF, says that the goal of the campaign is: "an attempt at balancing the media messages of religion aimed at believers with some percentage aimed at unbelievers,” he also said that they want to let "unbelievers and those with healthy skeptical doubt know FFRF exists can give knowledge and comfort.”
I found this whole thing interesting.
Freedom of speech definitely means freedom for all, so I am not in opposition to their billboard blitz.
But it does pose the question for me - how do I respond to such a thing? As I think on it I hear the word - Pray. Pray that God use this to open doors to conversations about Faith. My prayer is that this be used to quicken a culture that doesn't even care about the subject of Faith to start talking about it. That we as Believers be ready, as the Bible instructs us to in 1 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT):
you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.
What do you think about this whole thing?
7 comments:
Never heard about this one. They're surely right about one thing: "Imagine no religion"... There shouldn't be one...except a personal relationship to God...Blessings to you.
Right. They have a right to express there idea. Whether it's right or not is open to debate. I can't ever say, having grown up in the West, that I ever worried about "freedom from religion".
when i was on college i said to my professor that i am agnostic..maybe i still am now but i dont believe they should do things like that..but if they really believe on that just dont force other to do same way..
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I agree with RCUBE. And I think those of us who know the truth need to pray with passion and walk in His power so those who don't know the truth will be touched.
I think this whole thing is ironic. The FFRF is just opening a door to lessen their membership by stimulating conversations about faith :) The Holy Spirit will reveal truth when people talk about things of Him.
God will use this to his glory, I think its pretty cool. Its likely to Darwin the FFRF membership, rather than grow it. Also, it might well rattle some Christians who have lost their focus. All good things :)
The largest growing group in all the latest polls (for the last decade at least) in regards to religious thought is those who identify as not being religious at all, including atheists. I believe that a big reason for this is the proliferation of the internet and the ability of atheists to see that they are not alone. It's hard to stand up and be counted when one feels ostracized, as if one is the only different person out there. Most people don't want to cause waves, rock the boat, ruffle feathers, etc. So, most atheists have hidden in the closet until now.
With the advent of ads and other things, atheists are learning that we aren't alone. There are others out there that also share our disbelief in the religious superstitions of most of the population. We don't need to feel ostracized. So, maybe this will produce somewhat of a backlash from conservative elements (indeed, it has from groups that see the very existence of atheists as somehow offensive) but the trend will most likely continue as the US follows the path set by many European countries towards more secularization and less religious sentiment.
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