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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."
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."
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."
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 national writers like 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."
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.
"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."
i honestly dont see the problem. my rights are no more important than theirs. thoughts?????
god bless.
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."
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."
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."
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 national writers like 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."
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.
"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."
i honestly dont see the problem. my rights are no more important than theirs. thoughts?????
god bless.
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