[news] Wisconsin nonprofit puts up Nashville billboard with atheist message

source:

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120404/NEWS01/120404031/Wisconsin-nonprofit-puts-up-Nashville-billboard-atheist-message?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cp 

A Wisconsin-based nonprofit has placed a bright pink billboard bearing the photo of a Tennessee student and the sentence, "This is what an atheist looks like," on Interstate 40 West about a mile east of Interstate 440 near downtown Nashville.

The billboard is part of the Freedom From Religion Foundation's "Out of the Closet" campaign, which features testimonials from atheists and agnostics from around the country.

Other billboards include slogans like: "Imagine No Religion," "Beware of Dogma," "Sleep in on Sundays" and "God & Government — a Dangerous Mix."

The quotes used in the billboards came from online submissions to the foundation's virtual billboard.

"We announced that we would choose a winner or winners from those who participate, and Grace's statement, 'This is what an atheist looks like,' not only inspired the Nashville billboard, but one of (the foundation's) most popular T-shirts," said co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor. "Many people have not knowingly met an atheist, and as a result negative myths and stereotypes proliferate."