Comments on: Cincinnati Coalition of Reason Billboard Taken Down (and Put Back Up) After Threat

By: Daniel R.

Daniel R. — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:32:28 +0000

You see there are what I call Billboard Trucks that can advertise with these giant billboards on the sides of them and roll all over town -hopefully not the wrong side of town lest I fear for the truckdriver.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 26 May 2010 03:28:40 +0000

I live in a Cincinnati suburb and wasn’t aware of any billboard, old or revised locations, last year. Bet you Phil Burress and his ilk, the Citizens for Community Values, were behind most of the threats. They’re vultures. Credit them for taking our city’s alternative newspaper – full of restaurant and movie reviews, stupid criminal stories, apartment rentals, and little else – out of local grocery stores until they stopped running Dan Savage’s Savage Love column. They passed and delayed the repeal of Article 12 until 2004, removing the addition of [real or perceived] sexual orientation to our human rights ordinance. The “equal rights not special rights” is their typical prerogative to swoop down on the local news and bitch about special protections they already enjoy for being Christian, which is a choice that homosexuality never gets. But we’ve never known bigots and imbeciles to be self-aware…

By: martymankins

martymankins — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:04:09 +0000

I don’t get the threats. Why are religious people so offended by this? I think I know why – the fear of losing control over people thinking for themselves.

But it still cracks me up that they wield this kind of power over something that is not attacking anything.

Yet, they can shove their message down the throats of everyone, including those that don’t believe and find it hard when us non-believers complain.

By: Jen

Jen — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:17:49 +0000

Imagine if every time we saw religious displays, we called in vague threats. I would be doing nothing but looking up numbers for billboard, churches, town halls, as well as every cross-necklace-wearing, Jesus-Took-Over-A-Reese’s-Ad t-shirted, or tiny guardian angel pin-wearing religious person. And they think I am going to burn eternally in a painful hellfire- I only think they are wasting their time, so really, who is more offensive?*

*Offensive, of course, doesn’t not require anyone kills anyone.

By: DangerousTalk

DangerousTalk — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:39:26 +0000

There should be a police investigation. Does anyone know if there is? We need to put pressure on the police to find out who made the threats and arrest them. We need justice here!!!
-Staks

By: Omega Dusk

Omega Dusk — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:39:50 +0000

I don’t think it’s unusual for any activist group to react with agression when their views are directly opposed. Granted atheists tend to be the sort of people who value individual opinion, these days it seems we’re becoming more vocal and I believe that’s a good thing. On the other hand, I don’t like the idea of using the heavy handed tactics that the faithful have been known to use. I want to believe we’re better than that or at least that we hold logic to be a sacred virtue.

By: Jessica Sideways

Jessica Sideways — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:04:36 +0000

“Christian love”? That’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one!

By: Gladius

Gladius — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:44:00 +0000

“Whether my neighbor believes in twenty gods or no gods, it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” Thomas Jefferson

Non-believers in this country need to remind theists that the infringement of free speech of any group will ultimately infringe on the free speech of all.

Angry Christians, read the U.S. Constitution. It’s much shorter than the Bible and far easier to understand.

I wish good sense and understanding to all.

By: Richard Wade

Richard Wade — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:12:25 +0000

Claudia, thank you for that clarification. I suppose that the original building has a much more identifiable owner than the owner of what appears to be the sign’s new site. Yes, if Lamar was responding to protect the property owner from a credible threat, they handled it well.

However,

if incidents like this start cropping up more frequently, there will have to be some other kind of response. Otherwise we will have no free speech at all in this kind of venue.

Atheist billboards have been illegally forbidden by bigoted civic leaders, others have been taken down because city counsel members (Cucamonga, CA) caved in to a few whiners calling to complain, and other billboards have been vandalized repeatedly.

This latest anti-atheist tactic will be more effective and cheaper if it makes billboard companies think twice. It costs thousands of dollars to put up and take down billboards, but it costs only a few cents to phone in an anonymous threat.

It’s going to be a long struggle just to be able to say hello to each other in a public place.

By: JJR

JJR — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:45:50 +0000

I still think it’s hilarious that the end result was that the sign got moved to a better and MORE VISIBLE location…that’s what they call an “own goal” in soccer…well done, Xtians, well done…