Steve Wiggins wrote about encountering fundamentalist Christian billboards along the road:
One of the problems with driving is that you can’t get pictures of billboards. Well, given the way people drive around here, I suspect that may not always be true. Nevertheless, I always think of billboards as trying to sell something. There’s sometimes fairly easy to shut out, but in long stretches of otherwise uninteresting road you fall into their trap. Now having grown up in western Pennsylvania, we always thought the people out east—Philadelphia was the largest city in the state, after all—were more sophisticated. It is around here, however, that I often see billboards selling evangelical Christianity. If you put out your wares, you’ve got something to sell. Money to make.
As I was traveling that stretch of somewhat plain highway 33 between Stroudsburg and Easton I noticed a billboard reading “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” To shore up its academic credentials the billboard footnoted Genesis 1:1. An inspirational sunrise, if I recall, shown over the Bible. Of to the left—of course to the left!—was a small “no circle” and inside the famous skeletal progression from ape to human. The message was “no evolution.” The more I pondered this, the more strange it became. Most Americans are well aware that billboards aren’t exactly the locus of truth. They are gimmicks to try to get you into the store. Like the one a few miles down that advertises the world’s largest humidor; even those with no interest in tobacco might feel just a touch curious what such a place might look like. Why would you take your most intimate personal beliefs and put them on a billboard? Does that make evolution any less likely?
A strange perception has lately taken over this country. The idea that an individual’s wants equate with the truth. Shout it loud enough and it has to be true. Billboards would never stretch the truth, would they?
There have been and are so many interesting, shocking, outlandish, and otherwise noteworthy billboards with a religious message, that I thought I would seize this opportunity to invite you to share your favorites – or least favorites – with me. I’ve blogged about billboards and signs of various sorts in the past. One that I was reminded of when looking back to see which one(s) I might mention in this post was this one:
But there have been numerous others, both positive and negative examples. Just search this blog for “billboard” to find more, or click on the links I’ve embedded in this post!
I look forward to seeing your favorite examples of great and appalling billboards in the comment section below!
Let me conclude by mentioning a follow-up post by Steve, also featuring billboards, in which he writes:
Religion is anything but static. To test this theory simply get behind the wheel and drive out into rural America. You’ll be surprised how much you can see even at highway speeds, if you have eyes to see.
Please share what you’ve seen!
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