Catholic vs. Atheist: Battling Billboards

Interesting video. I guess I'll be stirring the pot by posting it, but it's worthy of note at least:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYUlhEMTCdk
|||Pfft. Neither is right, agnosticism is where the real cool people are.|||Lets think of all the things that money could have funded; Research, charities, helping the needy...

But no, it's Christmas! Let's spend it on ridiculous billboards instead!|||What a pointless discussion. I find it a bit childish. I'm an Atheist myself, but why not simply place a billboard that promotes a Christmas feeling? Atheists celebrate Christmas too, you don't need to be religeous to enjoy a celebration. Now that is a warm message I'd love to see on a billboard. You could use that billboard to promote understanding for Atheism. But this is just picking fights. Not exactly in the holiday spirit. For the record, I dislike Christian billboards for the very same reason. I dislike propaganda, let people decide for themselves.|||I think it's horrible that people feel the need to display their beliefs on a 50' billboard in the first place, whatever they may be.




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Pfft. Neither is right, agnosticism is where the real cool people are.




The thing is, the corollary to agnosticism is that religious truth claims are necessarily untenable. So pretty much weak atheism anyway.|||Quote:








Interesting video. I guess I'll be stirring the pot by posting it, but it's worthy of note at least:




If this turns into a flamefest, and you are forced to close your own thread.... can we point and laugh? |||While Jesus is the whole point of Christmas, I would rather see people addressing the gross consumerism that has instead consumed the last quarter of each year.

Kinda like this.

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Pfft. Neither is right, agnosticism is where the real cool people are.




Strong or weak agnosticism?

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Lets think of all the things that money could have funded; Research, charities, helping the needy...




The glib response is that the billboards do help the needy. Namely those in need of some rationality. A more complete response is that it's their money and they can spend it as they choose. Promoting a cause isn't automatically a bad thing just because there are other good things money can be spent on. The war of ideas is extremely powerful and it deserves attention too.|||Quote:








While Jesus is the whole point of Christmas,




It isn't really. Jesus historically has zero to do with the celebration of Christmas. But that's probably not what you meant.


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The glib response is that the billboards do help the needy. Namely those in need of some rationality. A more complete response is that it's their money and they can spend it as they choose. Promoting a cause isn't automatically a bad thing just because there are other good things money can be spent on. The war of ideas is extremely powerful and it deserves attention too.




I don't think this is the way to draw people to rational thought. People who are supersticious will not be persuaded by these kinds of billboards. They might only see their dislike of Atheism confirmed.|||I think that atheists are using the right strategy here.

The common belief among atheists has always been that there were a lot more "closeted" atheists than has been showed in polls. By making their case public, atheists are bringing their agenda closer to mainstream through simple media exposure.