'Godless' billboard reaches out to nonbelievers [View all]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120711/NEWS/707119873/1707



By Christopher Burbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A “godless” billboard that appeared recently in Omaha is part of a national campaign with the stated goals of helping local nonreligious groups grow, connecting atheists and agnostics with one another and informing religious believers that nonbelievers are part of their communities.

The billboard, near 72nd and Pacific Streets, reads: “Don't believe in God? Join the club.” A new group called the Omaha Coalition of Reason placed the ad with funding from a national organization, the United Coalition of Reason, that has backed similar billboards around the United States.

“We're reaching out to nontheists to let them know that there's a local community of reason for them to join,” said William Newman, director of the Omaha Coalition of Reason. “We're using the billboard as a beacon to hold out to them.”

The coalition comprises seven local organizations: the Omaha Atheists; Rationalists, Empiricists and Skeptics of Nebraska; UNO Secular Student Alliance; UNO Council for Humanist Thought; Omaha Atheist and Agnostic Parenting Group; Nebraska Secular Home Educators; and Recovering from Religion-Omaha Chapter.

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