Recently in 'Imagine No Religion' controversy Category

Dan Barker, co-founder of the Wisc.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, will speak to the Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Barker, a former Ontario resident, will talk about his new book "Godless: How An Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists." He will likely talk about the brouhaha concerning the "Imagine No Religion" billboard in this city.

The foundation put up an "Imagine No Religion" sign last year on Foothill and Archibald. It came down after a few days following a barrage of complaints by passersby and motorists. The group is now suing the city for their role in the sign's demise.

The church is on 9185 Monte Vista Ave. in Montclair.  

The "Imagine No Religion" billboard, a source of much controversy in this city, is now up in Hollywood near the intersection of Fountain and Highland avenues.

It's nearly identical to the one that went up on Foothill and Archibald, near The Deli. That sign, put up by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, lasted less than a week because motorists who drove by were offended and complained to the city and sign company.

The Hollywood sign is the first to go up in Southern California since the Rancho one was taken down in November. But the foundation, which bills itself as the largest group of atheists and agnostics in the nation with 2,000 members in California, has been busy in other corners of the country.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the foundation, said there are several billboards planned to commemorate Darwin's bicentennial. The sign will feature a silhouette of the evolutionary biologist with the message, "Praise Darwin. Evolve beyond belief."

There are currently 10 "Imagine No Religion" signs in Portland and three in San Francisco.

I commented in this space last week about the new British bus ads that read "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The British Humanist Assn. received an outpouring of funds for the ads but the scene in Italy is apparently much different.

The Times reported that conservatives in Genoa voiced strong opposition against a bus ad that reads, "The bad news is that God doesn't exist. The good news is that you don't need him." The ad was set to run on the city's buses but a publicity agency changed its mind saying the message violated an ethics in advertising code. 

The British Humanist Assn. has unveiled its ad "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The sign will be displayed on 800 buses this month.

The Times today did a Q&A with Richard Dawkins, the author of "The God Delusion." It seems the Brits have welcomed this ad more than residents in this city probably would. The "Imagine No Religion" billboard, which was taken down after a few days, offended many. But in Britain, nonbelievers donated a total of 130,000 pounds (about $195,000) for the ad. The Times explained it best. Britain is a "secular country that finds religious fervor a tad awkward."

Today's Daily Bulletin editorial about the "Imagine No Religion" billboard holds the view that the City Hall should not have relayed complaints to sign company General Outdoor.

"If the matter at hand happens to be protected political speech, the city is on shaky ground," the editorial reads.

City officials disagree. They receive complaints all the time and they forward them to private businesses all the time, they say. For example:

City Attorney Jim Markman said if the city received complaints about a bar in the city because of various police activity, etc, the city would, no doubt, call the bar.

Markman said if a picture in a store window at the mall offended shoppers, the city would call the mall.

"Why wouldn't the city pass on a complaint?" Markman asked.

Redevelopment Director Linda Daniels used the example of the trash company. If a waste management company was not picking up trash and residents complained, the city would call the company, she said.

The co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation was not happy with this comparison.

"So she's comparing us to trash?" asked Annie Laurie Gaylor.
   

Jim Markman hasn't read the lawsuit filed today by the Freedom From Religion Foundation yet, but he's already fired up.

"Obviously the city is going to aggressively defend this," he said.

The only way the city played a role in the sign's removal, he said, is if it threatened or took some kind of action against sign company General Outdoor. But all the city did was tell the company that residents have been complaining, he said.

The city and Redevelopment Director Linda Daniels are being sued for violating the foundation's First Amendment rights.

But Markman said it's more about publicity. He said the first he heard about the lawsuit was through a reporter, not the group's lawyers.

"That shows me these people are getting more publicity and exposure for making the city look bad through the press than they could have ever gotten from any billboard," Markman said. "It's offensive."

The nation's largest organization of atheists and agnostics filed a complaint in federal court today accusing the city of violating the First Amendment. The complaint names the city and Redevelopment Director Linda Daniels for taking action that led to the removal of the "Imagine No Religion" billboard on Archibald and Foothill.

According to the complaint, "The defendants intended to interfere with and they did contribute to cause FFRF's billboard to be removed from public display because of opposition to the message communicated by FFRF's billboard. ... The bedrock principle underlying the scope of the free speech protection of the First Amendment is that government officials may not interfere with the expression of an idea simply because some persons allegedly consider the idea offensive or disagreeable to their views."

rancho_complaint.pdf