I have but one thing to say to these foolish, defiant atheists, who dare to
mock God openly, and that is this:

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of
the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the
LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder,
and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall
laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king
upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said
unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I
shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts
of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now
therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD
with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and
ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are
all they that put their trust in him."
Psalms 2:1-12, KJV

"[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.] The fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is
none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of
men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are
all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that
doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who
eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD."
Psalms 14:1-4, KJV

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
James 1:5, KJV


Atheist Ads on Buses Rattle Fort Worth

By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

December 13, 2010


FORT WORTH -- Stand on a corner in this city and you might get a case of
theological whiplash.

A public bus rolls by with an atheist message on its side: "Millions of
people are good without God." Seconds later, a van follows bearing a
riposte: "I still love you. -- God," with another line that says, "2.1
billion Christians are good with God."

A clash of beliefs has rattled this city ever since atheists bought ad space
on four city buses to reach out to nonbelievers who might feel isolated
during the Christmas season. After all, Fort Worth is a place where
residents commonly ask people they have just met where they worship and many
encounters end with, "Have a blessed day."

"We want to tell people they are not alone," said Terry McDonald, the
chairman of Metroplex Atheists, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of
Reason, which paid for the atheist ads. "People don't realize there are
other atheists. All you hear around here is, 'Where do you go to church?' "

But the reaction from believers has been harsher than anyone in the
nonbeliever's club expected. Some ministers organized a boycott of the
buses, with limited success. Other clergy members are pressing the Fort
Worth Transportation Authority to ban all religious advertising on public
buses. And a group of local businessmen paid for the van with the Christian
message to follow the atheist-messaged buses around town.

"We just wanted to reach out to them and let them know about God's love,"
said Heath Hill, president of the media company that owns the van and one of
the businessmen who arranged for the Christian ads. "We have gotten some
pretty nasty e-mails and phone calls from atheists. But it's really just
about the love of God."

The face-off here follows efforts in other cities by several coalitions of
atheists -- American Atheists, the United Coalition of Reason and the
Freedom From Religion Foundation, to name a few -- that have mounted ad
campaigns to encourage nonbelievers to seek out others of like mind. Some
have compared their efforts to the struggle of gay men and lesbians to "come
out" and win acceptance from society.

In New York City, a large billboard promoting atheism at the entrance of the
Lincoln Tunnel, which a local affiliate of American Atheists paid for, has
generated controversy. (The message: "You know it's a myth. This season,
celebrate reason!)

The Fort Worth group is affiliated with the United Coalition of Reason,
whose local chapters have bought bus ads in Detroit, northwest Arkansas,
Philadelphia and Washington, as well as billboards in more than a dozen
cities, among them Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, Seattle and St. Louis.
Most show a blue sky with variations on this message: "Don't believe in God?
You are not alone."

The ads have incited anger in some places. Vandals destroyed two bus ads in
Detroit, ruined a billboard in Tampa, Fla., and defaced 10 billboards in
Sacramento. One billboard in Cincinnati was taken down after the landlord
received threats.

And the local rapid transit authority in Des Moines pulled atheist ads off
its buses in August last year because of complaints from local religious
leaders. Four days later, however, the authority reversed its position after
the local group that had bought the ads threatened legal action on First
Amendment grounds.

But nowhere has the reaction of believers been so forceful as in Fort Worth,
to the delight of Fred Edwords, the national director of the United
Coalition of Reason.

The coalition's local chapter spent only $2,400 for four bus ads, which will
run through the month in a city with about 200 buses.

"That's more brouhaha for the buck than we have seen anywhere," Mr. Edwords
said.

Some of the fiercest criticism has come from black religious leaders. The
Rev. Kyev Tatum Sr., president of the local Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, has called for a boycott of the buses, saying the ads are a
direct attack during a sacred time in the Christian calendar.

"It's a season to share good will toward all men," Mr. Tatum said. "To have
this at this time come out with a blatant disrespect of our faith, we think
is unconscionable."

While Mr. Tatum and about 20 other pastors have urged their congregations to
avoid the buses, a smaller group met recently with the transportation
authority's president to demand that the policy allowing religious
advertising on buses be reversed Wednesday at a meeting of the authority's
board. The bus system in nearby Dallas bans all religious ads.

"I'm not against them getting their message out," said the Rev. Julius L.
Jackson, pastor at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church. "I just don't think
it should be on public transportation."

Dick Ruddell, the president of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, said
churches were free to advertise. The only ads not accepted, Mr. Ruddell
said, are those that have to do with a few vices, like cigarettes and
alcohol. "There is nothing in the policy about religious content," he said.

Not all religious leaders are offended by the bus ads.

"It doesn't seem to me as an in-your-face, God-is-not-good message," said
Tim Bruster, the senior pastor at First United Methodist Church, where 3,500
families worship. "My very strong opinion is that, as people of faith, the
very thing we should not do is lash out and condemn."

Mr. McDonald, chairman of the local atheist group, said the ad was intended
not to insult Christians, but to console atheists. The initial plan, he
said, was to run the ad on the Fourth of July, which is why it features
dozens of portraits of Texas atheists in an American flag motif.

But raising money and pulling together photos took longer than expected, he
said, and the ad was not ready until last month.

"It can be pretty lonely for a nonbeliever at Christmastime around here.
There is so much religion," Mr. McDonald said. "We thought, 'What the heck?
Nobody owns December.' "



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