Atheist Billboard Goes Up in NJ Muslim Neighborhood
PRODUCER NOTE
JoyfulGypsy, of New York, shot these photos of an American Atheist billboard that was erected yesterday in a Muslim neighborhood in Paterson, New Jersey. The billboard said, ‘You know it’s a myth and you have a choice’ in English and Arabic along with the word ‘Allah’ on the side. ‘I spoke to a few people on the street as I was photographing the billboard and they all told me they were not happy about the billboard and considered it disrespectful,’ she says. ‘However, they agreed that the American Atheists had a right to post their opinion.’- ssesha, CNN iReport producer
On Wednesday, March 7, 2012, American Atheists erected a billboard on the corner of 33rd Street and Broadway, the heart of a Muslim community in Paterson, New Jersey, with the wording: “You know it’s a myth, and you have a choice” in both Arabic and English, with the word “Allah” on the left side.
According to the American Atheists website at www.atheists.org, the purpose of this billboard is to advertise the Reason Rally in Washington D.C. on March 24 (www.ReasonRally.com) and the American Atheists National Convention, to the atheists in the Muslim communities. “Insular communities like these are designed to squelch individualism and religious criticism, making the atheists in these communities feel particularly alone — they are not.”
Apparently, atheists within the Muslim communities are quite plentiful, as evidenced by the emails they receive and the number of former Muslims now in the American Atheists’ ranks. The new billboard acknowledges the closeted atheists in the community and invites them to the Reason Rally and convention, where they will meet others like themselves, share stories, have fun, and return with enough knowledge and support to allow them to make their own decisions in their lives. They do have choices.