Bus ads hit Madison

The Freedom From Religion Foundation debuted six free thinking bus ads last week in Madison Wisconsin. The ads took quotes from six famous freethinkers or skeptics of history including Clarence Darrow, Emily Dickinson, Butterfly McQueen, Mark Twain and Richard Dawkins. If you are riding a bus in Madison within the next few months you may look up and see this:

This is not the first bus ad that the Freedom From Religion Foundation has had with Madison Metro. In 1983 after stopping a state/church violation involving Madison Metro placing free ads saying, "Keep Christ in Christmas," for the Knights of Columbus the Foundation's got equal time with it’s first bus add which read: "The Bible: A Grim Fairy Tale." In 1984, the Foundation placed a second bus sign, showing a delighted Mary running out of the stable exclaiming, "It's a Girl!"

The Foundation is also known for its national billboard campaign which they started in late 2007 and have already reached about a third of the states. The billboards have several different messages such as: "Imagine No Religion," "Beware of Dogma," "Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief" and "Keep Religion OUT of Politics."

Ok here’s my take on all of this…I love that they started a national billboard champing in 2007 to me this is the best way to get our message out there, but once again I have an issue with placing the ads on a bus that is owned and operated by the state. In 83 they sued the state of Wisconsin because they ran a Christian ad so now isn’t it a bit hypocritical to place an ad about religion in 09? If you want to keep church and state seperate then you need to keep your own church seperate (or lack there of) as well.