So...I have a question. No hidden meaning, no offence intended, just a general question of curiosity. In my city, you can't drive down the road 10 feet without seeing a billboard or other advertisement stating something like, "Got God?" or "Jesus is King!" or "What have you done for God today?" etc etc, you get the point lol The t.v. is flooded with advertisements for Life Time Christian music CDs and church advertisements, pastors preaching and daily morning programming with Pastor Nancy (I believe her name is). So my question is, how offended would you be if you were driving down the road and saw a huge billboard with a saying like, "Got Satan?" or "What have you done for Allah today?" or "Have you chosen the Buddist path?" In the land of America, let freedom ring, why is it that some things are acceptable and some things are not? Shouldn't it be equal and fair to advertise your religious beliefs in any way you see fit and that if one group of practicers can do it through billboards and tv commercial advertisements, why can't another for fear of persecution?

You must be in the "Bible Belt". Also known as "Tornado Alley".

the wiccans here protested the nativity scene on the courthouse lawn, and got a permit to set up a booth right next to them. they were shunned and heckled but i thought it was great! yeah, separation of church & state right, but the word "god" appears on every piece of currency we have. it's a losing battle, just keep your beliefs to yourself and try not to get to heated about it. if everybody did this the world would be a much nicer place

I'm sure you could rent a billboard and put "Got Satan?" on it if you wanted to.

Or, "Have you accepted Lucifer into your life?"

But would you waste your money on such advertisements?

The reason that Christian organizations are doing this is because they are desperate. Attendance is dropping off in churches. People are awakening to the absurdity of the biblical doctrine. The churches are dying. The religion is on its last legs.

The massive advertisements that you see merely reflect the desperation of the organized religions.

They are hard up for new converts.

When all else fails,... ADVERTISE!

lol I'm right on the GA/AL border...so yes..in the middle of the bible belt :P

hahaha! the nativity scene had a huge banner promoting the church's website strung across the entire top of the setup. very cheesy.


and "satan has been the church's best friend, for without him, they wouldn't have been is business this long" -Anton LaVey

I believe in "to each their own", unless what they're doing directly affects me or my children in a negative way, who am I to judge? lol And that's awsome about the Coven(s) in your area! I would have loved to have seen the booth they created. I just find all religions facinating and love learning about their beliefs and ways of life...it's truely eye opening. :) The differences, and the similarities.

"When all else fails....ADVERTISE!" lmao I think a lot of organizations follow that motto, and that's very true.

I am driving through central Ohio tomorrow and to me, I call this annual trek "a little bit of country and a little bit of christian rock and roll". The signs/billboards are entertaining, and I am glad I don't have to live with them. The ones with the flames of hell are the best!

You get to live with that all the time. Sweet home, huh?

lol I hadn't heard that quote before, but I suppose that's very true. Though, I think he's lost a lot of his "scare-ability" in today's age. It used to be parents would scare their children into good behavior by threatening them with the devil, and it worked. In today's society that doesn't go over so well once they get to a certain age/maturity point. I'm sure it could be argued that that's because of the decline of god in today's day and age, and that could be true to a degree. But I think it's more that there is more acceptance today than there was back then. Today, you don't have the fear of being burned at the stake after a false trial for being a witch. Back then, if you had "the devil" or his influence in you...that was it, you were done for.

I was in ALABAMA once....just driving through the countryside, it seemed like there was a CHURCH for every 5 HOUSES!

lol They used to really outrage me when you would literally see one every few feet. Now it's just more of a mental shrug and a thing of "are they really bothering me?" lol I personally don't see how they do any good, and I mean...it's a billboard. The things are huge...do they really need to be that big when you've got churches that are literally next door to each other? You drive down the street and you've got a church on your left, with a church next to it on both sides, and another directly across the street, then two blocks down you've got 6 more churches and then 3 blocks down from them you've got a church that (including it's rec room, parking lot, baseball field, play park, chapel, indoor play room, movie center, and a building which I have no clue) takes up 3 1/2 city blocks all the way around. I would think the churches themselves would be advertisement enough...do they really need to put up billboards? It's not like you can miss the churches lol

That's about right, yeah. Georgia is the same way, I would think Mississippi is as well, though I've never been through there so I'm not sure. But yes...we have a looot of churches all over the place.

This is funny.... it just made me think of that creepy line from Silence of the Lambs, when Agent Starling realizes Bill knows the first victim.

What do you covet? You covet what you see every day.

In a way, these churches are doing the same thing. They operate on the "out of sight, out of mind" dogma more than anything else. Religiosity becomes rote and mechanical. They need the signs to prove they are god loving and righteous, so they must share that and choke it onto others. After all, it is the Golden Rule, right?

True...my question to them has always been, "Why are you so concerned about saving my soul when you have your own, your children's, your spouse's, your mother/father/brother/sister's souls to worry about? That seems like a lot already without taking on the rest of the world as well." I just never understood why they couldn't say "Ok...I understand you're not interested but thanks for listening! If you ever just want to chit chat, though, let me know...we could have a great discussion!" I personally don't really have a religious path I follow, I stick to a moral compass and it's gotten me through life great so far :D If it's not broken...why fix it?

Iowa has a lot of churches to, especially in the country

Isn't that the truth! lol I used to live in several places in Iowa; Pella, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, Melcher, North Liberty, Iowa City and Lacona...Lacona is an itty bitty town of 300 people and they had 2 churches lmao 1 school (elementary) but 2 churches....those of us who were older had to go to school in a different city (Milo or Liberty Center...depending on your age) but by golly they made sure you could go to church...and to the bar right afterwards as one of the churches was next door to the only bar in town

Wow....here there cannot be a bar next to a church or school or nursery (pre school, day care) or park.

Kat

kudos

I do like your posts!

Equality, freedom, and civil rights are determined by the current society in in any geographical region or culture at any given time. In addition to the scales always having been tipped away from the rights of Religious minorities in the U.S. we must consider the ramifications of the post nine eleven media being pushed to again speak out against cultural diversity, foreigners, and religious freedom pushing us back in time by a good 100 years from the breakthrough position we had reached.

If I see those signs my question is that since the church obviously DOES profit why is it that they can steal a slogan from a legitimate add campaign but because it is religious do so without problems?

yet another thought, is...does this cheapen the religion, disgrace it, or in some way deflame it from it's divine nature by likening religion to a commodity such as fast food, dairy products, seagrams, or things of dubious value? (I love milk but some hate it, and it is a food product put out by a major company if you see a billboard it's likely for standard milk rather than organic.(