""We didn't say they had to (take it down), but they respected the concerns of residents," Daniels said. "
Clearly, IF respect of the concerns of residents were the issue, there would be no churches in cities that have atheists...oh, wait...did I say that? !!!! On Nov 25, 1:33 pm, CrossBow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Controversial 'Imagine No Religion' billboard removed in Rancho Cucamonga By > Joe Smilor on November 20, 2008 10:01 PM > > A billboard with the message "Imagine No Religion" is no more. > > Sign company General Outdoor removed the sign by the Freedom From Religion > Foundation on Thursday after it received a request by Rancho Cucamonga to do > so. > > According to Redevelopment Director Linda Daniels, City Hall had received 90 > calls of complaint since Wednesday. > > "We contacted the sign company and asked if there was a way to get it > removed," Daniels said. > > The billboard -- which went up last week on the southwest corner of > Archibald Avenue and Foothill Boulevard -- is part of a national billboard > campaign by the Wisconsin-based group advocating the separation of church > and state. > > The foundation's co-president, Annie Laurie Gaylor, said the billboard is > meant to encourage a debate on religion by using the John Lennon-inspired > message. > > Gaylor was shocked over the city's role in the billboard's demise. > > "The city has no business suggesting our billboard be censored," Gaylor > said. "They're not allowed to interfere over religious controversy." > > It was the second billboard to come down following city request. > > In September, the city asked a different sign company to take down an > advertisement on Foothill Boulevard advertising a vagina rejuvenation > procedure. > > Daniels said the city did not demand General Outdoor take down the "Imagine > No Religion" sign. > > "We didn't say they had to (take it down), but they respected the concerns > of residents," Daniels said. > > The sign was the first in California for the foundation, whose members are > atheists and agnostics. > > Gaylor said sign companies have declined business before, but no company has > taken down a sign after it went up. > > The group currently has signs in Atlanta, Phoenix and Seattle. > > "My gosh, we have a billboard in Colorado Springs right now, about a mile > from Focus on the Family," said Gaylor, referring to the evangelical > organization headquartered in Colorado Springs. "If we can have it in > Colorado Springs, why not in Rancho Cucamonga? It doesn't speak well for the > state of tolerance if you have to stifle your critics." > > Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment > Coalition, said the city's actions are "dangerously close" to censorship and > a violation of the First Amendment. > > "A city government has no business trying to dictate or influence the > content of an advertising image, particularly one that's political and > controversial as this is simply because some people don't like it and > complained about it," Scheer said. "The whole point of the First Amendment > is to protect speech that is unpopular, to protect the views that are in the > political minority, as long as they don't cross the line and use the speech > for some seriously unlawful purpose, which clearly did not happen here." > > Scheer said the city may not have forced General Outdoor to take down the > sign, but it's obvious the company did not act independently. > > "It's pretty clear that if the city didn't pick up the phone, the image > would still be there," Scheer said. > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
