http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33083 Obama Urged to Condemn 'Imagine No Religion' Billboard Monday, July 28, 2008 By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer
(CNSNews.com) - In God We Trust, a national political inter-faith advocacy group, has called on Sen. Barack Obama to condemn the message on a billboard in Denver, the site of next month's Democratic National Convention. The billboard, alluding to a song by the late John Lennon of the Beatles, bears the message "Imagine No Religion" imprinted over what appears to be stained glass. It was paid for by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which describes itself as a membership association of atheists and agnostics. According to a report in the Denver Post, the billboard will only stand through July and will not be present during the time of the Democratic convention. A spokesman for the foundation told the paper the rent for the billboard during the convention was too expensive. "By placing their billboard in Denver, the FFRF hopes to ride your coattails to the Democratic National Convention and claim your success somehow validates their anti-religious views," Bishop Council Nedd, chairman of In God We Trust, said in a letter to Obama. "The presence of this hate-filled message in a prominent location in the city where you will be nominated in just a few weeks has already garnered much media attention," Nedd's letter said. "Its message damages the Democratic Party's image with the 91 percent of Americans who believe in God. "I urge you to publicly reject the stance of the FFRF," Nedd said. "Failing to publicly denounce this attack on religion will permanently damage your message of hope and inclusion with the American people. Your silence will only show Americans that attacks on their beliefs will go unchallenged in an Obama administration." FFRF has paid for similar billboards in a number of American cities, including Seattle, Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio. On its Web site <http://ffrf.org/news/2008/seattlebillboard_pub.php> , the organization states its goal of having billboards with the "Imagine No Religion" billboards in every state. The foundation has also erected billboards in several states with a "Beware of Dogma" message. "Wherever you go, our roadsides are full of religion and religious symbols," foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor is quoted as saying in a press release about the billboards. "We think it's time to advertise the alternative." Nedd said the Obama campaign has not responded to his letter. In God We Trust is a non-profit organization with 70,000 supporters of various faith, according to its Web site <http://www.ingodwetrustusa.org/> . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
