Should IAF Erect a Billboard?

Eleven years ago, IAF sponsored a bus ad campaign that said, “Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone.” DART removed the ads four days later based on complaints by offended Christians. Governor Chet Culver commented on the ad, fueling the controversy, saying that he "was disturbed personally by the advertisement and [could] understand why other Iowans were also disturbed by the message".  The ACLU got involved and IAF ultimately prevailed when DART finally reinstated the original unaltered ads. Overall, it was a huge win for IAF, which doubled in size as a result.

IAF has been declining for a while.. Our FaceBook page has over 1500 members but our dues-paying membership keeps decreasing. Christian theocrats, on the other hand, wield more power in our government than at any other time in the nation’s history. We need to do that something about that folks. We need a project, a big win like that bus ad campaign to reignite the spark that kept us going for the last ten years.

With all that in mind, I propose that IAF should put up a billboard in metro Des Moines. It should be something in-your-face, attention-grabbing, and pointedly aimed at Christian Nationalists.

Here is my idea:

In a large font: “Theocracy is Un-American.” Underneath in smaller text, ”iowaatheists.org.” All of that would be set against a picture of the US Capitol Building with a huge crucifix shoved through the dome.

It is short and to the point. It leaves no doubt about our target audience or our message. It reclaims patriotism for nonbelievers and supporters of reason. And the sight of it would induce wannabe theocrats to froth at the mouth.

So what do you think? I’m open to any suggestions for improvement, criticism, or possible alternatives. (It’s not like I know anything about marketing.)

Also, this is just a trial balloon. Whatever billboard ideas we come up with would still have to be researched, polished, and then approved by the IAF Board.

p,s. if anyone out there with better photoshop skills than me could put together a mockup of this I would be eternally grateful.

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair

Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers

Comments! We Have Comments!

There have been some questions about how to post comments on the blog posts here on the IAF website. I just figured out how to do it. You have to click on the title of the post to open it in its own separate window. Then if you scroll down to the bottom you will find a box for comments. I look forward to hearing your feedback.

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair

Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers

Crowdsourcing IAF Activism

I’ve been thinking about my role as the Activism Chair of IAF and I have to admit I’ve been struggling with it. I want to inspire our members and fight back against the growing religious privilege and creeping theocracy in Trump’s America. But he necessity of social distancing has thrown all of our usual events out the window: the Pride Parade, the table at the Farmer’s Market, the rally at the Family Leader Summit. All of our usual protest formats don’t work nearly as well in the Age of Covid.

Our President panders to Christian Nationalists and packs our Federal Courts with right wing hacks who’s only qualifications are hatred of Roe v Wade. What are we going to do about it? What can Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers do about it?

We need a project like the bus ads that put IAF on the map ten years ago. We need to do something that inspires secular Iowans; something that gets in the face of theocrats; something that attracts attention for humanist reasons.

I’ve only come up with one vague idea that I alluded to in my last post. Maybe we should do another billboard or bus ad campaign. Our bus ad a decade ago said, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone?” It was simple, innocuous, and intentionally non-threatening — and yet it triggered a local firestorm of protest by Christians who wanted to feel persecuted. Let’s use that as our inspiration. It’s a good starting point but I don’t think repeating our old ad would have the same effect now. Just pointing out that atheists exist and aren’t going away has been done before by us and other groups. I think that particular meme has lost its edge.

We should create an ad more pointed, in-your-face, and relevant to current events. How about something inspired by Andrew Seidel’s book, “The Founding Myth?”

Let’s put this on a billboard: “Christian privilege is Un-American. Help us support our godless constitution!”

Well, okay, I suspect that has some problems. I’m running out of ideas so I’m asking for your help. Let’s crowdsource this. What can we do to fix this ad? Should we jettison this one and do something else altogether? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

For that matter, maybe a bus ad or a billboard isn’t the best use of IAFs time and money at all. What other activist projects or ideas should IAF knock out of the park? Be creative, but whatever we do will have to follow the rules of social distancing in this Age of Covid.

Talk to me folks. I feel like we are letting (and like I am letting) this critical moment slip through our fingers, like tears in the rain (yeah, that’s a Blade Runner reference). We have to do something now before it gets away from us.

Thanks for listening.

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair

Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers

The Clock Is Ticking. What Are We Going to Do, Folks?

Hi everybody. I’m back. Sorry I haven’t written anything for a while. The world is on fire, both literally and figuratively. And like most of you, I’ve been struggling over the last few months to find the energy and motivation to dive back into this blog. It finally started to sink in that I’ve been teetering on the edge of mild depression for a while. I need to pull myself out of this funk. The election is less than two months away and I need to do my part to make sure that and I need to do my part to make sure our country is a safer, more secure, less potentially violent place.

I can’t tell you who to vote for or against as this blog is officially part of IAF, a 501c3 charitable organization. I have very strong, clear opinions on who should win the elections in November, but I will post all of that elsewhere. However, I can and will opine here on issues that matter to atheists and freethinkers: Separation of church and state, religious privilege, and humanist values.

The Age of Covid has not been kind to Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. We can’t gather in large groups anymore and online meetings via google meet have pretty spectacularly failed to keep us active and engaged at a time when we most need to be. (Racists and Christian nationalists have had no problem finding their motivation.) All of our usual activism activities — the Pride events, the parades, the Family Leader Protests — have fallen by the wayside. Our sense of community has faded. What does our Social Chair have to do when social distancing is about the only thing that keeps us safe from the ravages of Covid?

I only have the vaguest ideas what to do about any of this. One thing I did accomplish a while ago was an opinion article published in the Des Moines Register. That felt good. I’m going to work on another one, along with some Letters to the Editor. I’m going to write a bunch of posts asking all of you to crowdsource activism and community-building ideas. So be thinking about that. I’ll get back to you with specifics.

I have a half-formed idea that we should harken back to one of the founding events of IAF: The bus ad campaign that triggered so much controversy ten years ago. We need a project like that to inspire us, attract attention, show the world where we stand, and that we are here for atheists, freethinkers, and secularists across the state of Iowa. More on that later as well.

I’m hoping this blog will be therapeutic both for me personally and for IAF in general. The clock is ticking. The timer is winding down to zero. What are we going to do about it folks?

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair

Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers

Help Spread Reason on the Hill

This coming Tuesday, March 10 is the Fourth Annual Reason on the Hill Day. It will take place in the rotunda of the Capitol Building in downtown Des Moines, Iowa from 1:00 to 4:30 pm. It is hosted by a coalition of secular groups from across Iowa including Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers, Humanists of Linn County (who did most of the heavy lifting organizing the event), Secular Students at Iowa, Iowa American Atheists, and Eastern Iowa Atheists.

I’ll be there at IAF’s table. If you are free that afternoon I urge you to rally with us. Let’s show our legislators that non-believers and freethinkers live in Iowa, that we care about evidence-based laws, and that we vote.

At this event, a coalition of secular groups stands to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, the non-religious, and all other Iowans that would benefit from a more secular government. Our members believe strongly in the separation of church and state and that reason, science, critical thinking, and compassion should guide the legislative process.

On this day we join together to support evidence-based governance by speaking with legislators and visitors at the Capitol about policy issues.

Each year with this event we have the opportunity to show our elected officials that secular Iowans are a constituency to learn and hear from. All secular and non-theist groups and persons are encouraged to rally with us on Reason On The Hill Day.