Kathy Stewart, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – A new group is using a billboard to announce their faith, or lack thereof. The billboard on I-95 South near Fredericksburg asks, “don’t believe in God?” and then answers, “you are not alone.”
The billboard went up on Thursday and will stay up through the end of the month.
The Fredericksburg Coalition of Reason will march in a religious freedom parade in Fredericksburg Sunday. The members will be carrying a banner designed like the billboard. The parade is to mark the 235th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson drafting the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which inspired the First Amendment.
Matt Jordan, the group’s spokesman, says the billboard is not meant to offend people of faith. He says it is to reach out to like-minded folks to let them know that they are not alone and that there is a community out there for them.
The national group, United Coalition of Reason, is made up of more than 50 local coalitions across the country. The national campaign started in spring 2009.
Jordon says it’s a non-theist group made up of atheists, agnostics, skeptics and people who are considering where they stand religiously. He adds that members come from all backgrounds and income levels.
The main messages his group wants to get out to the public is an answer to the question: “Can you be good without God?”
“Our answer to that question is emphatically, yes,” he says.
