The Freedom From Religion Foundation decided to counter a billboard extolling the virtue of traditional marriage with a billboard of their own: “Ban Marriage Between Church and State.”
Catholic Radio’s “1 Man, 1 Woman, Forever” billboard in Smithville, MO didn’t sit well with FFRF member and Smithville resident Matt Gaines, who felt it
was offensive not only to gay couples but divorcees as well.
“To denigrate other people’s relationships or the decisions they have had to make with their outdated religious dogmas is simply shameful,” Gaines said.
FFRF is dedicated to “protecting the constitutional principle of the separation of state and church”, according to its website. Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor noted this in the group’s press release:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“The only organized opposition to marriage equality comes from the Religious Right. Mormon, Roman Catholic and fundamentalist Protestant churches and organizations have spent hundreds of millions to amend state constitutions to ban gay marriage in the name of Christianity. Religious dogma must be kept out of our secular laws.”
It’s been a while since we’ve had a good, old-fashioned billboard war. Why the last time was back in…
2eo
Like here in the UK the Atheist ones will be pulled and the religious ones will remain. How sad that the intelligent majority are hated and marginalised despite being the best and most productive and moral members of society.
NormdePlume
“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”
? Steven Weinberg
DragonScorpion
As I had remarked on another website, I don’t know how much moral pontificating the church has any legitimacy in engaging in when the policy among much of its hierarchy has been 1 priest, 1 altar boy, until mid-adolescence.
I think it’s time for conservatives, religious and otherwise, who are increasingly becoming a minority and being marginalized for it, to show some inclusiveness. If individuals, couples, families, communities and thus society are all said to benefit from the stability & responsibility that marriage is supposed to foster, which I generally agree with, then why not encourage same-sex couples to create and maintain such unions as well?
I suppose for the same reasons they scoff at any positive or at least neutral reference to same-sex couples by media, government or educational institutions as ‘leftist propaganda’ because what they are really afraid of is that the truth gets out — all the evil they say inherently goes along with homosexuality doesn’t actually do so. They don’t want the masses knowing that there are happy, healthy, stable, productive same-sex couples in our society.
This group or church or individual can promote whatever nonsense they want to. I don’t have a problem with that. And I certainly believe in free speech. But they need to stop trying to use the government as a cudgel to punish those they see as morally inferior to themselves. As shameful as the sentiment of marriage being only for opposite-sex couples is, writing open discrimination into various state constitutions is shameful and inexcusable. That, and the fact that these have typically won by such wide margins that they seemingly passed due to the help from folks who would not identify as religiously conservative is perhaps the most shameful of all.
tdx3fan
@DragonScorpion: Or, it is simply proof that no matter how much we like to vilify religion, and much it deserves that vilification, that there are many other reasons why people are homophobic other than religion. Devout atheist (is that an oxymoron?)are often just as homophobic as the the devoutly religious.
There are quite a few arguments on atheist Facebook groups and websites that come from atheist that support such things as banning gay marriage and banning gay adoption because of personal homophobia which is in no way sponsored by religion.
tdx3fan
@tdx3fan: In fact the hypothesis that “Inclusion in a fundamentalist religion causes homophobia,” quite possibly has a high degree of spuriousness, and I’m willing to bet a third factor causes both since I have seen a great deal of anti-religious anti-gay people.
My guess is that your upbringing and the community you grow up in causes homophobia and religion. Its just easier to throw off religion than it is homophobia, especially when you have no real desire or reason to throw off the homophobia.