Huff Post (3/13/20)
By Diana Fishlock
Religion News Service[1]
The Billboard featured a picture of a Black Slave in the Southern USA wearing a collar and said "Slaves Obey Your Masters" (Col. 3:22) "A lesson in Bronze Age ethics brought to you by the year of the Bible and the House of Representatives." The Bill board was torn down by people presumably in the neighborhood but why exactly they did it is unclear. One thing that is clear is that the world wide bill board campaign the organized atheist movement is using doesn't mind lying and advertizing falsely. The wording makes it appear that some entity called "year of the Bible" working with the U.S. House of Representatives put up the bill board. The NAACP opposed the Billboard and argued that it was racially changed.
.... Lesson no 1 is that they don't mind lying or creation false impressions, lesson no 2 is that they want to inflame situations and stir up hard feelings. The irony is two fold, first their wanton disregard of the facts leads them to imply that slavery in ancient Israel would be the same as slavery in the southern U.S. before the civil war. In fact we've seen from past articles on AW that it was not.[2][3] Much of it was self imposed and it lacked the wort form, chattel slavery. When the Bible is translated as saying "slavery" any number of things could be tagged with that label; bond service, or share cropping, tenant farming. Yes Ancient Israel had ownership of human beings and technical they were chattel, but that term is used of the kind of slavery in the old south where there was no family relations honored the slave was just property with no kind of rights. Ancient Israel let the slave some rights although not many. Of we are not advocating support for such institution. But then again God only tolerated it and regulated it by requiring some basic rights he never says "slavery is good." Atheists try to argue that he's saying that tacitly by not saying it's bad, but he does say it's bad (Paul 1 Tim 3 says slave traders are among the worst of sinners).
....That brings up the second irony that most of the abolition movement was Christian. Christians made up the underground rail road. The worked to end the slave trade by boycotts (led by Quakers)[4]. Moreover, Christians led the way to freeing slaves the ancient world too (Deaconess Olympia under John Chrysostom (around 361 AD) spent her family fortune to free slaves).
Although still young and attractive, Olympiada was not drawn to the pleasures and luxuries of a worldly life. She disciplined herself to fast strictly, to wear plain--even poor--clothing; at the same time she was generous to the poor and sick, she financed the building of churches, supported hospitals, bought people out of slavery, and sent aid even to other countries.[5]The argument the atheists try to imply is that the Bible was written by slavers and it will brain wash us into supporting slavery. Yet if this is so how is it that the people who no selfish monetary motive wound up opposing slavery on the basis of scripture and their faith? Olympia was daughter of a wealthy family who was related to the emperor and she owned slave, but then found it in her heart to spend her inheritance to slaves free.
....What we see at work here is the famous world wide billboard campaign. It was once limited to anti-Christmas but now going year around. The funds are probably raised locally but clearly coordinated. The atheist movement is not above string up any trouble they can and creating resentment regardless of what they must do to the truth to achieve their ends. The Huff Post article ends with a picture of a Billboard that says "we've got the whole world in our hands." Who is "we?" Presumably they would say we as the human race can decide our own destiny. Clearly we've been doing that, and God clearly designed it that way since he gave us free will. We have not been doing a bang up job of it have we? The article links to views of different bill boards that cause controversy. One reads "Don't believe in God? join the Club." So now it's a club? It's not a movement and it's unorganized and the only thing they have in common is lack of belief (according their party line) but now it's a club? They want you to join? Of course they have a anti-Christmas spot "we know it's a myth." "Are you good without God, millions are?" That's a matter of opinion. These are in every city. Twenty were put up in Tampa Bay in 2010.[6] Are there really so many spontaneous not connected people who just happen to share lack of belief who decide to go raise thousands of dollars to put up bill boards?
....Who is masterminding and paying for the bill boards? The Freedom from Religion Foundation.[7]
TAMPA - Twenty new billboards are hanging above Tampa Bay roadways. The billboards are printed with just one phrase - 'God & Government A Dangerous Mix.' The signs are creating a stir.
EllenBeth Wachs of Lakeland has been an atheist since she was 12-years old, and is now part of a non-profit organization called the "Freedom from Religion Foundation" (find out more about them at www.ffrf.org ).
That Wisconsin-based group said it paid three-thousand five hundred dollars to buy the billboard space across the Tampa Bay area, and erected them in random neighborhoods like one placed near the roadway at 22nd and Cayuga Street in Tampa.
[1] This article is also published in Washington post. on line copy URL: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-03-13/national/35447151_1_new-billboards-billboard-site-american-atheists
[2] "Slavery in The Bible and In Atheist Thinking," Atheist Watch, 3/15/2013 URL: http://atheistwatch.blogspot.com/2013/03/salvery-in-bible-and-in-atheist-thinking.html
[3] AW article on atheist's dishonesty in handling sources related to this topic.
[4] The Journal of John Woolman, With Notes by John G. Whittier.Edited by Alexander Smellie, M.A. London: Andrew Melrose Melrose 1898 URL: http://www.strecorsoc.org/jwoolman/title.html
[5] "Saint Olympia," Orthodox America,Nikodemos Orthodox Publication Society, 2006 online resource, URL: http://www.roca.org/OA/61/61n.htm
[6] Carson Chambers, "Atheists Pay for Anti-Religious Billboards" ABC Action News, 8/11/2010 URL: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_tampa/atheists-pay-for-anti-religion-billboards
[7] Ibid
[8]"Freedom From Religion Foundation," Wikipedia. URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_From_Religion_Foundation#History
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