Reactions to CFI’s Signs and Billboards

Comments (4) on “Reactions to CFI’s Signs and Billboards”

1. A week ago I went outside to pick up the latest copy of THE RECORD our local newspaper and noticed the title of the cover story. I began to scan through it and found myself becoming very angry. It took me awhile to understand why my initial reaction to your billboards infuriated me so much so I decided to sit down and think about it and now I am writing to you and several other recipients to voice my opinion on the matter.

   Canada is a multicultural society. I see it every day as I am an adult education teacher and for 99% of my students English is an additional language. As a result of people coming from all over the world to live here we are a society made up of different customs, beliefs and religious faiths.

   I believe that if a multicultural, multifaith country is to continue to exist peacefully we need to educate people on what it means to respect other people’s faiths, ideas and beliefs. Your billboards, I believe go against all of this. I have no problem with you posting billboards stating your beliefs. By all means, claim that you believe there is no God or gods and that as people we should lead with our hearts. I do, however, take issue with you publicly disrespecting someone else’s beliefs and faith. I would have been just as angry and offended if the billboards read, “Lead with your heart, not the Quoran. Without Allah we are all good.”

   I love living in this multicultural society. I love that we all come from different customs and faiths and I enjoy learning about all of them. In fact, I studied philosophy and therefore lots of atheist thinkers and then went on to study all major religious traditions in the West and East. One thing I learned is that you don’t begin a meaningful debate with an insult. You claim that your billboards are meant to “spark” debate. The only debate I can see is one leading to Freedom of speech and whether or not your group is using hate speech. Is this what you are aiming for? Or are you seriously trying to get Canadians to think in a way to really question their ideas and beliefs and to listen to what you have to say? If so, you have completely gone about it the wrong way. As someone once said to me in a truly meaningful conversation regarding philosophical matters, “If you wish me to respect your beliefs and listen to what you have to say, you need to first show me that you will respect my beliefs and listen to what I have to say.”

   In summary, as a Canadian who prides herself in living in this diverse and culturally rich country, I find your billboards offensive and would like to see your group come up with something more clever that just putting others down.

   Barbara dumont

   1. BUT you are quite OK with a display of crosses and religious quotes on billboards? There are thousands of these symbols all over Canada, the most obnoxious one being on Mt Royal in Montréal. There are hundreds of billboards in communities quoting bible verses. However, you are offended by a few signs put up by atheists? Sounds as though you aren’t as multicultural as you purport. Atheists are not trying to reconvert anyone, just saying that we are here to support others who don’t have a belief in mythic gods.

2. Barbara: your point is well-taken. I would also have been equally offended if they had denigrated the scriptures and beliefs of other religions, by using lower-case letters and saying, “you don’t need the qu’ran (or the talmud, the book of mormon, the bhagavad-gita, and so on).” Or, imagine they had written the names of Jesus and other famous religious figures in lower-case letters.

3. I think “bible” is being used in it’s broader sense to be inclusive of all religions (not just Christianity): “A book or collection of writings constituting the sacred text of a religion.” In this case, a lower case “b” is in order.

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