By PRESS RELEASE - FREDRICKSBURG COALITIONS OF REASON
Updated: Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:54:13 UTC
These words, superimposed over an image of a blue sky and clouds, are slated to appear today on a prominent billboard in Fredericksburg. It is located on the west side of I-95, three miles north of Route 17. The ad will be visible on the right hand side of the road to southbound traffic approaching the city. The 16' x 72' billboard is illuminated at night and will remain up all month. This ad is being placed by the Fredericksburg Coalition of Reason (Fredericksburg CoR) with $7,200 in funding from the United Coalition of Reason (UnitedCoR).
The billboard campaign marks the public launch of Fredericksburg CoR, which is an alliance of five area non-theistic groups, with activities ranging from support to education to parenting. As part of its launch, Fredericksburg CoR will also march in the Religious Freedom Day Parade this coming Sunday, January 8, behind a banner designed after the billboard. The parade begins at 1:30 PM at the Fredericksburg train station and ends at the Thomas Jefferson Religious Freedom Monument, where a ceremony will be held.
This Fredericksburg campaign is the latest in a nationwide effort. Since the spring of 2009 there have been similar billboards, as well as bus ad campaigns, in 27 states and the District of Columbia. The states are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington and West Virginia. Fredericksburg's billboard will be the first of this type in Virginia.
"The point of our ongoing nationwide awareness campaign is to reach out to the millions of atheists and agnostics living in the United States," explained Fred Edwords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason. "Such non-theists sometimes don't realize there's a community for them because they're inundated with religious messages at every turn. We hope our effort will serve as a beacon and let them know they aren't alone."
Reaching out to the like-minded isn't the only goal of the coalition: "We hope people will realize that we are a regular part of the community," said Matthew Jordan, spokesperson for Fredericksburg CoR. "Folks like us live all over Virginia. We're your friends and family, neighbors and coworkers. We might even be sitting near you in your pew at church."
"Being visible is important to us," Edwords concluded, "because, in our society, atheists and agnostics often don't know many people like themselves. Moreover, if traditionally religious people can be open about their views, why can't we be open about ours?"
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Click the image below to go to photos of the parade.
by Cathy Jett
The Free Lance-Star
The right to religious freedom has a rich history in Virginia, and its birthplace was Fredericksburg. It was here 235 years ago that Thomas Jefferson helped draft what would become the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, a significant step leading to the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, noted Rep. Rob Wittman, R?1st District, in his keynote address Sunday at the annual Religious Freedom Day ceremony. ?He understood how critical that right was for our nation,? Wittman said as the Knights of Columbus and Knights Templar in their plumed hats and capes and several other groups stood on either side of the Thomas Jefferson Religious Freedom Monument on Washington Avenue. Virginians at the dawn of the new United States of America had ?vigorous debates? over what fundamental rights Americans should have, Wittman said. Patrick Henry refused to ratify the Constitution if it didn?t include a bill guaranteeing certain ones, and James Madison battled opposition to get such a bill included. Like the statute that Jefferson said was among his three proudest accomplishments, the first amendment in the Bill of Rights prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion or impeding the free exercise of religion. ?It?s an honor to live in a nation where we have such religious freedom,? said Wittman, who asked for a moment of silence in honor of the men and women who are fighting and dying to preserve it. The ceremony, which began with a parade from the Fredericksburg train station, included the laying of a wreath at the monument.
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