"Don't believe in God?" a bright blue billboard with images of puffy white clouds asks. "You are not alone."

The 20-by-60-foot sign alongside I-95 was designed by a group of area atheists as an invitation to join the Greater Philadelphia Coalition of Reason, or PhillyCoR, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

"If you don't ... [h]undreds of thousands of your neighbors in the Delaware Valley feel the same as you do," the organization's website declares.

Steve Rade, president of Wireless Accessories, Inc., gave the $22,500 to fund the billboard May 1, and he plans to keep it there until the end of August.

"Our mission is not to convince fundamentalists to change their position," Rade said. "What we want to do is give people questioning their beliefs a place to go for more information and to meet like-minded people."

PhillyCoR describes itself as a "joint effort to help you connect to local freethought and humanist groups near you; to provide you with information and a sense of community; to give you a way to combine your voice with others who are ready to move society forward."

Rade grew up as a Jew, but he told the Inquirer he is "absolutely certain" God and eternal life do not exist.

"I'd like everyone to believe what I do," he said. "I think it would be a better world if they did."

His father was a synagogue president and raised his children to regularly attend Shabbat services. Rade had his bar mitzvah when he was 13, and he was confirmed at 16, but he became doubtful of God's existence while he was a finance student at Pennsylvania State University.

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Steve Rade and his billboard (Philadelphia Inquirer photo)

"It was just my own critical, rational thinking," he said. "I accept that the universe began with the Big Bang, but I don't believe there were snakes talking in the Garden of Eden. … If God shows himself to me, I'll believe."

PhillyCoR was formed only three months ago when Rade sought out the Philadelphia chapter of the American Humanist Association. He spoke with local AHA president Joe Fox about his plan to unite atheists. Rade offered to hire a half-time executive director for PhillyCoR.

"[T]he idea for a billboard was easy to come by," he said.

Since the sign was put in place, 7,000 people have visited the organization's website and an additional 300 have called the phone number, 1-877-99HUMANIST, displayed on the PhillyCoR billboard.

Sally Cramer, 24, president of the Freethought Society, told the Inquirer she is proud of Rade's memo to unbelievers.

"I'm so appreciative of Steve," she said. "I love the message. I'm really pleased we're able to be a part of this."

According to the report, surveys say approximately 4 to 9 percent of Americans claim to be atheists, the least of any modern nation.

AHA spokesman Fred Edwords said he thinks it is more acceptable for atheists and agnostics to be open about their lack of faith in God than it used to be.

"In the 1980s, people were saying we're part of a great conspiracy, trying to take over the schools and courts," he said. "But we still feel we're the last minority group it's OK to say bad things about."

 

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