Hmm. American Atheists is having a hard time finding a billboard company in Salt Lake City willing to take one of their billboards to run during next year’s convention. This one for instance:
So it’s taboo, apparently, to say (conspicuously) that you were once a Mormon and are now an atheist.
Well if it’s taboo, how voluntary is the religion then? If you can’t do something as simple (and, admittedly, visible) as announce that you have left a particular religion…is that religion really fully voluntary? It seems to me it’s not. If there’s that much social disapproval, then it’s not.
It’s totally voluntary; except for the substantial penalty clause.
A bit off topic, but I think that is an awesome billboard concept (knowing how American Atheist gets a lot of criticism — sometimes rightfully so — for their billboards).
Wasn’t “Susan Smith” the name of that woman who killed her kids and said a Black man did it, in the lake or something? Do i misremember? If not, unfortunate referent-crossover. I thought at first this was an accusatory thing, saying “look, this is the kind of people who are atheists,” but I think I misunderstood or misconnected it.
No, you’re right CaitieCat. They were obviously trying to go for the most whitebread sounding name they could and ended up with the unfortunate allusion.