Letter to Lamar Advertising

The following is a copy of a letter sent to the executives of Lamar Advertising (see previous post). I will update when I receive a reply. I would highly suggest that we let this company know that we will not support their advertisers as long as they support bigotry and intolerance against us.

Dear Lamar Executives,

I am an American and I am a non-theist. My wife and I travel in our self-owned business and depend upon billboards often in order to accommodate ourselves while traveling. Your recent actions and inconsistencies concerning community standards has, I am afraid, put us in a position in which we feel obligated to not support businesses that advertise on your billboards.

I am referring specifically to this billboard which you own which can be viewed here.
http://pharyngula.org/images/lunatic_atheists_sign.jpg

This billboard refers to atheists as 'God Haters', 'Anti-American', and 'Traitors' and makes a thinly veiled threat of violence termed as a 'Civil War'.

My question to you is as follows. How can you suggest that ads critical of a Congresswoman, ads promoting tolerance for homosexuals and ads that promote animal welfare are against community standards while running a billboard which makes a direct threat against a group based on their religious affiliation? Am I to understand your position as democrats, atheists, homosexuals and animal rights activists are not acceptable to your community standards, while hate-mongers such as Rev. E.F. Briggs are acceptable? I am sure that you are well aware of the billboards that I refer to in my question to you.

Obviously, your definition of 'community standards' is very different from the definition of most tolerant and decent Americans. I feel I have no choice but to let your advertisers know that I will not patronize their businesses because your company, Lamar Advertising, does not meet my community standards.

There are millions of Americans who are non-theists. There are millions who are homosexuals. Your actions seem to indicate that you consider these two groups as unacceptable to the communities in which you operate, or worse, you help to promote outright hatred towards them. Surely you cannot think that such an attitude on your part will not result in some reaction? I would hope that some rational thinking about your policies would prevail above what seems to be an ideological mindset concerning your business practices.


Sincerely,

Alan (the atheist)
Rome, GA

Tagged As:
atheism,atheist,American Family Association,
hate, Lamar advertising,gay
billboard,democrat