Atheists' Billboard Vandalized

"One nation, indivisible," the billboard used to read.

This is one of the ads for Charlotte, N.C.'s atheist associations. Those familiar with the Pledge of Allegiance can observe that the line on the billboard comes right before the phrase "under God", which is what some upset vandals sprayed beneath the line on the board.

Unfortunately for the atheist community, the billboard won't be able to be replaced until after July 4th.

The billboard was put up a week ago on Billy GrahamBilly Graham Parkway. Billy Graham is a famous evangelical preacher in North Carolina. Charlotte Atheists & Agnostics spokesman William Warren said that the billboards (there were more erected elsewhere, not just the defaced one) were a means of advertising for their group, but claimed that the rather meaningful location of the sign definitely was not, in any way, a jab toward Reverend Graham.

Warren also believes that the act was one or several individuals taking action, and not wholly indicative of Charlotte's religious community. In fact, he says, his billboards have even received positive responses from Christians. "We have 58 new members," he claimed proudly.

Though, to be sure, there are quite a number of North Carolina residents who were quite unhappy with the billboard campaign initially, feeling like it subtly yet definitely attacked the Pledge of Allegiance and their beliefs.

Being a small and rather unpopular sliver of the U.S. population (only 2%), atheists' ads are often targeted by unhappy religious groups and people. Three of ten billboards in Sacramento, CA were vandalized, as were several buses in Detroit.