Apparently the mere acknowledgment that Atheists exist is too offensive for some people. There will always be dissenters though, that doesn’t surprised me. What did surprise me were the comments made by Governor Chet Culver:

“I was disturbed personally…by the advertisement, I can understand why other Iowans were also disturbed by the message that it sent.”

Here we have the chief executive in the state of Iowa stating that simply pointing out Atheists exist is personally disturbing. I am used to politicians pandering, but it appears Chet is taking this to the point of promoting and identifying with the complete intolerance of Atheism. We cannot stand by and allow our public servants to spew forth bigotry which labels the views of a growing minority as “disturbing.” This kind of statement is not far from hate speech and will embolden those who do hate Atheists.

Friendly Atheist has made a call to Christians to support the advertisement, and many have responded. It is clear this is not a battle between religious views but instead a battle for tolerance, religious or otherwise. Many Iowa Christians understand this, but clearly their governor does not.

I encourage all reasonable citizens of Iowa and elsewhere to write to both DART and, more importantly, Governor Chet Culver. We need to make it clear to DART that these ads are not offensive. We need to make it clear to Governor Chet Culver that acknowledging the existence of people with certain religious views (or lack thereof) is not disturbing and statements from public officials suggesting otherwise will not be tolerated.

DART can be emailed at dart@ridedart.com or called at 515-283-8111. Governor Chet Culver can be reach through a contact form or by phone at 515-281-5211. I encourage you to speak your mind, but please do so in a polite, rational, respectful, and non-threatening way.

Today DART announced they have received more calls in support of the ad than against it and are now asking the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers (IAF) to submit a new ad for consideration. They still seem to be suggesting the original ad was offensive, but want to work with the IAF. I have no idea how the IAF could craft an ad which reaches out to Atheists and is less offensive than the current ad, but maybe I am missing something. I still feel DART could use some convincing that the original ad was fine and that their requirement for a new one is unfounded.

Update: DART did the right thing and chose to allow the ad. The original one with no modifications. Support for the ad was overwhelming and our freedom of speech helped us protect our freedom of expression. We may have a long road ahead of us, but I stand today proud of my country and the ability our citizens have to challenge authority when that authority infringes one of our basic rights. This doesn’t absolve the governor of his responsibility for making such short-sighted public statements which dismiss the views Atheists, but this does show that DART is a reasonable organization who know now, more than ever, how important our liberties are. Thank you DART.