RELATED: 'We're happy, ethical people,' and 5 more things atheists' billboard wants you to know

WYOMING, MI – A billboard visible on northbound U.S. 131 south of 28th Street SW aims to help godless people come out of the closet and make religious folk aware of their secular peers, say local participants of a multi-state advertising campaign.

On a static billboard on the east side of U.S. 131 – opposite a Dave Ramsey ad visible to southbound motorists – the Center for Inquiry has posted this message: "Millions of Americans are living happily without religion." The billboard also promotes this website.

The billboard is scheduled to stay up through Oct. 27.

“Because it is more conservative around here, people feel the need to find people who are like them,” said Jennifer Beahan, assistant director of the CFI chapter in Michigan. “The primary purpose is to let people know we’re here, for those of us who are freethinking, atheist, secular. We’re kind of a support group.

"You don't know how many emails I get every year (that say) 'Oh, my gosh, I thought I was the only one.'"



RELATED: 'You don't need God' billboard is posted along U.S. 131 by atheist group



The campaign that launched Monday, Sept. 30, also has ads on billboards and mass transit systems in Indianapolis, New York and Washington, D.C. Other in-state locations are on I-94 west of Westnedge Avenue in Kalamazoo and at I-75 and Twelve Mile Road in Detroit.

The ads “invite the public to learn more about how real people with a secular, humanist worldview are living meaningful, fulfilling lives, in contradiction to misguided stereotypes that paint them as angry, despairing ‘lost souls,’” CFI stated in a news release.

The group in 2011 also posted a billboard on U.S. 131 promoting livingwithoutreligion.org.

A 2010 survey of religious congregations found that the Grand Rapids-Wyoming metropolitan area ranks 51st out of 102 major metro areas in religious adherents per 100,000 residents, and 35th in the number of congregations per 100,000 per people, among these metros of 500,000 people or more.

The largest group, according to the survey: “unclaimed” people who may be atheist, agnostic or otherwise unaffiliated with any of the 236 religious groups counted.

Matt Vande Bunte covers government for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at mvandebu@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.