WESTMINSTER – “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.”

Those are the words printed on a billboard the Orange County Coalition for Reason unveiled Wednesday evening at the corner of Beach Boulevard and 19th Street.

Bruce Gleason, a resident of Villa Park and member of the coalition, said the “Godless billboard,” being put up at a cost of $6,450, is part of a nationwide campaign to let atheists, agnostics and humanists know they are not alone.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ATHEISTS CELEBRATE NEW BILLBOARD

“There are millions of people in the United States who don’t believe in a supernatural deity,” he said. “This is not a campaign against God or religion, but a way for us to reach out to non-believers.”

Westminster is, ironically, the first city in Orange County that posted the words “In God We Trust” in its council chambers. It is also likely that the sign will go up the night before the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.

Mayor Margie Rice, who helped spearhead the In God We Trust movement in Orange County, said she still believes in God, but that the atheists have their rights and freedom of speech.

“That billboard is going to turn my stomach every time I drive by,” she said. “But there is not much I can do about it. I guess it’s fine to make a statement, but if I could help it, I would not allow it.”

Rice said she will be seeking the advice of the city’s legal counsel to find out what their options are. At the same time, Rice said, she will also wait to see the community’s reaction to the sign.

Billboards are often put up by companies that own the space. Most do not require city approval. This billboard is expected to stay up through the Memorial Day weekend.

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So far, the “Godless billboards” have gone up in California cities such as Fresno, San Joaquin, Los Angeles and Sacramento. They have also been erected in Delaware, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Missouri.

The response to the billboards has by and large been positive, said Fred Edwords, national director for National Coalition for Reason. So far, there were reports that three of them were defaced in Sacramento and Detroit.

“We were able to repair and use two of them,” he said. “But those incidents have been rare. When they do happen, we use them as a basis for talking about it more. Our purpose is to let the public know that folks like us do exist and deserve respect.”

The National Coalition for Reason began in 2008 in the Washington, D.C. area and has grown nationwide, Edwords said. The billboard campaign was born in Philadelphia the same year and proved effective in getting publicity for several atheist groups in the area, he said.

The billboards nationwide are funded by a Philadelphia-based philanthropist, who has chosen to remain anonymous, Edwords said.

The locations for the billboards are chosen based on the number of groups in the area, Edwords said. He said he or other groups did not know that Westminster was the first in the county to put “In God We Trust” in its council chambers.

John Furman, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, which is just blocks from where the billboard will be situated, called it a “foolish” move because The Bible says, “The fool says in his heart there is no God.”

“My first reaction to it is, yes, I’m offended,” he said. “But I do support tolerance for what others believe in. I hope it will give us an opportunity to reach out to people who don’t believe in God. I see it as an evangelical opportunity.”

Russell Lackey, pastor of Reformation Lutheran Church in Westminster, said he is not worried about the sign.

“The words on the billboard could have been a slogan for a bad church campaign,” he said. “I’d love to have real conversations or real discussions with atheists or agnostics. But this just seems like a marketing campaign. I wouldn’t take it seriously.”

Gleason, who is a member of a grassroots group in Villa Park called Backyard Skeptics, said his hope is to dispel several myths about non-believers in a county, which is predominantly conservative and Christian.

“The most common misconception is that atheists are not moral,” he said. “But in fact, atheists are more moral because we question things and do not base our decisions on blind faith or superstitions.”

Gleason hopes atheism will be eventually accepted in Orange County and the rest of the country.

“When homosexuals had their gay pride parades in the 1970s, people were up in arms against it,” he said. “Now, it’s not a big deal. With more tolerance comes better understanding and acceptance of people who don’t think or behave the same way.”

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Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com