In order to promote their new Secular Together program — kind of like a godless church service — some members of the Triangle Freethought Society in Raleigh, North Carolina visited a highway bridge on Friday with banners in hand:

While they got a lot of honks (which I assume means approval in this case), someone must have called the cops on them because one came by, helped them roll up their banners, and asked them to leave. The atheists are coming back, with permit in hand, later this week.

Two quick thoughts about that:

1) I can’t decide if that form of activism is helpful or harmful. I was driving in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and saw a pro-life group do something similar. I ignored it, but not before thinking to myself, “Well, that’s annoying.” Then again, there’s a big difference between condemning people for a personal decision and saying, “Come join us! We’re good people, too!”

2) What on earth did that caller complain about?

The Secular Together website offers one theory…:

“I saw one in Raleigh. He was on a bridge and he wasn’t believing in God! Please send emergency vehicles! He has friends and he is waving! They’re above us! They’ve taken to the skies! Please help!”

Hilarious. The TFS group is actually sponsoring a contest where people can call in and stage their own reenactment of a 9-1-1-There-Are-Atheists-on-a-Bridge message.

We would love to hear your version. Think about how that call went and perform your rendition for our voicemail. The winning entry will win an awesome trophy, $100 dollars in cash and will be played during our first Secular Together event on September 14th!

All the contest details can be found here. Good luck 🙂



