Coalition promotes atheism in subway stations

An advertisement sponsored by a coalition of eight New York City atheist and secularist groups will appear in 12 major Manhattan subway stations starting Monday.

The ad, which reads "A Million New Yorkers Are Good Without God. Are You?," was designed after the United Coalition of Reason approached smaller secularist groups in New York City. The UCR offered funding for an ad campaign if the smaller groups joined forces with one another. Thus the Big Apple Coalition of Reason, which created the campaign, was formed.

Reactions among the religious student body at NYU to the new campaign have been mixed.

Gallatin sophomore Sara Fredman, who describes herself as an Orthodox Jew, does not see the reasoning behind the ad campaign.

"I think it's kind of silly for them to spend so much money," she said. "I don't think something like that can convert people. It doesn't seem very impressive to me."

Fredman added that she thought the tone of the ad was elitist. But she said she was not offended by the campaign.

Other religious students were more optimistic about the possible effects the advertisements could have.

Jason Fullen, Steinhardt junior and president of NYU's Campus Crusade for Christ, thought the ad campaign may promote a dialogue between people with different beliefs.

"I'm encouraged to see that there is diversity in thinking," he said. "Maybe this will allow people to be engaged in each other more … as opposed to being divided up into certain groups."

Fullen said he hopes the advertisements will be "used as a jumping-off point for conversations to be engaged in," rather than make Christians feeling threatened or personally persecuted.

Michael De Dora Jr., executive director of the Center for Inquiry, one of the groups in the Big Apple Coalition of Reason, explained that the Coalition has two main goals for the ad campaign.

The first is to bring issues about religion and morality "on the conversation table." The second is to encourage people to become involved in the Coalition itself.

"To get people to actually go to the website and to look through the member groups, and to see who they are, what they're doing and what they believe in would be fantastic," he said.

According to Dora, the coalition wants to change the stereotypical image of atheists in society.

"We have growing political and social power," he said. "We can't be ignored anymore."

Samantha Cook is a staff writer.