<html><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div><div>This is against free speech, against property rights, and against religious freedom.<br><br><br></div><div><br>On Nov 4, 2009, at 2:38 PM, keely emerinemix <<a href="mailto:kjajmix1@msn.com"><a href="mailto:kjajmix1@msn.com">kjajmix1@msn.com</a></a>> wrote:<br><br></div><div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
I wish whoever is doing this would knock it off. If the most courageous stand you can make for your faith in God is to deface a billboard, you've really got some spiritual inventory to examine.<br><br><font style="" color="#8064a2"><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Verdana">Keely<br><a href="http://www.keely-prevailingwinds.com"><a href="http://www.keely-prevailingwinds.com">www.keely-prevailingwinds.com</a></a><br></font></font></font><br><br><br><br><hr id="stopSpelling">From: <a href="mailto:london@moscow.com"></a><a href="mailto:london@moscow.com"><a href="mailto:london@moscow.com">london@moscow.com</a></a><br>To: <a href="mailto:vision2020@secure.fsr.com"></a><a href="mailto:vision2020@secure.fsr.com"><a href="mailto:vision2020@secure.fsr.com">vision2020@secure.fsr.com</a></a><br>Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 12:13:55 -0800<br>Subject: [Vision2020] vandals strike again<br><br>
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<div><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Humanist
Billboard Vandalized in Moscow, Idaho…Again<br><br>(Washington, D.C, November 4,
2009) An individual or individuals have<br>defaced a billboard in Moscow, Idaho…
again. The billboard originally<br>read "Millions are good without God" but was
partially obscured with<br>blue paint to now read “Millions are good with God”.
It's the second<br>time the American Humanist Association (AHA)-sponsored
billboard has<br>been vandalized in two weeks. In the first instance the word
"without"<br>was completely blacked out, after which the AHA quickly replaced
the<br>billboard. The advertisement, which was originally
placed<br>mid-September, is part of an American Humanist Association
advertising<br>campaign to spread awareness about being good without God. It's
the<br>third billboard advertisement the organization has displayed in
the<br>Moscow area and similar ads have been put up around the country.<br><br>A
picture of the vandalized billboard can be found here:<br></font><a href="http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/29/1225/Picture_002.jpg"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/29/1225/Picture_002.jpg</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">.<br>The billboard can be found on Highway 95,
just south of Moscow near<br>the Sweet Avenue cross street, facing northbound
traffic.<br><br>"The irony here is worth noting," said David Niose, president of
the<br>American Humanist Association. "Some individuals are
committing<br>criminal acts while apparently claiming that their religious view
of<br>the world leads to good behavior. It's not a very convincing
argument<br>on their part."<br><br>"This is not just vandalism, it is
religiously motivated vandalism<br>which attempts to silence a minority
viewpoint," added Niose.<br>"Everyone, not just humanists, should be concerned
about such acts."<br><br>The Moscow Police Department notified the AHA this
morning. They<br>believe the ad defaced between 1 and 3 am. The AHA has alerted
the<br>billboard company who leased the space, Lamar Outdoor, who said
they<br>will start leaving the lights on round the clock. The AHA will
be<br>replacing the billboard but hasn't yet decided whether to go with
the<br>same design.<br><br>"I’m disturbed that this happened again," said Roy
Speckhardt,<br>executive director of the American Humanist Association.
"Two<br>consecutive crimes in a town where the last incidence of
billboard<br>vandalism was years ago makes it obvious that humanists and
our<br>message are being targeted.”<br><br>The American Humanist Association
(</font><a href="http://www.americanhumanist.org/"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">www.americanhumanist.org</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">)
advocates<br>for the rights and viewpoints of humanists. Founded in 1941
and<br>headquartered in Washington, D.C., its work is extended through
more<br>than 100 local chapters and affiliates across the United
States.<br><br>Humanism is the idea that you can be good without a belief in
God.<br><br>###<br><br>Contact:<br>Karen Frantz<br>202-238-9088<br>cell:
703-725-4112<br></font><a href="mailto:kfrantz@americanhumanist.org"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">kfrantz@americanhumanist.org</font></a><br></font></div> <br><hr>Windows 7: Unclutter your desktop. <a href="http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9690331&ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_evergreen:112009" target="_new">Learn more.</a>
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