- Deseret News - Friday, December 5, 2014

It’s not the “Tender Tennessee Christmas” of the Amy Grant song, but some nerves are frayed in the Volunteer State as dueling billboards in favor of, and opposing, Christmas confront residents.

Billboards from the American Atheists appeared this week in Memphis and Nashville, among other cities, showing a young child wearing a Santa cap and holding a pen.

“Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is to skip church! I’m too old for fairy tales,” the billboard reads, along with a note advertising the group’s 2015 convention scheduled for Easter weekend in Memphis, and a website address.

According to a statement from American Atheists president David Silverman, “Even children know churches spew absurdity, which is why they don’t want to attend services. Enjoy the time with your family and friends instead.”

The adversarial advertising brought a response from Memphis resident Eric Hart, who raised more than necessary to put up a digital billboard with this message: “Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is to keep it sacred without being bullied. Peace, dignity, and respect for all,” with the “o” in “for” shaped like a heart.

“Freedom of speech works every way,” Mr. Hart told WMC-TV in Memphis. “I wanted to remind people that we all have a voice and it’s always louder, when it’s a voice of love and not ridicule and hate or oppression.”

The American Atheist campaign, as usual, produced global media coverage, including London’s Telegraph, which reported the billboards were “expected to stir controversy in America’s religious heartlands.”

According to the Telegraph, “In a sign of the hostility the adverts are expected to generate, American Atheists said that it had failed to secure a single billboard site in Jackson, Mississippi, after leasing companies collectively refused to offer space, fearing a community backlash.”

The Washington Post noted the atheist group had been promoting an anti-Christmas campaign since 2010. “Effective or not, the campaigns are certainly good at attracting attention to an affiliation that does not fare particularly well in public opinion polls,” The Post said.

The atheists’ choice of a child for the billboard drew objections from Suzanne Aviles, a spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese in Memphis.

“That if we’re going to have an adult conversation, it’s almost inappropriate to bring children in as the visual message,” Ms. Aviles said, according to WSFA-TV.

In turn, the atheist group said it objected to the pro-Christmas billboards and have retaliated, according to a news release: “American Atheists posted new billboards in Memphis and Nashville on Friday that read ’Dear Christians, I share my toys. Why won’t you share the season? Happy Holidays for all!’ ”

And former Florida Rep. Allen West, blogging at his website, admitted to being confused by the atheists’ actions: “It’s just perplexing to me that atheists go to such lengths to attack something they don’t believe exists. If there is no God, why are you trying so hard to erase Him?”

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