NEW JERSEY: Atheist Group Launches Billboard Campaign On Disaster Relief

The Los Angeles Times reports:

A New Jersey-based atheist organization is castigating the work of Pope Francis and others who respond to natural disasters with prayer, Bibles and rosaries. The billboards then encourage people to go to Atheists.org for more information, including a list of secular agencies that American Atheists endorse for disaster relief efforts. The organization accuses religion in general, and Pope Francis in particular, of exploiting natural disasters to bring more people into the fold. Pope Francis, the organization noted, used Twitter to ask followers to pray for typhoon victims, and was retweeted more than 35,000 times. “Imagine if the pope had asked for people to send money to victims or to send needed supplies. How much more useful would that have been to the people of the Philippines?" American Atheists President David Silverman said in a statement, going on to say the pope's actions were "repugnant." "Natural disasters should not be viewed as opportunities for proselytization."

The Times article concludes: "Could that same criticism apply to the American Atheists? Their billboards are being used to drive people to their website. Is that a form of exploitation?"