The Corvallis Secular Society has placed a king-sized exterior bus sign designed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation on a bus in Corvallis, Ore., stating: "The United States is not founded on the Christian religion."
The advertisement quotes the Treaty of Tripoli, 1797, which was negotiated under the administration of President George Washington, and signed by President John Adams.
The bus sign excerpts the exact quote: "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
"We are seeking to lay to rest that dangerous revisionist myth that the United States is a 'Christian nation,' " said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
"Our founders are to be praised for adopting the very first secular and godless Constitution in the world. They didn't care what religion citizens believed or disbelieved. They felt that religion is divisive, and should not be part of government," Gaylor added.
"This is a small but significant victory for our city," noted Robert Neary, who worked with John Dearing, president of the Corvallis Secular Society, in placing the sign.
FFRF is the nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics, based in Madison, Wis., and also works as a state/church watchdog. It has more than 450 members in Oregon, and will be holding its 35th annual national convention in Portland in October 2012.
"We thank the Corvallis Secular Society for arranging for and paying for this important message to be on a Corvallis bus," said Dan Barker, FFRF co-president.