The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging Atlanta-area residents to remember our nation’s foundational wall: the one dividing state and religion.
A large billboard with the message has gone up on Spring Street near the intersection of Atlanta Road in the city of Marietta. The eye-catching panel proclaims “The Only Wall We Need Is Between Church-State” against the backdrop of two portions of a clearly divided brick wall.
The billboard, the second time FFRF has displayed this dictum in the Atlanta region, is on display for a month as part of a year-long media campaign in the South’s most bustling metropolis. Georgia FFRF member Jack Egger is underwriting the campaign, for which FFRF is truly appreciative. Previous billboards that FFRF and Egger have placed this year in the vicinity include a bulletin telling people to “Enjoy life — there is no afterlife,” an arresting billboard showing an astronaut in space with the slogan “In Science We Trust,” and a provocative message proclaiming: “Supernatural belief — the enemy of humanity.”
The wall between state and church is under assault as perhaps never before, FFRF contends. All of us should strive to ensure that religion and government are separated from each other, as our Founders envisioned.
“This fundamental constitutional principle is truly endangered with President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “We urge the good folks of Atlanta to contact their senators to oppose this nomination, in order to protect our first freedom — the First Amendment.”
The fast-changing demographics of U.S. society makes our secular setup even more essential, FFRF maintains. Current Pew surveys reveal that a quarter of adult citizens and more than a third of Millennials qualify as “None,” either specifying atheism, agnosticism or no religion. Since 1990, the number of Americans with no religion has nearly tripled, from about 8 percent to 23 percent. With this trend projected to continue, “Generation Z” is primed to be the least religious generation yet, with about a fifth claiming to be explicitly atheist or agnostic. There are now more “Nones” than Catholics, and by 2035, Nones are projected to outnumber Protestants.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its membership work to promote the viewpoint of freethinkers, including atheists and agnostics, and to protect the constitutional principle of separation between religion and government. FFRF has roughly 32,000 members and several chapters all over the country, including 500-plus and an Atlanta chapter in Georgia.
