The Freedom From Religion Foundation has launched a billboard campaign in six major U.S. media markets as part of its “America 250: Lighting the Way” initiative celebrating the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary. The campaign launches as Christian nationalist organizations increasingly seek to blur the constitutional line between religion and government ahead of the nation’s semiquincentennial celebration.
Running from mid-June through mid-July, this includes billboard and other outdoor advertising placements in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Collectively, the campaign is expected to generate more than 4 million impressions.
The messaging highlights the constitutional principles of secular government, individual liberty and freedom of conscience as the nation prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding.
“America’s Founders created a country that belongs to all of us, regardless of our views on religion,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “As we celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, we’re encouraging Americans to remember that protecting freedom of conscience is one of our country’s greatest achievements.”
This initiative is part of FFRF’s broader national effort to educate the public about the importance of maintaining the constitutional separation between state and church.
FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor notes that the 250-year-old Declaration of Independence, which rejected the divine right of kings, was a product of the Enlightenment.
“For half a century, FFRF has worked to ‘light the way’ by ensuring that every American enjoys the same freedom of conscience guaranteed by our secular and godless Constitution,” Gaylor says. “America’s strength comes from protecting individual liberty and allowing Americans to decide matters of belief for themselves. That’s a principle worth celebrating from coast to coast.”
The campaign launches amid renewed national debates over religion’s role in public life and encourages Americans to reflect on the constitutional principles that have protected freedom of conscience for 250 years.
Additional elements of the “America 250: Lighting the Way” project include digital advertising and a full-page advertisement appearing in The New York Times Magazine on July 5.
Here are locations of each billboard or bus kiosk:
- Beacon Street and Market Street, Brighton, Massachusetts
- Sepulveda Boulevard and Westchester Parkway, Los Angeles
- Chicago Avenue and Wells Street, Chicago
- Ellis Street and Larkin Street, San Francisco
- South Street and 15th Street, Philadelphia
- Farragut Square, Washington, D.C.
- 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.
- Franklin Square, Washington, D.C.
- Seventh Street and Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C.
- Seventh Street and E Street SW near L’Enfant Plaza, Washington, D.C.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
