Atheists Turn to Billboard Sites

November 18, 2009

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8366225.stm

The group behind a controversial atheist bus-poster campaign is urging parents not to label their children with their own religious faith.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has launched a series of billboard advertisements in capital cities.

The posters are part of a campaign to challenge state-funded faith schools.

But a representative of the Christian Schools Trust questioned who would "fill the vacuum" if parents did not p ass on their fundamental beliefs.

Professor Richard Dawkins, who has part-funded the BHA campaign in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, says labelling children as "religious" is a form of brainwashing.

The posters show one or two young children surrounded by religious labels, such as Catholic, Muslim and Hindu, mixed with secular descriptions including Marxist and anarchist.

The advert's slogan says: "Please don't label me. Let me grow up and choose for myself."