Colorado Springs is about to get another dose of atheism.

Later this month, an umbrella organization of 11 atheist groups from Colorado will begin to pepper the Front Range with 11 billboards that say, "Don't Believe in God? You are not alone." One will be in Colorado Springs and 10 will be in the Denver area. The billboards will be up four weeks, but their exact locations won't be announced until Monday.

On Nov. 5, in an unrelated campaign, the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation erected a billboard on North Academy Boulevard proclaiming "Imagine No Religion." That billboard will be up through Dec. 4.

The Colorado Coalition of Reason, which is responsible for the 11-billboard campaign, is hoping its message will reach out to like-minded people.

"Some of the people who adhere to no religion think they are all alone," said coalition head Marvin Straus, who founded an atheist group in Boulder. "But they are not. Nonbelief is on the rise."

In recent years, atheists have become more vocal in questioning long-held beliefs within the Abrahamic faiths. Atheist books by Christopher Hitchens, Daniel C. Dennett, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins have had long runs on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

Other signs of the times include the Freedom from Religion Foundation's efforts to install anti-religious billboards in 46 states, and the American Humanist Association's so-called "Godless Holiday Campaign," which it launched Monday with ads in two major newspapers reading "Why Believe in God? Just be good for goodness sake."

The latest U.S. Census and other studies suggest that about 30 million Americans follow no religion.

Groff Schroeder, president of the 33-member Freethinkers of Colorado Springs, which is part of the coalition, compares the rising atheist movement to gays who have come out of the closet.

"For people who are closeted nonbelievers, we want them to know there are other people out there who think the same way," Schroeder said.
The Colorado Coalition of Reason is renting its billboards for $5,000 from CBS Outdoor after cutting a deal to buy up its unused space, Straus said.

Similar billboard campaigns have been waged by other groups in New Jersey, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Los Angeles.
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