Boulder atheists buy Springs, Denver billboards

A new billboard going up near I-25 and Garden of the Gods Road will read, "God is an imaginary friend; Choose reality, it will be better for all of us."

Is that confrontational or a conversation starter? Marvin Straus, a member of the Boulder Atheists group that paid for the Colorado Springs billboard and two others in Denver, said he hopes it's the latter.

"The bottom line is, we support separation of church and state and we're trying to increase dialogue between (Colorado Coalition of Reason) groups and the public, whether they're believers or nonbelievers," Straus said.

Groff Schroeder, vice president of the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs, which is affiliated with the Colorado Coalition of Reason, said the local group didn't have much input into the billboard's message, but said it's good to present alternative points of view.

"I would have preferred the message: 'Are gods imaginary friends?'" Schroeder said. "I think it's good for people to have their points of view challenged to some degree."

The Colorado Coalition for Reason sponsored similar billboards in 2008, that read "Don't Believe in God? You're Not Alone." Schroeder said those ads generated more interest from the media than the public.

"The public doesn't seem to notice really, but the press does," he said. "When this happens, the phone's ringing off the hook."

Straus said the billboards cost the group $1,200 and will stay up for four weeks. The Colorado Springs billboard was scheduled to be put up on Monday. He said Colorado Springs wasn't chosen for a billboard because of the many religious groups headquartered here, but because it's the second-biggest city in the state.

"We didn't target Colorado Springs," he said. "If we could wave a magic wand, we would have one in every major city in Colorado."

Straus said the group's efforts in the past have generated a lot of positive feedback, along with a fair number of "interesting" responses.

"Some actually want to dialogue, some just want to vent their spleen," he said.

Schroeder said, whatever the tenor of those conversations, the billboard's message points to the importance of free speech.

"I'm just very happy to live in a place where you can do something like this and not be afraid," he said. "It's good to live in America."