A billboard put by American Atheists in Monroe, LA that said “Make Christmas Great Again. Skip church!” was taken down within two hours because of local protests. I found it amusing that one of the critics said that it was because it is a community of “strong believers”. Actually this shows the opposite. People whose beliefs are strong would not care. It is because their beliefs are so weak that they are fearful of encountering a message that challenges it.
As a result of the resulting news coverage, more people locally and around the country heard about the billboard than if the locals had simply ignored it. American Atheists are now moving the billboard to another area, likely hoping for a similar reaction there. They can stretch their advertising dollars a lot by putting up billboards for just a short time.
So….the believers couldn’t handle being reminded how many of them will skip church?
If the Christians haven’t heard of the Streisand Effect, then we MUST take steps to make sure they never do! Mwahahaha!.
It’s almost as if there’s an intersection: the Dunning-Streisand effect. In which people who are incompetent think they are going to manipulate the media message.
To the educate, strength of argument means fact-based positions and propositions. To the fervently, feverishly and rabidly religious, strength of argument means guns and laws to protect religion.