Duelling Billboards

Here's a nifty godless video that I think you'll enjoy. It's a video response to those awful, arrogant, theocratic, willfully ignorant "God Speaks" billboards you see blighting highways across the country. Comedian and videographer Mario DiGiorgio shows what his billboard replies would be if he had the money.... and his replies are freakin' hilarious.

Of course there's a couple that I would do differently. (My personal answer to "Have you read my #1 bestseller?" would have to be, "You mean The God Delusion?") But that's half the fun of the video, what makes it a game: thinking about which ones you like, which ones you'd do differently, which ones you'd keep exactly the same. And most of them are spot-on, with a couple that almost made me spit my coffee onto the keyboard.

Video below the fold, since putting them above the fold fucks up my archives.

Dueling Billboards


Via... well, via my boss at Last Gasp, actually. We publish a book that DiGiorgio wrote, A Cynic's Guide to a Rich Full Life. Sometimes I really love my job.

Comments

[stephen]

HOLY SHIT! I have hated those awful, pointless billboards for years. somebody actually burned one down during rush hour about 2 years ago. I think the best way to attach fundies of all stripes and flavors is with humor, laughter and a sharp, solid eye for the absurd. I am now going out shopping for Mr. DiDiorgio's book. raucous fun.

[Ainuvande]

The desire to take a road trip with a bucket of white paint is alarmingly strong.

I live in a major city in the Northeast. We don't get those billboards as often up here. but oh, the stupid. it hurts.

[Steven Alleyn]

I love being in Montreal. The worst we get is the church asking that the french not blaspheme so much - and even those were tasteful. It was just definitions of the words the french use to swear.

[Noadi]

I hate billboards so much, of all sorts. I don't care what the advertisement is for they are all eyesores. It's always such a shock traveling outside of Maine where billboards aren't allowed and seeing these horrible ugly big signs.

[ildi]

We have a sanctimonious landlord here in Columbus who likes to plaster his buildings with similar slogans (e.g., "What part of thou shalt not don't you get - God"). I'v noticed they are a big magnet for paintballers.

[Kulkuri]

When I was on Cape Cod in the 90's, a couple of guys I worked with got tired of this sign by the road that said "Jesus Saves". One day they added to the sign; "But Esposito scores on the rebound". It stayed there for several days before anyone took it down.

[WTFWJD]

I would put up a hundred thousand of these:

"Faith is believing what you know ain't so."

-- Mark Twain, America's beloved humorist

[dhonig]

My response to:

I love you ... I love you ... I love you.

-God

Oh God ... Oh God ... Oh God.

-I love you.

[The Pale Scot]

Actually I think its "jesus saves,... Gretsky rebounds and SCORES!!!!!!!!

[Lee Brimmicombe-Wood]

In my day it was "Keegan scores on the rebound", but that's a different era, a different sport and another country...

[Dances With Books]

Oh, my gosh, that was just funny. I loved the end where he says if it offends you, we are even. Because I so wish someone would go out of their way and offend those self-righteous, ignorant, hypocritical, bigoted...you get the idea. Nothing better than some humor to do it. Keep it up.

[nina hartley]

Thanks, Greta, for posting that! Fantastic!

I always heard it as, "Jesus saves but Moses invests."

Keep it up!

[the chaplain]

Fortunately, we don't have those billboards in my area. Good video.

[Mark]

Jesus saves, and takes half damage from the fireball!

[Ebonmuse]

It's worth pointing out that the Freedom from Religion Foundation actually has two explicitly nontheist billboards currently up:

http://ffrf.org/news/2007/billboard.php

[Donna Gore]

We have a FFRF billboard in the Atlanta area. It says "Imagine No Religion." Not sure if it's still there - it went up last November but it was supposed to be a "travelling" billboard.

[Chris Hallquist]

Dear God: I guess that shows anyone can make the bestseller lists these days.

[NeoGothic]

I've seen the "Jesus Saves" made out for D&D geeks: "Jesus saves... and takes half damage."

[Richard Simons]

Isn't the billboard on the ffrf link the same as the first one in the video? What's up - duelling for the same billboard?

[peter]

when I first saw the one that said
"What part of 'thou shalt not kill' didn't you understand?" -god

I actually thought it was someone making a good ironic joke, considering I saw it driving through Kansas... of course now I realize it was one, it just wasn't intentional.

[antaresrichard]

"One nation under me."

"No wonder we're f**ked!"

[Duff]

"Jesus is coming"

"Get Him a tissue"

[Rev. Helen Griffus]

Wonderful and insightful. Just the kind of response that goes along with the spirit of being an American. We should be able to discuss our differences, not get rude about it. Well done!

[Josie]

Great video; passing that one along to my equally frustrated husband :)

I always heard the D&D one as "Jesus saves, the rest of you take damage."

[arensb]

Jesus saves, Moses invests, Cthulhu forecloses.
Alternately: Strawberry preserves.

And let's not forget:
Jesus is coming! Are you going to spit or swallow?
What would Jesus do... for a Klondike bar?
Jesus loves you. I know, because he moans your name whenever we fuck.
Only sheep need a shepherd.

[exarch]

I remember a Windows pop-up message that said:
Jesus saved you. Would you like to keep the changes? [YES] [NO]

[kshep]

One of the ones I saw here in Michigan said:

"I don't question YOUR existence."

Which made me think, "well, DUH, because we DO exist, you moron!"

[Slain]

I myself always liked:

"Jesus is coming -- everybody look busy."

And I remember back in the 70's there were Xtian bumperstickers around that said, "I found it!"

Then Jews started putting bumperstickers on THEIR cars saying, "I never lost it!"

[Duncan]

Well, the video is cute, but it does seem to be lacking in "reverence, recognition and tolerance of everyone's beliefs" -- specifically of the beliefs of the people who come up with those billboards. I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.

And what's this crap about "reverence ... for everyone's beliefs"? Why in the anus of yahweh would I, as an atheist, be "reverent" of anything, especially of anyone's religious beliefs?

Myself, I always found those billboards mildly entertaining, and still can't see why some people (who seem to include Christians, who really should know better) get their pants in such a bunch over them. Once I happened to catch Bill Maher having a hissyfit about them on TV somewhere, which was by itself enough to make me support the billboards, even though I know they're bullshit. It's interesting how 'freedom of expression' goes out the window when liberal Christians and atheists confront the expression of conservative Christian beliefs. Y'all are not as different from Pat Robertson as you like to think.

[Nurse Ingrid]

"It's interesting how 'freedom of expression' goes out the window when liberal Christians and atheists confront the expression of conservative Christian beliefs."

Oh, please, Duncan. How exactly is Mario DiGiorgio or any of the commenters above infringing on anyone's freedom of expression? He didn't even deface the damn billboards, much less pass a law that ordered them to be taken down. He made a video that expressed his disagreement with them in a humorous fashion. That is HIS freedom of expression.

Why do so many people assume that "freedom of expression" somehow equals "freedom from ever being criticized, however mildly, for one's opinions"?

Are you now going to claim that I'm infringing on your freedom by posting this comment? If so, then weren't you infringing on Greta's -- and Mario's -- when you posted yours?

[Alana Smithee]

I really don't find either side of this approach funny. It's just sophomoric on either side.
Being skeptical is not the "automatic nay saying of any proposition" (M. Python), but rather the attempt to discover extraordinary proof for extraordinary things.

I find this was just a big "neener neener"than anything else. I understand the author is a comedian and not necessarily a full-blown skeptic, but you've got to start somewhere.