Oregon Public Broadcasting

North Idaho is one of the targets of a new media campaign by atheists.

The American Humanist Association is running bus and billboard ads in selected cities around the country. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports the organization picked Moscow, Idaho for its unique mix of people.

Along Highway 95 near the Idaho-Washington border, there’s a billboard that reads.

Roy Speckhardt: “Don’t believe in God? You’re not alone.”

Roy Speckhardt is the executive director of the American Humanist Association.

The billboard is an offshoot of an advertising war that the atheist organization has been waging with Christian groups, using buses in London and Chicago.

The atheists decided to expand their message to cities like Philadelphia, Dallas and -- Moscow, Idaho. That’s where the University of Idaho is. Washington State University is eight miles away. 

Speckhardt says it’s a unique place for the atheist message.

Roy Speckhardt: “You have secular folks. You have people of strong religious values. You have a surrounding area that is very, very conservative in its political beliefs.”

Speckhardt says the response to the billboard has been mixed, but positive enough that his group will soon post messages on billboards in Spokane, Seattle and Portland.

Online:

More about this at http://www.time.com