A Catholic group sparked controversy by unveiling a Christmas billboard that criticized atheists for celebrating the winter solstice. The sign, erected by the Wisconsin-based Catholic League, claimed Christians had exclusive rights to the winter holidays. "This is our season—not yours," it reads.
Displayed near Madison, Wisconsin, it declares: "Atheists strike out at Christmas. Celebrating Winter Solstice is a child's game.
Highlights
- The Catholic League faced backlash after displaying a sign criticizing atheists who celebrate the winter solstice.
- President Bill Donohu said the sign was a response to an atheist group's billboard asking for reflection during the winter solstice.
- Donohu said their sign "emboldens" Christians and referred to the atheist group's billboard as "bullying."
"This is our season—Not Yours. Celebrate the birth of Christ. Merry Christmas."
The Catholic League was roasted for displaying a billboard criticizing atheists who celebrate the winter solstice
Image credits: Pixabay/Pexels (Not the actual photo)
Winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and marks the change from autumn to winter. This year, the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere fell on December 21. (The exact moment varies from year to year, but it usually falls on 21 or 22 December).
The billboard was attributed to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, an organization founded in 1973 to defend Catholics in the United States from "defamation or discrimination."
President Bill Donohue told The Christian Post that the organization put up the billboard in response to a display by the atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) at the State Capitol building in Wisconsin.
Image credits: Pixabay/Pexels (Not the actual photo)
The FFRF sign, which has reportedly been displayed on previous occasions, reads: "At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail.
"There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world.
"Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."
"This is our season—not yours," the sign reads
Image credits: James Wheeler/Pexels (Not the actual photo)
Image credits: Arina Krasnikova/Pexels (Not the actual photo)
Donohue said: "We decided to display the billboard as a direct refutation of the annual Winter Solstice display in Madison, Wisconsin, that is erected in the Capitol building by Freedom From Religion Foundation.
"Their stunt is done to compete with, and therefore neuter, the meaning of the Nativity scene at Christmas. The billboard will be up for two weeks, until Dec. 29."
The president said he hopes "our billboard emboldens Catholics, letting them know that we will not be bullied by our adversaries."
On their website, the Catholic League wrote, "We have decided to send these activists a lesson, reminding them that the Christmas season is our season. We rule. They lose."
President Bill Donohue said the sign was a response to a billboard erected by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that said, "At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail"
Image credits: Catholic League
Image credits: Catholic League
The Catholic League's billboard was mocked online, with hundreds of social media users criticizing its attack on atheism.
"Is their media Director a 12-year-old?" one user wrote, while another exclaimed, "NOBODY OWNS THE SEASONS."
"There are lots of celebrations and customs this time of year many of which predates Christianity," someone else penned.
"The Winter Solstice is the natural reason for the season. It's real and our ancient ancestors have looked up in the sky and acknowledged it since long before the last few thousand years," said a separate commenter.
"Their stunt is done to compete with, and therefore neuter, the meaning of the Nativity scene at Christmas," Donohue said of the FFRF sign
Image credits: Friendly Atheis
"Winter solstice isn't even on Christmas Day. It's the 22nd, so people can celebrate both," somebody else added.
"Geez, they could have at least hired a graphic designer," another user wrote.
Freedom of religion is protected in the United States by the First Amendment, which prohibits Congress from making laws establishing a religion, restricting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech.
The Catholic League's stated purpose is to "defend the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination," according to its website.
The organization works to "safeguard both the religious freedom rights and the free speech rights of Catholics whenever and wherever they are threatened."
Image credits: Friendly Atheis
Quoting Harvard professor Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., the group believes that prejudice against the Catholic Church is "the deepest bias in the history of the American people."
The group works with paid memberships ranging in price from $25 (student/senior memberships) to $1,000 (life membership).
On the other hand, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1976 that advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists (members of a religion that doesn't focus on belief in a God or gods).
The group promotes the constitutional principle of separating state and church. "The history of Western civilization shows us that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons free from religion," it writes.
The atheist group then responded to the Catholic League's sign on Bluesky
Image credits: Bluesky
"In modern times the first to speak out for prison reform, for humane treatment of the mentally ill, for abolition of capital punishment, for women's right to vote, for death with dignity for the terminally ill, and for the right to choose contraception, sterilization and abortion have been freethinkers, just as they were the first to call for an end to slavery."
The FFRF responded to the billboard with a message on the micro-blogging site Bluesky, writing, "The scrooges at the Catholic League really know how to spread love and joy during the holiday season. Happy holidays!"
Critics of the Catholic League billboard emphasized the importance of religious freedom and the need to respect non-religious holidays
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