“Don’t Believe in God? You are not alone.”

That’s the message up on a billboard near Interstate Highway 8 in La Mesa. It’s funded through the San Diego Coalition of Reason, an umbrella organization of nine local chapters of atheist, humanist and rational thought groups.

This billboard from the Coalition of Reason is up near

the I-8 in La Mesa.

^{Courtesy photo.}

The Washington, D.C.-based United Coalition of Reason oversees 14 city-based CofRs, including the fledgling San Diego coalition. Downtown resident Debbie Skomer, a direct member of two local humanist organizations, is the volunteer coordinator of the San Diego CofR.

“The goal of the billboard is not that we’re looking for donations,” says Skomer. “But we do want to reach out to nonbelievers. Our organizations feel like it would be nice to have more of an impact on the community.”

Skomer says she personally supports teaching science in classrooms instead of Creationism, and is behind seperation of church and state issues.

The Clear Channel billboard is on the south side of I-8, just east of 70^th Street. It’s 14-feet-by-48-feet in size, and as a “remnant,” is rented for just one month. The cost: $5,000. Skomer says that money comes from a wealthy donor through the United CofR.

After the billboard’s first day of public exposure, Skomer says she has not personally heard negative feedback about it, except for “some man-on-the-streets” comments on local TV news.

Given time and more exposure, that may change. In other cities, CofR billboards have been defaced. And in Iowa, signs that were plastered on busses prompted numerous complaints, and were taken down.

“It’s a reality that some people are really offended that others might not believe in God,” says Skomer. “But we know that about 15 percent of the population is nonbelievers. That includes people who might be sitting next to you in church who go to be with their families but really, are beyond the religious dogma.”

Skomer is eager to organize the nine groups in the San Diego CofR. That includes: Atheist Coalition of San Diego; Humanist Association of San Diego; Humanist Fellowship of San Diego; Rational Thought at UCSD; San Diego Atheist Parenting; San Diego New Atheists; San Diego North County Brights; San Diego Secular Humanist Outreach; and the SDSU Secular Student Alliance.

On November 14, Skomer is putting on one of the coalition’s first group membership events. “On Saturday, at 11 a.m., we’re inviting all the groups’ members to come out to the billboard and have a picture taken,” she says. “We’ll put the pictures online, and put a face to our group. We’re normal people, you know—not some bunch running around in trench coats or something.”

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