Atheist group releases ad campaign on Boston subways

BOSTON -- A controversial new ad campaign hitting "The Hub" is encouraging people to "stop believing."

Ads promoting atheism are showing up on many Boston MBTA trains and some commuters are wondering if they go too far.

"It's not my viewpoint but it sounds like it's the viewpoint of others," said one man.

"Why shouldn't they have their own say?" asked another. "We get bombarded with ads for church."

The Boston Area Coalition of Reason launched the ad campaign and the posters read: "Good without God? 40 Million Americans are."

"There's been some negative reaction but really not much," said David Niose of Bostoncor.org. "Most of the reaction has been quite positive. There's a lot of secular Americans out there who are just thrilled to see a group coming forth and demonstrating that secular Americans can be good, decent citizens. And its not an identity that needs to be kept in the closet."

The group has spent $11,000 on ads on more than 200 subway cars in Boston.

The point of this Good without God campaign is to reach out to the millions of humanists, atheists, and agnostics living in the United States, said Fred Edwords, head of the United Coalition of Reason, which is sponsoring the campaign in Boston.

The group plans to launch campaigns in more than 10 other U.S. cities.

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