See also NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3?
In Times Square, a Friendly Jab at Atheists
By MARC SANTORA
Published: October 7, 2013
If the evangelical organization Answers in Genesis
was looking to take its message to a secular audience, it would be hard
to do better than the heart of Times Square at noon on Monday.
Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times
A Christian group’s digital billboard at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street.
Wedged amid an advertisement urging revelers to take a trip to Atlantic
City, promotions for the new CBS drama “Hostages” and a promotion from
Google was a 15-second video directed at New York City’s atheists.
“To all of our atheist friends: Thank God you’re wrong,” the digital
billboard blared on the corner of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.
As the lunchtime crowd passed by on the streets below, few gave it more
than a passing glance, perhaps distracted by the frightening,
blood-soaked photograph promoting the horror movie “Carrie” above the
theater next door.
Or, perhaps, religious billboard battles between believers and nonbelievers just do not have the punch they once did.
After all, last week Pope Francis made headlines after sending a missive
to one of Italy’s best-known “nonbelievers,” Eugenio Scalfari, the
co-founder and former editor of the Italian newspaper La Repubblica,
offering a conciliatory tone in discussing the Roman Catholic Church’s
attitude to atheists.
“Given — and this is the fundamental thing — that God’s mercy has no
limits, if He is approached with a sincere and repentant heart,” Pope
Francis wrote, “the question for those who do not believe in God is to
abide by their own conscience. There is sin, also for those who have no
faith, in going against one’s conscience. Listening to it and abiding by
it means making up one’s mind about what is good and evil.”
Of course, billboards do not often deal in shades of gray.
Usually, though, they spring up closer to Christmas, when they are more likely to attract news media attention.
In recent years, atheist groups have paid for a number of provocative
billboard advertisements that were obviously meant to prompt a reaction
from Christian groups, often succeeding.
For instance, when an advertisement appeared
above the Lincoln Tunnel on the New Jersey side in 2010 that said, “You
Know It’s a Myth: This Season Celebrate Reason,” it was quickly
countered with another billboard on the New York side of the tunnel which read, “You Know It’s Real: This Season Celebrate Jesus.”
The holiday season seems to have started a bit early, with messages
directed at atheists being sponsored in San Francisco, Los Angeles and
New York.
The latest salvo in the billboard battles was waged by Answers in
Genesis, which attracted attention in 2007 when it announced the opening
of the $27 million Creation Museum in Kentucky.
The museum, among other things, featured what was meant to be a glimpse
at the world just after man’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden, a time
when dinosaurs walked the earth alongside humans, adhering to the
group’s interpretation of the Bible.
The driving force behind the museum was Ken Ham, an Australian who
believes human reason should confirm the Bible rather than reinterpret
it.
Whatever one thinks of his message, Mr. Ham has shown a knack for
spreading his views. His ministry includes a radio program broadcast
over more than 1,000 stations, and a magazine with a circulation of
70,000.
HI-
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LI Confidential
> Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Aetheist, Greeks, Bettors, Hindus, etc. Andrew Cuomo's preference is commanded to be observed.
We think not.
Open Nassau OTB 365 days of the year so bettors may bet, workers may work if the wish, and the failthful may take the day off.
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