"Good without God" posters are popping up all over the country — but why? As he hawks his new book, Greg Epstein is the beneficiary of some high-profile cross-promotion on the part of the United Coalition of Reason, a new, Washington, DC–based group that aspires to organize (and found) atheistic groups around the country — and which decided to promote itself in tandem with Epstein's book release. The text of the ad campaign, with a cheery backdrop of blue sky and puffy white clouds, is plastered on billboards, buses, and subways around the country, including here in Boston: "Are you good without God? Millions are" (or some variation thereof). "In the first half of this year, we were using billboards which say, 'Don't believe in God? You are not alone,' " explains United CoR spokesman Fred Edwords. "But some groups said they'd like a more positive message, one that says what we advocate rather than what we don't believe. And we thought that was a good idea. . . . When we learned Greg was writing this book, we thought we could probably generate more media interest if we hitched our wagon to his star." It's not clear, though, where the money for this bit of synergistic PR is coming from. United CoR's primary funder, Edwords says, is a "businessman who makes computer parts" — and who's keeping his identity secret, not because he's ashamed of his beliefs, but because he doesn't want more people hitting him up for cash. |
