At the intersection of highways 28 and 59, the two main roads out of this small town I live in, there is a prominent billboard. You can imagine my reaction as I drove off to the airport last week, and saw this:

Why? This doesn't make sense.

I tried to view it through Christian eyes; it wasn't that hard, I was brought up Lutheran. What came to mind is this…

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6

Is throwing up a giant sign the same as meekly making a personal commitment to your god? Does your Jesus need his portrait raised up by roadsides?

Damned grandstanding hypocrites. Yeah, you're pious. Good for you. Now get to work on the humility.

Looking at it as an atheist, it's even worse.

No, I don't trust in Jesus, and I think I resent these arrogant christolaters trying to speak for me and my town. I suspect they'd freak out if there were a sign reading "Mohammed: I trust in you" or "Don't waste your time on god-myths". Anything that challenged the majority viewpoint here would elicit much pulpit-thumping and outraged squeaking from the sanctimonious.

Also as an atheist, I am not pleased at the reminder that the town is populated by priggish idiots who erect testimonials to their pretentious religiosity. I don't trust in you, Jesus; I think you're a chancre on humanity.