📰 Lincoln Atheists Newsletter - October 2016

October 2016 Lincoln Atheists Newsletter View this email in your browser Board Nominations Lincoln Atheists is in the nomination phase of Board election process. Each year half of the Board of Directors is up for election. This year nominations are open for President, Director of Marketing, Director of Activities, and Director of Information Technology. Members can nominate themselves or another member. For the remainder of the year membership dues are 75% off. If you would like to know more about the Board and their responsibilities visit the bylaws page on Lincoln Atheists website. New Members This month we had a more members join Lincoln Atheists. Please welcome Nathan Davidson, Briton Gorley, Jaycie Vanderbeek, David Ernesti, Adam Leuenberger, Monica Fowler, Kevin Johnson, Carrie, Alek, David, Janel, and Adam to Lincoln Atheists. Thank all of you for your contribution to Lincoln Atheists. We hope you find a community with us and make some new friends. Oct Members Anniversaries 1 year Allen Rachele Walter Doug Bergman Lincoln Atheists Billboard Lincoln Atheists created some controversy this last month.  How did we do that?  We put up a billboard.  Wanting to get some advertising out in the city we contracted with Lamar Advertising to put up a billboard just off the corner of 17th and South Street.  Taking off from the Nebraska state slogan we had a simple message, "The Good Life without God? It's possible."  The billboard went up the weekend of October 8th, on October 18th we were informed that due to complaints made to, and from, the owner of the land on which the billboard was situated Lamar Advertising would be taking our billboard down.   Of course, not all was bad news.  Lamar Advertising returned the money we had paid in full.  The controversy surrounding the removal of our billboard actually has been fairly positive for Lincoln Atheists.  We received quite a bit of media coverage following the removal.  Locally, both the Lincoln Journal Star and 10/11 News covered the news story, and Brian Aden did an interview on the Friendly Fire KLIN radio show.  Nationally, the Friendly Atheist did a blog post that was shared on a number of atheist websites and social media accounts, including American Atheists.  We even got coverage on sites like The Christian Post and Fox News!   Since the billboard went up and its subsequent early take down Lincoln Atheists has seen its membership grow fairly significantly from 29 members to 43, an almost 33% increase!  It is wonderful to have so many new members.  A huge THANK YOU to all our members, new and old, for helping us do what we do.  Without you, there wouldn't be a Lincoln Atheists organization. Events Tabletop Gaming Nov 5th and 18th at Gauntlet Games Weekly Coffee and Conversation on Sunday at Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso Monthly Meetup Nov 9th at The Eatery Discussion Group: Sexuality Nov 12th at Rock Island Social Club Nominations Close Nov 15 Bar Trivia Nov 17th at Brewsky's South Unapologetic Atheists: Theists Debating Nov 27th Anderson Branch Library For more details visit lincolnatheists.org/events Donations If you are pleased with the way Lincoln Atheists is developing, help support us by donating. Donate Get Involved We are always looking for members to help with individual events or brainstorm with one of our committees. If you're interested in getting more involved, send us an email. Website Email Meetup Facebook Google+ Twitter Copyright © 2016 Lincoln Atheists, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because all new members are opted in or requested to subscribe to our monthly newsletter. Our mailing address is: Lincoln Atheists 2022 N. Cotner Blvd. Lincoln, NE 68505 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Lincoln Atheists Billboard is Down

Lincoln Atheists was informed on October 18, 2016 by Lamar Advertising Company that they made a business decision to pull and remove the Lincoln Atheists billboard at 1648 South St. in Lincoln, Nebraska. This decision was based on customer complaints via the property owner. An alternative location was not available to relocate the billboard.

This billboard was fully funded by contributions and donations made solely to Lincoln Atheists. Lamar was gracious in refunding the advertising costs, which will be credited back to Lincoln Atheists' general fund.

While Lincoln Atheists understands and respects Lamar's business decision, collectively we are very disappointed that atheists are not afforded an equal platform in the marketplace of ideas. However, we are not deterred in pursuing our mission.

Lincoln Atheists is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to building a positive community for non-theists; fostering secular viewpoints; supporting charitable contributions to society; protecting and promoting the separation of church and state.

Lincoln Atheists Billboard is Up

This year, Lincoln Atheists funded a billboard to advertise our presence in the capital city.  We want people to know that "the Good Life" is possible without God.  We also hope that other nonbelievers will be interested in joining Lincoln Atheists and becoming a part of our organization.

The billboard is located just off the corner of 17th and South Street in Lincoln.

We encourage you to check it out if you are in the neighborhood.