Now it's atheist billboards across Australia - except Queanbeyan

A new player has entered the faith-related billboard conversation with the Atheist Foundation of Australia planning a major campaign, including billboards, to encourage Australians to indicate they have 'no religion' in the August 9 national census.

The billboard will go up across Australia shortly and follows a recent mini-frenzy of faith related billboards started by the Muslim group MyPeace and responded to by the Christian group, AussieChristians.

While the AFA billboards are not directly connected to this exchange, they enter the mix by highlighting a third perspective - that of unbelief.

In a statement on its website, the AFA describes the census campaign as "one of its biggest and most important projects."

"The AFA is campaigning to encourage individuals and families to think about the importance and impact of their answer to this leading Census question: 'What is the person's religion?'"

The AFA says that this will ensure that for atheists, "your interests are met in decision-making and funding, and that views you don't hold are not over-represented in the coming years."

But it is this reference to politics that has caused one government agency to knock back the AFA's request to purchase billboard space near Queanbeyan. RailCorp refused the sign on the basis that it was political and outside the conditions for its billboard advertising.

President of the AFA David Nicholls said, “We have been refused billboard advertising space in Queanbeyan, NSW on the excuse that our sign is a political message. It is not. It is a message directing Australians to answer the Census question on religion accurately.”

Meanwhile, the figure for Christians in the upcoming New Zealand census is expected to drop below 50 per cent, a first for a Western democracy, and it is the AFA’s hope that Australia will follow suit.

Along with the AFA, atheist organisations across the globe are running similar campaigns at their own nation's Census time. The most notable campaign is that of the British Humanist Association titled “If you’re not religious, for God’s sake say so!”

As yet, there has been little response from Christian organisations to the AFA campaign.

ACN Note: If you know of any organised response to the AFA census campaign, please report it in the comments section below or email auschristian@gmail.com