The city of Rancho Cucamonga, CA asked the General Outdoor sign company to remove an atheist billboard after several complaints from religious groups. Â Yet, religious groups would be up in arms if they were asked to remove a religious sign. A double standard is certainly beginning to emerge, and there might be a basis for arguing that the city violated the free exercise rights of the advertisers and the establishment clause by requesting that the sign company remove the billboard because of the content of the message.
One does not have to agree with a group to have reason to be concerned when the government interferes with their right to freedom of speech when the speech is not obscene.
The billboard was funded by the Freedom from Religious Foundation, which is a group that advocates for separation of church and state.
Here is a video developed by a pastor featuring a set of “person on the street” interviews.