The first atheist billboard in Africa has caused a massive meltdown within the religious demography of its host nation, Ghana, and the entire religiosphere worldwide.
Here are some top three dissenting comments you might hear about the billboard:
- If you don’t believe in God, do you have to announce it?
- How can you talk or argue about something you don’t believe in? Atheists are a bunch of confused people.
- You are making God even more famous by announcing that you are atheists.
A carnival of religious billboards
Is it not worth mentioning that these very comments belie the extravagant hypocrisy of the religious? You merely need to roam the streets of Accra and lose track of the dense network of religious billboards, predominantly Christian, that line the skimpy roads.
There are as many billboards as churches and religious structures on every corner, street, and alley. And the churches are as many as the cars that ply the roads. They have an obvious presence throughout the city. If you drove from one end of Accra to the other, you’d see a stunning number of them, sometimes standing next to one another or towering over other religious billboards, wrestling for attention like street preachers on a busy morning.
The highest concentration of religious billboards can be found along major highways and busy intersections, like on the N1 Highway, the Accra-Tema Motorway, and the Spintex Road. The skyline is dominated by towering billboards showcasing charismatic preachers, shiny crosses, and charismatic phrases such as “Jesus Saves!” and “Your Time for Breakthrough is Now!” They frequently publicise future crusades, miracle services, and prophetic conferences, which promise healing, prosperity, and divine intervention.
Some notable areas, such as Circle, Madina, and Achimota, have more tightly packed billboards, which are sometimes sandwiched between commercial ads for telecom firms, universities, and political campaigns. Some of the most decorated ones feature life-size pictures of pastors in smart suits clenching microphones or Bibles, frequently with their arms extended as if beckoning the heavens. Others are more uncomplicated, with mostly bold letters shouting themes like “Give Your Life to Christ Before It’s Too Late.”
The city’s fiery religiosity is reflected in Accra’s religious billboard culture. Religious billboards are difficult to ignore, whether under the hot heat during the day or lighted against the black sky at night.
The hubris of religion
How then is it that one single billboard about atheism, a needle in the haystack of religious billboards, has stirred up such rancour in the religious community?
The root cause is religious hubris. The hubris of religion is that the believer knows what is unknown and realises that what is unknowable cannot be known, but he must think that it is knowable in order to be unique to his object of devotion, who must be embraced by all and sundry without question and always with dread. As a result, their will is identical to God’s. They own the world and decide what everyone must believe and live by.
Most religious people don’t understand why atheists who claim not to believe in God spend so much time talking about him.
If religion were harmless
It is not because God does not exist that atheists talk about him, but because there are those who claim God does and, without providing any tittle of evidence, not only instruct others on how to live their lives but also, in deed, ostracise anyone who refuses to be threatened by their preachments.
Most atheists would be less troubled by religion if it were harmless. Unfortunately, religion is not. This claim may startle individuals who regard religion solely in terms of goodness and everything that is holy. However, the allies and practitioners of religion should not be oblivious to its dark history of moral policing, thought repression, inquisitions, crusades, slavery, homophobia and herd discrimination. Don’t associate the term ‘history’ with hundreds or thousands of years ago. History is also five seconds ago.
Prayer over medication
The news is rife with horrendous acts inspired by religious fundamentalism.
Recently, fourteen members of a tiny religious sect in Australia were found guilty of manslaughter for the death of an 8-year-old girl after they withheld insulin needed to treat her diabetes with the belief that God would heal her. Instead of seeking medical assistance while she was dying, they turned to prayer and songs, forming a vigil around her bed and even prayed to God to raise her from the dead. Obedience to God is highly valued among religious people. Doing differently is a sin. Disagreement constitutes heresy. If this 8-year-old girl had been your daughter or sister, would you have rushed her to the hospital or joined a religious fellowship to seek divine intervention?
Abraham and Isaac in 2025
The apparent harm caused by certain religious beliefs is a cause for alarm to others (not just atheists) who do not share in those beliefs. Abraham didn’t think it was wise to sacrifice his son by murdering him on an altar, but he needed to prove his loyalty to God. Most Christians would not fault Abraham. Some may argue that he was only carrying out God’s plan. If Sarah had known Abraham was preparing to murder Isaac as a gift to Yahweh that day, she would have talked him out of it. All mothers would.
If Abraham attempted this in 2025, he would be charged with premeditated murder. Fortunately, the story is what it is: a story – typical of many other tales in the Bible.
24 years prison sentence for blasphemy
In 2020, the world went crazy as Mubarak Bala was sentenced to 24 years in prison in Nigeria. His crime? Sharing his opinions on religion. Mubarak was accused of making blasphemous posts against Islam on his Facebook page.
Religious radicals are fine with discussing any issue, but when it comes to religion, you better talk in their favour or you’ll be considered a heretic.
Who speaks more vilely and maliciously against unbelievers, humanists, than the religions that claim to be the one true faith?
When their beliefs possess them, even the holiest believers can turn into evil people, even against themselves.
Grace powder and hibiscus drink
In June 2024, news reached me that a machete-wielding man stormed into a friend’s house intending to cut up his mother over a past argument. When my friend heard his mother’s screams, he hurried to the scene and blocked the slashes and assaults. Fortunately, he and his mother survived the wounds. I checked up on my friend the following month.
Me: How are you now?
Friend: I’m fully recovered
Me: Good news. And mum?
Friend: She gives all thanks to Adom Nyame…. Philadelphia 🤦
(Adom Nyame is local name popularly ascribed to God by the Philadelphia religious movement in Ghana)
Me: Charley!!!
Friend: Sad! But we move
Me: I tell you.
Friend: She refused to take the drugs the doctors prescribed. Instead, she’s been using the sobolo and grace powder.
Me: Eeeeeeiiiiii Eeeiiiiiii. Mehn!!! Charley.
Friend: I’ve closed down my mind on her well-being. Every man for himself.
Me: Hmmm can’t any relative advise her? At least to take the medication.
Friend: It’s far more complicated bro
Me: Too bad.
Friend: Yhup
Scenarios like these are why atheists continue to discuss religion. Religion is not being debated here as a monolith. The contradistinction of values is what compels an atheist to comment about religion.
Atheists are not confused
The question still persists. How can you discuss or debate about something you do not believe in? Aren’t atheists a confused group of people?
No, atheists are human. Humans think, analyse, and interact with their surroundings. That is, humans will always have a natural attitude on a specific issue, belief, claim, or notion, whether they are agnostic or not. This is not even in the ballpark of rights or freedoms. Thoughts cannot be censored, although words can. Thoughts are a mental property of the brain.
It’s like asking, “How can you talk about marriage if you’re a bachelor or spinster?” Being single does not preclude you having an opinion about marriage. The same goes for belief. Being an atheist does not preclude the individual having thoughts regarding belief or religion.
Atheist billboard advertises God?
Finally, if atheists don’t believe in God yet continuously talk about him, aren’t they making God more popular?
Rightfully so, as has been the case with every regressive cultural practice that has been challenged and eventually eliminated. When activists protested female genital mutilation in Ghana, it was undoubtedly the talk of the town. When activists like Leo Igwe battle against witchcraft and irrational beliefs in Africa, they raise awareness about these beliefs. The same is true for conversations atheists have about religion. They are to create awareness about its harmful qualities.
Don't believe in God? You're not alone
On multiple occasions, some loved ones who are Christians have petitioned me to hide my lack of faith. They worry that their fellow Christians will physically, verbally, and socially assault me. Therefore, it is not surprising that a billboard urging non-believers to join a community of humanists, agnostics, and freethinkers will garner such disdain and animosity towards unbelievers.
On the day Roslyn and I visited the billboard location, I overheard someone grumble about the project. As we posed for shots with and of the billboard, he remarked, ‘You guys have the time to take pictures with this billboard,’ with a smirk appearing on his brows and corners of the mouth.
It is worth noting that the unpopular billboard’s target audience are atheists rather than theists.
Don’t believe in God? You’re not alone. Become a member of our community.
If you said “yes” to the question, this billboard is for you
What’s next in Peter’s Box? ¡Hasta luego amigos!
