Atheist ad campaigns come in peace, love and understanding

On a stretch of highway 20 near Pell City, Alabama, a billboard instructs drivers to "Imagine no religion." The sign, which is looks like a stained-glass window, accompanies the John Lennon quote with the url for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit group that lobbies to support the separation between church and state. While the message is restrained, it has already inspired a heated public debate.

In the grand scheme of things, it seems odd that the question of whether or not God exists is so controversial. Just as some people go to church and others don't, the dividing line between atheism and belief is largely a private concern, relegated to how people spend their weekends and, to some extent, how they explain their actions. In fact, the battle over which God one worships seems far more likely to result in broken noses and bruised feelings.