SPANISH FORK Utah (ABC 4 News) – Four billboards sponsored by a national atheist group is catching the eye of drivers.
The billboards were paid for Freedom from Religion Foundation based in Wisconsin.
“We’ve been trying to get our message into Utah for years,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Wisconsin based foundation.
The message on the billboard is simple but perhaps puzzling.
A “Reasons Greetings” billboard hovers over a motorcycle shop in Spanish Fork.
“I didn’t know what it means at first,” said Bean Easton of Tri-City Performance.
But he followed the web address placed on the billboard and learned who’s behind the message.
“I don’t like it,” he says.
For those who didn’t follow the web address the message of “Reason’s Greeting” is confusing.
“I have no idea what it means,” said UPS worker Cheston Massey. “I’ve often wondered about it.”
Gaylor says the message is a play on “Seasons Greetings.” But she said it’s mean to celebrate what the group believes is the true meaning of the season.
“We want people to know that this is the time to celebrate the winter solstice,” she says.
She said Christians have robbed the true meaning of the season and turned it into something that is not real.
The four billboards are found two miles north of Spanish Fork along Interstate-15 and in Murray along 900 East and Van Winkle Boulevard; in South Salt Lake there are two billboards, one near Interstate-15 and 3300 South and at 168 East and 3300 South.
The billboard in Spanish Fork was actually changed within 24-hours according to Easton.
He said the first billboard said “Imagine No Religion” but was removed.
“That one was actually pretty offensive to me,” he said. “I'm not entirely religious but I have certain beliefs and its kind of offensive.”
