Atheist billboard ad hopes to get Calgarians thinking

An atheist organization is hoping its new billboard will challenge the way some Calgarians think.

The Centre for Inquiry has installed anad on Edmonton Trail for six months that reads, "Praying won't help. Doing will. Without God.We're all good."

• Atheist billboard ads rejected in Vancouver
• Protesters cry censorship in atheist bus ad decision
• Atheist ads vanish from Kelowna buses

The organization says the campaign has an important message to share.

"We all are inherently moral," said executive director Nate Phelps. "It is a function of what we are born with and what society teaches us.So that's what the message is, that we can be good without ...a belief in God."

Hesays the Centre for Inquiryis based on science and challenges beliefs based on faith or lack of scientific proof.

"We believe that there is a right way to discover the truth, which is the scientific method, and everything else out there can lead to ideas and behaviours that are counterproductive or destructive to society," said Phelps.

Calgary is the third city to post the ads.

The campaign faced some difficultyin Vancouver whena company that owns billboards refused to post the ads. Acompeting company later decided toput them up.

"The hope is that there are going to be some people who are going to look at this and it's going to challenge their ideas, the beliefs that they hold in their mind and that they act on and that we can get movement in the direction of society making better choicesmore informed choices," said Phelps.

Phelps says an anonymous donor who supports free speech is paying for the ads in Calgary.