Subject: ATHEIST GROUP LAUNCHES $25,000 SALVO TO GET ATHEISTS OUT OF THE CLOSET

From: "Brian Sapient" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 09:19:03 -0500

I thought you might be interested in this, maybe you could help convey
the news.  Or maybe you would want to deny the holy spirit on video and
plug your org.  ;-) 
 
Blasphemy Challenge on NBC 11:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G08mttoqd0g
Blasphemy Challenge on NBC 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68cCXpBGCQ4
 
_________
 
"The Blasphemy Challenge" Rewards Participants for Demonstrating Non-
Belief on YouTube
 
Los Angeles -- December 14, 2006. The Rational Response Squad has
launched a $25,000 campaign to entice young people to publicly renounce
any belief in the sky God of Christianity.
 
Called "The Blasphemy Challenge," this campaign encourages participants
to commit what Christian doctrine calls the only unforgivable sin --
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. (The "Holy Spirit" is an invisible
ghost who Christians believe dwells on Earth as God's representative.)
 
Participants who videotape their blasphemy and upload it to YouTube will
receive a free DVD of the hit documentary THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE,
which normally sells for $24.98. Beyond Belief Media, the distributor of
THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE, has donated 1001 DVDs to the Rational Response
Squad for The Blasphemy Challenge.
 
More than 160 participants have already blasphemed the Holy Spirit and
earned free DVDs during the pre-launch phase of the Blasphemy Challenge.
Their videos can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7D6338FA4A19B4C3
 
While anyone can participate in The Blasphemy Challenge, the Rational
Response Squad is focused on reaching a young demographic. To publicize
The Blasphemy Challenge to young people, today the Rational Response
Squad begins an online advertising campaign focused on 25 sites popular
with teens such as Xanga, Friendster, Boy Scout Trail, Tiger Beat, Teen
Magazine, YM, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen.
 
Find out more at: http://www.blasphemychallenge.com
<http://www.blasphemychallenge.com/> 
 
To interview participants in The Blasphemy Challenge or, please contact
Zoe Lee via email at [email-masked]. Brian Sapient
co-founder of the Rational Response Squad can be reached at
[email-masked]
 
ABOUT THE RATIONAL RESPONSE SQUAD
The Rational Response Squad addresses irrational emergencies of all
kinds, especially the ongoing emergency created by religious faith. What
started in February 2005 as a popular internet radio show has since
blossomed into an activist group with 21,000 members, seven regional
chapters and a fast-growing youth division organized at
FreeThinkingTeens.com. The Squad focuses on debunking false claims,
publicizing the work of atheists and skeptics, and directly engaging the
faithful with the goal of converting them to reason. The Squad's War on
Christmas also includes initiatives to give free THE GOD WHO WASN'T
THERE DVDs to Christians who request them as well as covertly planting
DVDs in Christian churches.
See: http://www.rationalresponders.com
<http://www.rationalresponders.com/> 
 
ABOUT "THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE"
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE did it to the gun culture. SUPER SIZE ME did it to
fast food. THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE does it to religion. A #1
bestselling independent documentary at Amazon.com, THE GOD WHO WASN'T
THERE holds Christianity up to a bright spotlight and asks the questions
few dare to ask. Starting off by exploring the case that Jesus never
actually existed, the movie goes on to examine other aspects of the
Christian religion through interviews with Richard Dawkins, author Sam
Harris, historian Richard Carrier and many others. Los Angeles Times:
"Provocative -- to put it mildly."
See: http://www.thegodmovie.com <http://www.thegodmovie.com/>