Ads promoting atheism hit a dozen Manhattan subway stations Monday.

Ads promoting atheism hit a dozen Manhattan subway stations Monday. (October 19, 2009)

By MEREDITH TRAINA | wpix.com

October 19, 2009
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
In a new aggressive ad campaign, New Yorkers will be encouraged to "stop believing."

Ads promoting atheism hit a dozen Manhattan subway stations Monday. It features the slogan "A Million New Yorkers Are Good Without God. Are You?"

The $25,000 campaign, coordinated by the Coalition for Reason, was funded by an anonymous donor.

The campaign follows a similar, though unrelated atheism campaign using New York City buses last July. New York City Atheists spokeswoman, Jane Everhart said the summer campaign was successful and brought in many new members.

Estimates put the number of New York City atheists at about one million. The American Religious Identification Survey, which was released earlier this year, showed that those who put "none" for religion had risen to 15 percent in 2008, from 8 percent in 1990.