Apologetics ministry Answers in Genesis (AiG) has commissioned a video billboard demonstrating America's Freedom of Religion protections, and prominently featuring a cross.
The 15-second video will be displayed in Times Square during the New Year's Eve celebration, and will potentially be seen by millions in New York and on television.
The video message, titled "Thank God for freedom," appears on a bright blue background, and features a folding text graphic. "To all of our intolerant liberal friends," the video begins," before displaying a bright white cross. "Thank God for freedom," it continues. "Brought to you by Answers in Genesis and the First Amendment," the final screen reads. The cross remains one the screen for several seconds during the brief ad.
The video will run from December 30 to January 1 for seven minutes per hour. With millions of people walking through Times Square each day, the billboard is expected to receive three million impressions during the campaign.
The New Year's Eve ad space is above the CNN sign on Broadway, between 46th and 47th Streets in Father Duffy Square— a prime location for those watching the ball drop.
On January 2, the billboard will move to Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets, above the Disney store. Three days later, the ad will appear in major cities across the country, including Boston and Washington D.C., to remind Americans that everyone should be free to express their religion without fear of reprisal.
"The nation's Founding Founders predicted that a future government would be tempted to infringe on religious liberties," AiG President Ken Ham said in a statement.
"That's why their very first amendment was to establish a safeguard for religious expression, as they inserted the 'free exercise clause' for religion for the new nation. Sadly, that freedom is being chipped away today by atheists and other secularists.
"I am thrilled that the Cross of Christ will be seen in the most-watched place in the world on this day."
