Atheist Grandfather Hopes to Leave His Grandkids a 'Legacy' With This Message

An atheist grandfather in rural Waterloo, Wis., has once again purchased a large billboard in nearby Janesville with a blunt message he hopes will leave a "legacy for [his] grandchildren."

Wayne Hensler, a farmer in his 80s, is personally funding the 10-by-30 foot sign that reads, "Enjoy Life Now: There Is No Afterlife," the Huffington Post reported.

It was back in 2010 that Hensler, a longtime member of the church-state separation advocacy group Freedom From Religion Foundation, first agreed to pay for a billboard featuring the message.

Image source: Freedom From Religion Foundation

The original sign was vandalized just two weeks after its display. Despite past negative reaction to his message, Hensler is going ahead again and sponsoring the billboard for the next 30 days.

In the past, Hensler said the message that "there is no afterlife" offers a lesson that might help some people to live more freely.

“It’s something that will make people think a little bit, and maybe help them make a little more joy in life," he said in 2010. "With all these signs, especially the religious ones — God this and Jesus that — this is kind of counteracting that kind of thing."

Image source: Freedom From Religion Foundation

Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a news release announcing the billboard's re-emergence that religion is guilty of teaching about an afterlife she says is make-believe.

"One of the greatest disservices of religion is that it misdirects human energies from this world — our only life — to some unprovable, highly improbable imaginary afterlife," she said. "We should enjoy life now, but also realize that the only afterlife that ought to concern us is leaving our descendants a secure and pleasant future."

(H/T: Huffington Post)

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