The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A highway reminder for voters
I-95 signs urge thinking about science, religion at polls
WEST HAVEN — Billboards decorate highways with advertisements for business and education, social change campaigns, and event announcements for concerts, fairs and more.
But as people sit in traffic on Interstate 95 near Exit 42, three billboards ask them to consider something different.
Illustrated in large red and blue letters against a white background, three consecutive billboards read “Thank God ... And Vote for Science,” “Pray for All ... And Vote for Science,” “Hope for the Best ... And Vote for Science.” The billboards, which have been up since early September, are visible on I-95 southbound and promote a social message to voters: Support science in addition to one’s religious considerations.
They were designed by Class Action, a group of graphic designers formed in 1992 at the Yale School of Art who create visual messages to advocate social change. The project was supported by a grant from the Union of Concerned Scientists. The messages are situated on one of the busiest thoroughfares between New York and Boston.
“It stands to remind people that it’s OK to have belief and understand the scientific method as part of human existence,” said Richard Hanley, associate professor journalism at Quinnipiac University’s School of Communications.
“It’s the operative word ‘and’ that you can have these beliefs and hopes and prayers and appreciate the role of science in the context of politics,” he said.
The billboards put science in the same space with religion as they ask people to consider both when casting a vote in the upcoming elections.
“The members of Class Action come from various religious traditions,” the group, who prefer to speak collectively, said in an email. “They recognize that faith and science are not mutually exclusive, and wish to underscore this with their messaging. We were attracted to this spiritual world/physical world duality. Faith and science have coexisted in modern times until recently.”
“I appreciate the convergence of the religious and scientific considerations for voting,” said the Rev. Adam Eckhart, of First United Church of Christ in Milford. “I think the practice of science and religion are both important paths of human curiosity and helps to formulate truth. Sometimes those paths have been set up in conflict and zerosum gain, but I usually see them as complementing each other — religion speaks to why the university is the way and science shows how it is that way.”
The messages seek to confront the presidential administration’s efforts to sideline science, the group said. These include President Donald Trump denying climate change and appointing people who oppose environmental regulation, such as Trump’s pick for head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who has actively battled its mission, they said. In addition to proposing deep budget cuts to science funding in a number of health and environmental agencies Trump directed funding away from climate research on earth by NASA.
“I think there’s misunderstandings, because I think the current political climate is stuck in this notion that truth is this zero-sum gain,” Eckhart said. “They believe they have to believe in science or religion. In some cases, it’s become more problematic, but I think there’s room for there to be truth on both. Versus one truth, there can be different dimensions.”
“The phrases invoked on the billboards are among those that however they originated, have become secularized so we are addressing a wider audience than only people of faith but we wanted to recognize spiritual world/ physical world duality,” they said. “This is an ageold theme for example, ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness,’ or ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ One of the earliest examples of aphorisms we found encouraged putting one’s trust in God, but at the same time accepting responsibility for our earthly acts. As for deciding the exact phrases each billboard would begin with, we sought generally accepted sayings that transcend specific religions
and that are familiar and inviting.”
Eckhart said he doesn’t think religion is being unfairly called out by the message, but rather they are calling attention to two diverging elements of society. “I felt like it was a conciliatory move,” Eckhart said. “I can see some folks raising eyebrows, because in some religious traditions, there has been more of an ‘either’ ‘or’ perspective . ... But (the billboards) are not fully dismissive of the religious part. It’s not saying only vote for science.”
The messaging starts with the religious component, which helps balance it without being aggressive toward either side, Hanley said. The language isn’t belligerent or demeaning and makes a point to be inclusive of both sides.
“By using ‘and’ the projection is that it’s OK to pray to that higher power and it’s OK to hope and it’s OK to vote for science and know there’s a life system that’s alongside these beliefs that should be considered when casting a ballot,” Hanley said
“To lift up the possibility that it can be ‘and’ or both instead of ‘or’, it’s really important to lift that up so we can bring our spiritual and religious selves to the decision,” he said. Examples of where people divide on science and religion are climate change and how the universe began. But as a religious leader Eckhart said he thinks of science as helping people understand creation.
The billboard platform makes the message more effective because it’s situated for people to take notice. In that section of I-95, traffic is often moving slowly and the messages have a captive audience, he said. Billboards need have to be designed in a way to provoke thought or impulse and this is seeking to promote thought, Hanley said.
“There is a moment of contemplation on the highway for people to take notice,” he said. “Because it doesn’t fall into the main category of billboards it also has a certain shock impact. It get’s people to ask the eternal question of ‘what does it mean?’”
The messaging tries to hit both aspects of the psychological mindset — the rational and the irrational, Hanley said. Where science is based on facts, religion is based on the intangible elements. “By the size of the messaging it’s showing great respect for the beliefs of people as part of a plea to consider science along with those elements.”
Billboards are also part of our cultural heritage, Hanley said, since they grew with the popularity of automobiles. For as long as people alive today would be able to remember there were billboards. “The billboard and messaging instrument are deeply embedded in America’s society.” Two series of billboards became cultural landmarks in their time — Burma-Shave billboards from the 1920s to 1960s and the South of the Border billboards that line the highways of I-95 leading to the restaurant roadside attraction in South Carolina.
Class Action’s billboards have the potential to join the cultural heritage because of their simplicity of message and design, he said, adding it could go viral from passengers photographing the billboards and passing it along the information ecosystem.
“It starts conversations and get’s people to think and puts it in the conscience of the voter that science is part of our lives too,” Hanley said.
The billboards will be up through Sept. 30 and others are being installed across the country individually rather than in a series.