Random Question (July 4, 2013)

Q. On the US's Independence Day, a question about that country: the people who put up this monument believe it's the first of its kind on government property in the United States. What does the 'A' stand for?

A. Atheism.

A group called American Atheists unveiled a monument to their non-belief on June 29 to sit alongside a granite slab that lists the Ten Commandments in front of the Bradford County courthouse in Florida. "When you look at this monument, the first thing you will notice is that it has a function. Atheists are about the real and the physical, so we selected to place this monument in the form of a bench," said David Silverman, president of American Atheists.

American Atheists sued to try to have the stone slab with the Ten Commandments taken away from the courthouse lawn in this rural, conservative north Florida town. The Community Men's Fellowship erected the monument in what's described as a free speech zone. During mediation on the case, the atheist group was told it could have its own monument, too.