British Atheists Announce Plan for Bus Ads, and Contributions Start Rolling In

[pepperbear]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/21/AR2008102102433.html?hpid=sec-religion



British atheists announced Tuesday a high-profile advertising campaign to put posters on London buses that say: "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

By Tuesday night, as many as 3,400 donors had given about $80,000 on a Web site set up to take contributions to fund the ads. The money arrived along with messages that ranged from witty to nasty, summed up by one from a donor who gave 25 pounds ($42): "Hoorah for the non-believers!"

*snip*

While the vast majority of Britons identify themselves as Christians, only a small percentage attend services regularly. Atheism is far more popular, and socially and politically accepted, in Britain than in the United States.

*snip*

The ads are "not intended as an attack" on anyone's faith, Stinson said. In her view, they do not encourage people to become atheists, but rather are meant to offer support to "people who already do not believe in God."

The campaign's website:

http://www.atheistcampaign.org/

[upi402]

1. Funny too

As religions push me down I am pushing back harder. They are to the point of needing to be stopped to save this Republic. Just like the Islamic fanatics.

I'm Religulous myself. Hope it's tax deductible.

[Poseidan]

4. which Republic?

I'm under the impression Republics are, in general, shit. They are too much like monarchies or dictatorships. I prefer the United States, where Republics are limited to State governments.

[upi402]

6. "A republic, if you can keep it" -Benjamin Franklin

"...the influence of the political thinkers, like John Locke, on the emergence of republics in America and France soon thereafter was unmistakable:
separation of powers, separation of church and state, etc. were introduced with a certain degree of success in the new republics"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic#Enlightenment_republicanism
This is what I mean when I say that. Rome was a republic before the empire era and emperors, which sucks.

[Quantess]

2. Can you imagine ads saying that in the USA? Huge ads, on buses?

As if.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. No bus company in this country would accept those ads...no matter how much was offered to pay for

them.

[Quantess]

8. For instance, the Portland Metro bus system

will not display any ads that are political in any way. Recently, they refused ads that promoted one side (can't remember which side, but I think it might have been the Sierra Club) of the salmon issue.

[amitten]

3. Why do any belief systems, religious, atheist or otherwise, need

to "offer support" to people that are already on board with said beliefs? What a waste of money.

[enlightenment]

7. They don't consider it a waste - and frankly,

when you have people saying crap like this, it looks like a reasonable response (from the BBC article on this topic http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7681914.stm):

"But Stephen Green of pressure group Christian Voice said: "Bendy-buses, like atheism, are a danger to the public at large.

"I should be surprised if a quasi-religious advertising campaign like this did not attract graffiti.

"People don't like being preached at. Sometimes it does them good, but they still don't like it."

<snip>

Spirituality and discipleship officer Rev Jenny Ellis said: "This campaign will be a good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life."

She added: "Christianity is for people who aren't afraid to think about life and meaning."

Mr. Green is more or less suggesting that people who disagree with the message should vandalise the buses (he's also managed to work in a couple of other nasty messages and a mind-boggling bit of hypocrisy). Rev Ellis is making a more sophisticated stab at the folks behind the adverts - suggesting that only Christians are capable of intellectual thought.

Neither one is showing any tolerance for a viewpoint that differs from their own.

You may not consider it particularly relevant, but many people get tired of having to "shut up" in the face of religious bigotry of this sort - for them the support is worthwhile.

[FatDave]

9. A few years back, when those God quote billboards were popular...

I used to dream of buying one that said:

"I don't exist."

        - God

[MJJP21]

10. Billboard in PA

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080605_A_word_for_nonbelievers.html