ninorc Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 All aboard the atheist bus campaign It's real, it's happening: you can sponsor the first atheist advert on a bus – and Richard Dawkins will match your money o Ariane Sherine o guardian.co.uk, o Tuesday October 21 2008 07.00 BST The godless move in mysterious ways: what the atheist bus campaign's advert will look like. The atheist bus campaign launches today thanks to Comment is free readers. Because of your enthusiastic response to the idea of a reassuring God-free advert being used to counter religious advertising, the slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" could now become an ad campaign on London buses – and leading secularists have jumped on board to help us raise the money. The British Humanist Association will be administering all donations to the campaign, and Professor Richard Dawkins, bestselling author of The God Delusion, has generously agreed to match all contributions up to a maximum of £5,500, giving us a total of £11,000 if we raise the full amount. This will be enough to fund two sets of atheist adverts on 30 London buses for four weeks. If the buses hit the road, this will be the UK's first ever atheist advertising campaign. It's an exciting development, which I never expected when I first proposed the idea on Cif in June. Back then, I was just keen to counter the religious ads running on public transport, which featured a URL to a website telling non-Christians they would spend "all eternity in torment in hell", burning in "a lake of fire". When I suggested the atheist counter-slogan (now shortened for readability), the response was extremely positive, and hundreds of you pledged your support after the follow-up article. As you read this, a new advertising campaign for Alpha Courses is running on London buses. If you attend an Alpha Course, you will again be told that failing to believe in Jesus will condemn you to hell. There's no doubt that advertising can be effective, and religious advertising works particularly well on those who are vulnerable, frightening them into believing. Religious organisations' jobs are made easier because there's no publicly visible counter-view to refute their threats of eternal damnation. The atheist bus campaign aims to change this. In addition to the slogan, the adverts will feature the URLs of secular, humanist and atheist websites, so that readers can find out more about atheism as a positive and liberating alternative to religion. We've also set up an interactive campaign website and Facebook group, so that questions raised by the adverts can be publicly debated. CBS Outdoor, the bus advertising company, will run the atheist adverts in January if the funds are raised – but we need your help to make this happen. Your donations will give atheism a more visible presence in the UK, generate debate, brighten people's day on the way to work, and hopefully encourage more people to come out as atheists. As Richard Dawkins says: "This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think – and thinking is anathema to religion." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boojum Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 (edited) its all me meme with that Richard Dawkins! nice I do like the idea though. I want to take out some existentialist adverts on the Brighton buses, that would fuck people up. "You're all alone in a cold and Godless universe that doesn't care. Enjoy the pier." Edited October 21, 2008 by Boojum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father McPot Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 its all me meme with that Richard Dawkins! I've been getting pretty pissed off with billboards advertising God or Jesus (Nothing is sacred). Although I couldn't stop laughing at one which read something along the lines of "Don't follow the crowd - follow Jesus," Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THC4METOO Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 How about we all sponsor a bus with a message something like CANNABIS - SIDE EFFECTS - HUNGRY, HAPPY, SLEEPY PROZAC - SIDE EFFECTS - AN INCREASED RISK OF SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, SELF HARM AND SUICIDE Is there a law against doing such a thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninorc Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 I heard a discussion on London radio about parents going to church in order to get their kids into decent schools, even though they don't believe. It's all very well to say, 'stop worrying and enjoy your life' if you're an academic with a decent salary, but maybe a proportion of congregations aren't worried about God''s wrath so much as their kids getting an education. And maybe a belief in a benign God is comforting in tough times? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mystery Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Im on the bus : ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roger Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I heard a discussion on London radio about parents going to church in order to get their kids into decent schools, even though they don't believe. It's all very well to say, 'stop worrying and enjoy your life' if you're an academic with a decent salary, but maybe a proportion of congregations aren't worried about God''s wrath so much as their kids getting an education. And maybe a belief in a benign God is comforting in tough times? My aunt did that, my cousins a catholic now, the poor bastard - still it saved them shitloads in school fees... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DtH Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 (edited) do you really see that much religious advertising? i only see it outside churches 'now stop worrying and enjoy your life' sort of suggests atheists are somehow completely conscience or worry free. its wack. the religious sector of society has dwindled in numbers in the last decade or two. they look like theyre talking to/trying to convince themselves in those ads Edited October 22, 2008 by deckthehalls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadyDave Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Interesting story. I would have thought that they could have better used that money to actually IRL improve the quality of life for some people. Additionally, I would have thought that the inclusion of the qualifier 'probably' would be more in keeping with agnostic belief than atheist. There is also the problem of the advert being aimed mainly at Christian belief, which does raise the question of whether or not these adverts are a) discriminatory and B) and incitement to religious hatred, akin to much of the drivel which spews forth from the gob of Mr Dawkins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dr rockster Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 (edited) No,I don't see how that ad is Christian specific? And yes,they ARE trying to improve the quality of life for some people,make it devoid of superstition. And Richard doesnt spew,he talks,he doesnt rant,he talks sense is all,no talking snakes or rib ladies. Edited October 22, 2008 by dr rockster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roger Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 (edited) Dawkins bends over backwards to be nice to christians eta: Conservative Anglican writer and commentator David Virtue wrote, "The Anglican Communion is coming apart at the seams while Dr. Rowan Williams tells a London reporter that he admires the atheist [Dr. Richard] Dawkins." Dr. Williams, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, was reported to have recently said about Dawkins, "There's something about his swashbuckling side which is endearing. I invited atheism's high priest and his wife to a Lambeth Palace party last year. They were absolutely delightful." http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08101605.html Edited October 22, 2008 by roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadyDave Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 No,I don't see how that ad is Christian specific? I'm not aware of any adverts planned to say anything like "Allah is a load of shite", or "Krishna talks a load of rubbish"? If he really wanted ti improve the quality of life for people, he could have went around London handing out tenners to people who can't afford to buy food. I'm sure that people who can't afford to heat their homes are comforted by adverts proclaiming that there is no God. Personally, if I were atheist, I would view Mr Dawkins as something of an embarrassment, the atheist version of Fred Phelps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father McPot Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I'm not aware of any adverts planned to say anything like "Allah is a load of shite", or "Krishna talks a load of rubbish"? That would be inciting religious hatred (I would say it's just mocking, but the religious folk will say hatred). The term 'God' isn't targeting Christianity because the term can be applied to Islam and Judaism, seeing as they are also Monotheistic faiths. do you really see that much religious advertising? i only see it outside churches There is always at least one billboard telling me to "follow" or "believe" in God or Jesus in my town. I don't see why Atheists shouldn't be able to broadcast their beliefs if Theists can do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roger Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 And as a rule atheists don't go door knocking to spread the bad news - people in glass houses and all that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roger Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Also, I just saw 3 buses drive past me advertising the 'alpha course', why don't they just give out tenners to the poor, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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