The Atheist Blogger

My recent article on how we should respond to Christian bus adverts asked a simple question. Should we complain or refrain? Here is a new poll to see what readers think.

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According to the Daily Mail, a Christian group has responded to the atheist bus adverts with their own, which reads:

There definitely is a God. So join the Christian party and enjoy your life.

Ignoring the dubious veracity of the Daily Mail, I want to ask a simple question. If this planned advert is real, how should atheists respond? I believe the question is more complex that it first appears, and we have two clear choices. Do we report them to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) or not?

Report them to the ASA

Whilst the atheist advert rightfully had an expression of uncertainty and doubt (the iconic “probably”), the Christian one does not. It is an absolute statement that not only says there is a God, but that the margin for error is zero. Given that the ASA already ruled that the atheist bus advert was legal as it expressed an opinion, they will probably rule that the Christian bus advert would be illegal since it states itself as factual rather than opinionated. An advert such as “There probably is a God” would be far more opinionated, even if it is unoriginal.

Don’t report them to the ASA

Whilst I think a lot of us would get a kick out of seeing a Christian advert campaign fail, is complaining really any different to the way the Christians treated us? It looks closely like a double standard, where just because we want our message out there, we must fight against other messages. Perhaps we should stand up for free speech instead of doing what the Christians tried to do and stifle it. Let them have their advert, and make our lack of an outcry a testimony to our strength as a community that are willing to have all ideas thrown into the arena, even if those ideas are direct threats against certain groups of people.

Otherwise, how are we any different to the Christian bigot who refused to go to work because he didn’t like the message. It shouldn’t be about whether the message is legal or not. It should be about the message getting an equal chance to be displayed, even if our own messages have to comply with strict guidelines.

So what are your views?

If the adverts do run on buses, will you complain? Or will you simply point and laugh at the Christian groups that claim our message is “offensive” and yet have an even more invasive one? Will not protesting make us any better as a group, or am I talking absolute rubbish?