The Atheist Blogger

Religious bigots and enemies of free speech can all relax, the Atheist Bus Campaign is over! Now all you’ve got to put up with are some MASSIVE BILLBOARDS! Mwahahahahaha!

Ok, but seriously, the next stop on the Atheist Bus Campaign (which should really just be called the “Atheist Advertising Campaign” now) is a bunch of billboards set up in strategic locations across the UK; in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast respectively. The billboards display an important message concerning the religious labeling of children:

The "Please Don't Label Me" Billboard

The new advert (and similar variations of it) makes the rightful comparison between calling a child of Marxist parents a “Marxist child” and calling a child of Christian parents a “Christian child”. We shouldn’t be labeling children with the faiths or political views of their parents; we shouldn’t label kids at all. The billboard background is made up of a combination of political and religion labels for children, all the way from “Libertarian Child” in the top left, to “Liberal Child” in the bottom right.

Of course, like the buses, these adverts don’t have an agenda (although the religious will surely interpret one anyway). We aren’t telling people they can’t bring children up in their faith; we aren’t even telling them to stop labeling their children! What we’re asking is that parents let the child decide what they want to be called, and whether that happens early or later on in life is ultimately irrelevant, just as long as the child gets the final decision.

It’s a powerful message, and one worthy of more discussion. If you want to learn more about the campaign, or support it through donations, please visit the British Humanist Association campaign page.

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?

So I’m back from the USA, have shaken off the jet-lag, and ready to delve back into the world of blogging once again. During my absence in America (which I plan to document in another blog post), the BHA successfully launched the range of atheist adverts on buses, trains, and billboards. I have yet to see one of the buses, but I’m bound to be in London one of these days.

One story that caught my attention was how a Christian bus driver, Ron Heather refused to drive his bus because it had an atheist advert on it. His words were:

I was just about to board and there it was staring me in the face, my first reaction was shock horror.

…

I think it was the starkness of this advert which implied there was no God.

Starkness. Really? So now saying something is more than 50% likely is considered a “stark” proposition? Wow. How stark are Christian adverts that proclaim God does exist then? Having a first reaction of “shock horror” shows that you are someone who has absolutely no understanding of anyone else’s view, and your actions confirm it. Mr Heather, you are a bigot. Thank you for being the reason these adverts need to be shown; the fewer people like you there are, the more healthy society will become. We aren’t asking for dominant views, or for you to succumb to our beliefs. We are asking for equal time to share our opinion.

The real problem I have with this issue though, is that Mr Heather was meant to be providing a service to the community, and he rejected that service in order to feel like he had won some ultimate battle against people who oppose his view. At my first London Atheists Meetup, I met an atheist who was a driver on the London Underground (the subway system). He didn’t mind the number of Christian adverts that are plastered all over the underground network, neither did he refuse to work because of them.

Of course, I think there are probably people behind this entire event. The atheist ads have been on the news for months, and talked about at length by fundamentalist Christians, including Christian Voice. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mr Heather was either asked, or planned to “rebel” against the system, simply to get air time on radio and TV.

There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

The campaign to put the words “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” on bendy buses in London has been a tremendous success. The campaign started this morning and within a few hours had succeeded and passed it’s target by over £15,000.

The original target was £5,500, with Richard Dawkins matching the donations up to that value. This alone would have put the slogan on 2 sets of 30 buses for 4 weeks. Now, with the campaign getting more donations by the minute, the organisers, British Humanist Association, can either get more buses or more weeks (or both).

I’m gonna have to go into London and take some photos when they come out. Meanwhile, some quotes:

Religion is accustomed to getting a free ride – automatic tax breaks, unearned respect and the right not to be offended, the right to brainwash children. – Richard Dawkins

We see so many posters advertising salvation through Jesus or threatening us with eternal damnation, that I feel sure that a bus advert like this will be welcomed as a breath of fresh air.- Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the BHA

I certainly hope the campaign will get people talking, and I will be donating to it later today (every little helps). Fundamentalists however, were not pleased:

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. – Steven Green, Christian Voice

Mr Green evidently doesn’t understand the difference between his kind of preaching (hateful and vindictive) and the slogan on the bus, which tells people there is probably no god, and also to stop worrying and enjoy life. I wonder which people would prefer?