Atheist bus campaign
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There have been press reports that some atheists wanted a stronger or more explicit message, or that the word "probably" was only used to keep the advertising standards people happy. However, when talking about the slogan the organiser, Ariane Sherine, strongly defended it saying:<ref>[http://www.atheistbus.org.uk/faq/ Probably no God]</ref> | There have been press reports that some atheists wanted a stronger or more explicit message, or that the word "probably" was only used to keep the advertising standards people happy. However, when talking about the slogan the organiser, Ariane Sherine, strongly defended it saying:<ref>[http://www.atheistbus.org.uk/faq/ Probably no God]</ref> | ||
| − | {{Quotebox| | + | {{Quotebox|There’s another reason I’m keen on the “probably”: it means the slogan is more accurate, as even though there’s no scientific evidence at all for God’s existence, it’s also impossible to prove that God doesn’t exist (or that anything doesn’t). As Richard Dawkins states in The God Delusion, saying “there’s no God” is taking a “faith” position. He writes: “Atheists do not have faith; and reason alone could not propel one to total conviction that anything definitely does not exist”. His choice of words in the book is “almost certainly”; but while this is closer to what most atheists believe, “probably” is shorter and catchier, which is helpful for advertising. I also think the word is more lighthearted, and somehow makes the message more positive.}} |
| − | It is interesting that both the world's most prominent atheist campaign, and the world's most famous atheist, concur that the reason for being an atheist is the lack of [[evidence]] for [[god]] | + | It is interesting that both the world's most prominent atheist campaign, and the world's "[[Richard Dawkins|most famous atheist]]", concur that the reason for being an atheist is the lack of [[evidence]] for any [[god]]s' existence, and that neither make the categorical, [[faith]]-based statement that God does not exist.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2009/jan/07/atheist-bus-campaign-richard-dawkins Podcast - where Richard defends "probably" in message]</ref> |
==Expansion of the campaign== | ==Expansion of the campaign== | ||
Revision as of 03:20, 20 June 2010
The atheist bus campaign is a project in the United Kingdom to put atheist slogans on buses.[1]
The campaign started when journalist and blogger Ariane Sherine saw an advert on a bus claiming that salvation only came from Jesus. She almost immediately wrote an article about it in The Guardian, wondering why people could get away with advertising religious messages without any evidence, while if someone was to proclaim that "a lion is loose in London" without evidence would it would be frowned upon greatly.[2] After an initial attempt to start an "atheist campaign" in July 2008 fell slightly flat, she restarted it via a Facebook group and quickly received thousands of pounds in donations.[3]
The campaign ran in late 2008 and early 2009 and attracted criticism primarily from Christian pressure groups such as Christian Voice, lead by Stephen Green; the man who attempted to pull Jerry Springer: The Opera on grounds of blasphemy. As if to prove that the Americans didn't hold a monopoly on intolerance and hatred of people who don't hold similar beliefs, Green was quoted as saying "Atheism, like bendy-buses, are a menace to the public!".
Contents |
The slogan
The slogan, in nice friendly colours, reads:
| There's probably no God - Now stop worrying and get on with your life. |
There have been press reports that some atheists wanted a stronger or more explicit message, or that the word "probably" was only used to keep the advertising standards people happy. However, when talking about the slogan the organiser, Ariane Sherine, strongly defended it saying:[4]
| There’s another reason I’m keen on the “probably”: it means the slogan is more accurate, as even though there’s no scientific evidence at all for God’s existence, it’s also impossible to prove that God doesn’t exist (or that anything doesn’t). As Richard Dawkins states in The God Delusion, saying “there’s no God” is taking a “faith” position. He writes: “Atheists do not have faith; and reason alone could not propel one to total conviction that anything definitely does not exist”. His choice of words in the book is “almost certainly”; but while this is closer to what most atheists believe, “probably” is shorter and catchier, which is helpful for advertising. I also think the word is more lighthearted, and somehow makes the message more positive. |
It is interesting that both the world's most prominent atheist campaign, and the world's "most famous atheist", concur that the reason for being an atheist is the lack of evidence for any gods' existence, and that neither make the categorical, faith-based statement that God does not exist.[5]
Expansion of the campaign
As so much money was raised in the initial campaign it has been extended to the London tube system. This featured four new advertisements from Monday January 12 2009. This featured quotes from famous atheists along with the main slogan and link to the BHA website.[6]
These quotes include:[7]
- “I’m an atheist, and that’s it. I believe that there’s nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for other people.” – Katharine Hepburn
- “Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?” – Douglas Adams.
- “I do not believe in a personal God and have never denied this but have expressed it clearly.” – Albert Einstein
- “That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.” – Emily Dickinson
Bumper stickers
In late February 2009 atheist bus campaign bumper stickers were launched.[8]
The Atheist's Guide to Christmas
Following on from the bus campaign, Ariane Sherine edited a book, The Atheist's Guide to Christmas featuring contributions from a wide variety of (mostly British) authors, from scientists to comedians. Richard Dawkins, Derren Brown and Ben Goldacre are among 42 (perhaps in reverence to Douglas Adams) contributors. Proceeds from the book are being donated to the HIV charity, the Terrence Higgins Trust - there were numerous other charities approached by Ariane Sherine, but the THT was the only one that would accept donations from an atheist initiative.[9] As far as anyone can tell, the book is the only explicitly atheist charity initiative.
Don't label me
A further extension of the campaign centred around Richard Dawkin's other pet hate: the labelling of children as religious when they're too young to choose for themselves. The interesting thing was, that the children used on the poster were children of Christian parents (The people who thought that it was ironic that "an atheist advert showed Christian children" quite clearly didn't get the point at all).[10]
Worldwide
The campaign has since gone global with mixed effect. Over Christmas 2008, Washington DC was hit by a campaign declaring "Why be good for God? Just be good for goodness sake". Although backlash to this campaign was probably more due to the fact that the Santa Claus/Father Christmas figure portrayed in the poster was black. A similar campaign was blocked in Australia.
Further campaigns have been launched in Madrid,[11][12] Malaga, and Barcelona in Spain, Genova in Italy,[13] as well as in Canada and Germany.
References
- ↑ Atheist Bus Campaign website
- ↑ The Guardian - Original "Lion" article which started things off.
- ↑ The group founded by Ariane Sherine ca. September 2008.
- ↑ Probably no God
- ↑ Podcast - where Richard defends "probably" in message
- ↑ London tube campaign
- ↑ These, and their formatting as the cards appear can be found here.
- ↑ Atheist bus bumper stickers
- ↑ BadScience.net - Diarrhoea and Aids for Christmas
- ↑ Times Online - Children who front Richard Dawkins' atheist ads are evangelicals
- ↑ International Humanist and Ethical Union: Atheist bus campaign reaches Madrid
- ↑ Homepage of Spanish campaign (In Spanish)
- ↑ Unione degli Atei e deglie Agnostici Razionalisti : La cattiva notizia è che Dio non esiste. Quella buona, è che non ne hai bisogno translated as "The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that you do not need him."