Not that I haven’t mentioned the Atheist Bus Campaign before — twice — but I was delighted to hear that today the Toronto Transit Commission has approved a series of bus adverts identical to those popping up around the world:
I’m really happy to see this happening, though its genesis — heh — in England was a specific response to “Alpha Course” Christian advertising there, so it doesn’t quite apply here. I rather doubt we’ll see much opposition to the campaign in Toronto — apart from the predictably blasé hipster quips that atheists are as tiresomely pedantic as the ultrareligious, only much more “fashionable”.
And, of course, there will be those who bristle at the mere suggestion that there probably isn’t a god, and that saying so is an attack on their religious freedoms. Which, as you might expect, is total horseshit. And a particularly annoying aspect of the New Christianist Victim Cult.
It never fails to amaze me how upset people get at the simple suggestion that a happy life can be lived without belief in the supernatural. Christians don’t seem to have a problem not believing in Allah and Jews don’t seem to have a problem not believing in Jesus-as-son-of-god. To borrow an overused expression, atheists just believe in one god less than Jews or Muslims or Christians.
It’s a delight to report, too, that the AtheistBus.ca website went up on 11 January 2009, set a fundraising goal of $7000 by May and, as of this writing, have nearly $23000 in donations ($20000 in the first week!).
14 comments
One god less, or one godless??
Well, it should be “one god fewer“, of course, but I’m glad the wordplay was noticed.
All aboard the godless bus!
‘Heathen’ is a word that once meant, ‘to choose.’
See, as a Christian, I have no problem with this bus campaign. I honestly don’t see it making a difference to anyone’s religious views, really, but it will make atheists happy and agnostics perhaps marginally reassured. I’m in favour of spreading happiness.
However, certain militant atheists (and I do NOT mean you) have managed to piss me off a lot with their smug-outraged reactions to people who do object to it, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY being pointedly offended by being faced with any pro-religious messages, ever, anywhere, at all.
One or the other, bitches. The moment you support THESE ads you lose the right to object to PRO-religious messages and/or public observances, or it’s just blatant hypocrisy and you have become that which you sought to destroy. Prove harm or shut the fuck up.
While I’d argue that all of the good to which people point when defending religions — charities, hope & solace in times of need, etc. — can be attained through nonreligious means, I’d hate to have those positive attributes not communicated to those for whom religion is a familiar route to effective and time-critical solutions. No need to throw the baby out with the baptismal water, if you will.
And I think these ads serve a similar purpose, to gently remind those skeptical of religions’ claims that there are others who are equally-skeptical. I grew up in the United Church — possibly the least-dogmatic of all faiths — but the message that real happiness was attainable only through real belief was still pervasive, and that nonbelief would inevitably lead to an unhappy and unfulfilled life.
With a new and bolder voice, atheists, I think, need to work at chipping away the believers’ notions that atheism is merely a form of religion in which we worship nothing, when of course there’s no worship at all. We need to find a way to effectively defend our position to those for whom a life without subservience to a supernatural entity is incomprehensible, and whose language and logic demands some form of worship.
Faith and atheism aren’t two sides of the same coin; they’re not even coins. And, for the record, Sami, your comments here are not just welcome, but exceedingly helpful in getting me to properly articulate my atheism. More of those whose strident statements annoy you could use your influence, I think.
I agree with you about the ads, I really do.
I also agree that faith and atheism aren’t two sides of the same coin; it would be an absurdly reductionist claim to say they were. And also insulting; the (typically fundie) assertion that atheists “really” believe in God and just pretend they don’t is aggravating. (Oh, really? So, which god do they secretly believe in? Are they “really”, deep down, aware that Wotan is watching them? Grr.)
I think (I’m operating on way too little sleep here, mind you, so this comment may be entirely incomprehensible regardless, for which I apologise) that there’s a philosophical divide that can and should be bridged between atheists and theists. There’s a lot we can agree on, that can be reached from both directions, on the subject of how best our society should operate, and it’s how our moral and ethical frameworks affect people that we should be concerned with.
Fundies tend to be immoral, in my opinion, and think they’re justified by their cherrypicking of scriptures. This isn’t a sign that atheists are Better People, just that when you have no scriptures to go on, assholishness and immorality takes different forms. (On the bright side, crazy fundies are easier to spot, so score one for religion there.)
The trouble is, it’s the extremists who stand out. So atheists can be prey to a certain smugness and the assumption that religious faith is equal to stupidity and/or the Inquisition, which it isn’t, and religious wingnuts can end up associating atheism with Stalin, and/or the atheists who make the first set of assumptions.
It’s a bit like racism, really. The worst stands out, there’s a tendency for people to overlook that which does not fit their prejudice, and the world would be a better place if people would just chill the fuck out and realise that *everybody* wins if we celebrate the Gregorian New Year AND the Chinese New Year, Christmas AND the Hindu festivals, et cetera ad infinitum.
Why are the ads saying “God” instead of “Allah”? Not quite brave enough to be politically incorrect? Or admitting a Christian society is light years ahead of certain other societies in freedom and tolerance?
Lady, please. Ask again when Islam is the dominant faith in the west. And “politically incorrect”? How 1997.
Mohammed is the most popular boys name for babies in some European countries. Arabic is one of the most common used-at-home languages of Montreal school students. Being non-religious and being anti-Christian are two different things. When athiests take on Allah, that is when they become brave instead of smug.
“Allah” means “God” in Arabic. Same God, different prophet.
Next question please.
(And scroll up on comments if you think I’m another smug atheist. My Christianity-defending credentials on this blog are well-established.)
Very well said Sami. Quite taken aback on your views. great conversations here. i lie it
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