Alanis
probably no god
That “probably” will – almost certainly – raise a few eyebrows if not a few mocking laughs: are atheists not so sure of their beliefs then? It turns out that it’s a requirement of the bus company’s advertising policies that adverts must not offend religious people. I’m not convinced that “probably” will be enough mitigation to avoid offending those who want to be offended, but it does add a tongue-in-cheek note that’s particularly pleasing in contrast to “repent, sinner, the end is nigh” and other such self-confident slogans.
But perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the story was the spokesman for pressure group Christian Voice who told the BBC that “people don’t like being preached at.”
Amen, brother. Amen.
Tags: bendybuses, religion, Richard Dawkins
Is the attitude in England generally more permissive (about atheism) than here? Seems so. I’m sure you’ll still have protesters, and all that, but I can’t imagine a bus ad like that in Salt Lake City. I do believe heads would roll; possibly literally. Yay fascism!
Gosh, yes Bran. We don’t – generally – have issues with people not believing in gods. Most of us don’t. Bit old, but a 2004 survey found that only 44% of Britons believe in some kind of god – versus 92% of Americans (sorry it’s Fox).
Then we had Tony Blair waiting til he’d finished as Prime Minister before he converted to Catholicism: we have some historical left-overs about Catholics not being able to hold high office, but IMHO Blair’s reticence was much more about a general feeling in the UK that religion-of-conviction (versus religion-of-social-occasion: weddings, funerals etc.) is frankly a bit embarrassing and has no place in government.
That’s not to say we don’t have our share of religious politicians, of course. But the whole “is Obama a Christian or a Muslim?” thing would never be an issue here. The vast majority of us wouldn’t care.
I wish – sincerely – that the climate here could be similar. I don’t think it will be anytime soon, despite all the Secular Humanists, freethinkers, and nonbelievers stepping forward recently. Atheism has always been something to hide and be ashamed of. I’ve always been fairly vocal about it on former blogs, but it wasn’t something I would reveal to co-workers or neighbors. I still hesitate, even though we’re all “coming out of the closet” with the Dawkins Out Campaign. It is a tricky thing to do; especially with all the election ruckus and the financial crash, people seem to be looking for any excuse to persecute a stranger.
Does the bus company have a policy that says the unreligious shouldn’t be offended by godish adverts? No, I suggest.
I once saw an advert on the tube for a big evangelical god squad church telling me I was going to hell and that their church was a bustling, social, friendly place of worship.
I wanted to add: ‘May contain nuts’.