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January 9, 2009 | 5:25 pm

Dawkins’ anti-God bus campaign

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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In November, I mentioned that Irish bookmakers had set odds on God. That post referenced a new bus campaign in London, led by Richard Dawkins, that states “there probably is no God.” The New York Times has a story about the campaign. An excerpt:

Spotting one of the buses on display at a news conference in Kensington, passers-by were struck by the unusual message.

Not always positively. “I think it’s dreadful,” said Sandra Lafaire, 76, a tourist from Los Angeles, who said she believed in God and still enjoyed her life, thank you very much. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I don’t like it in my face.”

But Sarah Hall, 28, a visitor from Australia, said she was happy to see such a robust example of freedom of speech. “Whatever floats your boat,” she said.

Inspired by the London campaign, the American Humanist Association started running bus advertisements in Washington in November, with a more muted message. “Why believe in a god?” the ads read, over a picture of a man in a Santa suit. “Just be good for goodness’ sake.”

Although Australian atheists were refused permission to place advertisements on buses saying, “Atheism: Sleep in on Sunday mornings,” the British effort has been striking in the lack of outrage it has generated. The Methodist Church, for instance, said it welcomed the campaign as a way to get people to talk about God.

Although Queen Elizabeth is the head of the Church of England, Britain is a deeply secular country with a dwindling number of regular churchgoers, and with politicians who seem to go out of their way to play down their religious beliefs.

In 2003, when an interviewer asked Tony Blair, then the prime minister, about religion, his spokesman, Alastair Campbell, interjected, snapping, “We don’t do God.”

Read the rest here.

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athiests are a strange lot. They will readily admit to not knowing lots of things, but when it comes to God their pretty sure. Its not about god but narcissism, god gets in the way of their self-centered lives.

Comment by robert on 1/09/09 at 10:12 pm

Robert,

Actually, youre wrong. Atheism states that it is impossible to prove that any ‘god’ (there are 1000s…) exists, therefore we say ‘probably’ or ‘highly unlikely’.

I believe that human beings should be able to get on with each other without a ‘god’. How is that ‘self-centered’?

In addition, many religious people believe their ‘god’ is very concerned over what they do - is that not ‘self-centered’.

This is the end of blasphemy. Religion is now up for debate.

Comment by dan on 1/10/09 at 11:49 am

I am without a belief in unicorns and leprechauns as well. Not so hard to understand. Absence of belief due to lack of evidence.

Furthermore, for me there is the ethics question.

I agree with Mark Twain who said, “If there is a God, He is a malign thug.” The current death and destruction in Gaza (among other countless historical examples - the Holocaust for instance), indicates if God existed, She/He/It/They is a despotic tyrant.

Sorry believers are freaked. At least we’re not stoning anyone to death, burning them at the stake, or torturing them to convert or confess.

Believe what you want, just stop getting me to pay for it (and take it of the G-D money). It’s a LIE! I am part of the “WE”, and I trust in no god(s).

APPRAISE THE LORD! TAX THE CHURCHES!! (and ALL houses of worship).

Comment by LanceThruster on 1/12/09 at 4:17 am

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