There’s Probably No God…
In the November/December 2008 issue of New Humanist, the magazine’s editor, Caspar Melville, wrote:
At the end of October an advertising campaign was launched. The idea was to fund posters on London buses with the message ‘There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ It aimed to raise ₤5,500 (approx. $8,300 USD), hit its target within hours, and after a week it had topped ₤100,000 (approx. $150,000 USD) and is still rising.
Apparently, the advertising campaign has caused quite a stir in Britain, not only in the interest it has garnered from thousands of willing donors, but from media who seem to view the success of the campaign as one more sign of the nation’s increasingly widespread abandonment of the church and, by extension, of god.
London advertising campaign
Yesterday, The Guardian reported that atheists and humanists were expanding the reach of the campaign to all corners of Great Britain. Yesterday’s kick-off of the expanded campaign included speeches by prominent atheists, humanists and other contemporary thinkers.
In November 2008, the American Humanist Association, inspired by the success of the British campaign, launched its own bus advertising campaign with the slogan, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake”, appearing on the sides, rear and insides of buses in Washington, DC.
Washington advertising campaign
The Washington campaign has been just as controversial as the London campaign. Take a look at some of these headlines from U.S. publications, printed in response to the Washington campaign:
- From The Washington Post: “Ad Campaign Promotes Godless Morality”
- From The Wall Street Journal: “Atheists Reach Out – Just Don’t Call it Proselytizing”
- From Chronicle of Philanthropy: “Stupid Nonprofit ads?”
- From Catholic League: “Atheists Launch ‘Godless Campaign’”
- From Christian Broadcast Network News: “Atheists Rollout Anti-God Campaign”
- From CNN: “Missing atheist sign found in Washington state”
I’m fascinated by the media’s response to these campaigns. It’s as if they resent non-believers for expressing themselves. Can’t you feel the sarcasm dripping from The Wall Street Journal headline above?
I’m just glad that this debate is growing stronger. Atheists, brights, humanists, secularists and many others have been denied a voice – their credibility challenged – for far too long, especially in contemporary America where there is a bent towards the unexamined life. I hope our friends the humanists keep plugging away. I know that I, for one, will be contributing to their campaign.
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