There’s probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.
So declares a banner, supported and part-financed by he-who-must-not-be-named Richard Dawkins, that will soon appear on the sides of London’s buses.
Amen to that.
I’m strongly in favour of these ads. Not because I necessarily support in-your-face atheism, but because I’d rather see a mischievous, thought-provoking slogan than yet another advert for the Lion King musical.
How the ad might look, from the Atheist Campaign
The banner was prompted by a recent spate of religious advertising on the sides of the capital’s buses. While the London omnibus itself is impeccably balanced (able to tilt up to 28 degrees without toppling), its advertising is not. According to Ariane Sherine, the Jesus-flavoured messages recently plastered on public transport include links to websites that promise eternity in a fiery lake to anyone who does not believe. Well, that should kick-start the Icelandic economy, if nothing else.
To counter this vehicular proselytizing, Sherine proposed an atheistic advert. It now looks like it will come to fruition thanks to support from Dawkins and the British Humanist Association.
I envisage plenty of photographic fun; snapping these buses outside St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey is sure to become a Flickr meme. But who will be next to take out a faith-based ad? Satanists spreading the bad word via the infernal combustion engine? The Jedis building on their successes in the 2001 UK census? And what message would you put on the side of a bus?
“Don’t be such an arse”?
I should add that that was a suggestion for a bus ad, not something aimed at you, Matt!
“We’re on our way to a brewery, someone arranged a piss up”
Join the [insert political party here] party.
“This is not a bus.”
“Scientists are for life, not just for Christmas”
… I note the title of this post ‘Atheism on the buses’. Will we see this followed up with ‘Atheism love thy neighbour’?
P.S. Just looked up at the bus picture mock up from a distance without my glasses on and read it as ’There’s probably HD god.’ High definition god – now there’s a concept to play with.
I like this sentence on the campaign site:
‘With your help, we can brighten people’s days on the way to work,…’
Wonder how long it will be before someone claims ‘offence’
‘… help raise awareness of atheism in the UK,…’Like atheists are afflicted by some misunderstood viral stigma
‘… and hopefully encourage more people to come out as atheists.’
Oh the shame of it, being stuck in some intellectual closet!
Actually, I think it reads more agnostic.
When Grrlscientist and I were in London, we saw a bus outside the offices of a well known science journal. On it was the slogan “Nature is closer than you think”.
From Bryan Appleyard: The atheists have screwed up again. Having had one of the great dumb ideas of our time – the atheist bus – they produce what is, in fact, an agnostic bus. ’There’s probably no god.’ Can’t these people do anything right?
I also read this as an agnostic slogan. I like it though!
I think that if this was in Italy, the word “probably” in the sentence “there is PROBABLY no god” will lead to a Papa-bus, claiming “there is probably a God, so start praying, it’s worthy!”
The probably made it like a Pascal bet on God, so it doesn’t make atheist stronger that believers or as said agnostic
I just hope God doesn’t see it…