All aboard the atheist bus

Galvasean

jill_valentine wrote: »

He's allowed have them though.

I respect his stupid opinion.

That may be so, but I have a deep disrespect for his work ethic.

Tha Gopher

pH wrote: »

Oh maybe you missed some of these?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4762123.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6380629.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7613403.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5158760.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7482263.stm

need any more?

?

The only one of them even remotely relevant is the one re terrorism. The rest is clutching at straws nonsense- you dont honestly think creationism will be taught in UK schools for example. Who cares if David Cameron thinks a religious run school is better than a state school in inner city London- he is most likely correct. Some underling in the church calls for excommunication of stem cell scientists? Big deal.

Athiesm has no relevance in modern day UK and Ireland. End of.

Tha Gopher

Galvasean wrote: »

It says BC behind him. To me that is funny as I feel his opinions belong in the stone age. :pac:

I find wishing RIP to Pat Hingle somewhat ironic, seeing as wishing someone rests in peace would surely suggest a belief in wishing the person well in an afterlife. Which is surely against the laws of athiest logic.

The Mad Hatter

Tha Gopher wrote: »

The only one of them even remotely relevant is the one re terrorism. The rest is clutching at straws nonsense- you dont honestly think creationism will be taught in UK schools for example.

You don't? Mervyn Storey does...

Dades

Tha Gopher wrote: »

I find wishing RIP to Pat Hingle somewhat ironic, seeing as wishing someone rests in peace would surely suggest a belief in wishing the person well in an afterlife. Which is surely against the laws of athiest logic.

Why would wishing someone a peaceful rest suggest an afterlife?

There was a discussion of this before here (possibly in one of the stickies) and I believe the opposite was the conclusion. I'd search for it but I'm mobile at the moment.

Galvasean

Tha Gopher wrote: »

.

Athiesm has no relevance in modern day UK and Ireland. End of.

Tell that to the people who are atheists.
Oh wait, you just did. Nice one.

Galvasean

Dades wrote: »

Why would wishing someone a peaceful rest suggest an afterlife?

There was a discussion of this before here (possibly in one of the stickies) and I believe the opposite was the conclusion. I'd search for it but I'm mobile at the moment.

Here it is
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055075741&page=8
You need to scroll down a few posts, basically where PDN brings up irony.

jill_valentine

Galvasean wrote: »

That may be so, but I have a deep disrespect for his work ethic.

Dude, he's a bus driver.

pH

Jesus and Mo on the buses.

Galvasean

jill_valentine wrote: »

Dude, he's a bus driver.

Exactly.

pH

Catholic Church blocks plans for atheist bus adverts
The Roman Catholic Church has blocked a plan to put atheist slogans on buses in Italy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4287979/Catholic-Church-blocks-plans-for-atheist-bus-adverts.html

It's not clear from the article exactly how the Catholic church managed to block the ads, it seems to be pressure on the companies themselves rather than a legal move.

Mena

Proof, if ever it was needed, that the Church still wields far too much power.

Dades

I'm sure they could still get a billboard or something.

Their slogan is a bit more 'in your face', though.

Myksyk

SirDarren wrote: »

Have you guys seen the pictures?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1106924/Theres-probably-God--stop-worrying-enjoy-life-Atheist-group-launches-billboard-campaign.html

Place your cursor over Dawkins and you'll see that we've finally answered the eternal question!!:D

oshead

Myksyk wrote: »

Place your cursor over Dawkins and you'll see that we've finally answered the eternal question!!:D

The same could be said for Ariane Sherine.

Dave OS

toiletduck

Tha Gopher wrote: »

you dont honestly think creationism will be taught in UK schools for example.

Eh it already is in a lot of faith based schools.

lostexpectation

is the italian bus system still public, like our bus system and possible the australian bus system, but not the uk system?

pH

This needs to be filed under "shouldn't there be a law against this?"

Offensive advertisements on public transport
That this House notes that posters with the slogan `There’s Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life’, appear on 800 buses in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as on the London Underground; notes that this causes concern to Christian and Muslim people, many of whom feel embarrassed and uncomfortable travelling on public transport displaying such advertisements and would not wish to endorse the advertisements by using that public transport; regrets that the British Humanist Association backs the campaign; and calls on Ministers responsible for public transport and advertising media to investigate this matter and to seek to remove these religiously offensive and morally unhelpful advertisements.
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=37418&SESSION=899

More commentary:
http://www.mediawatchwatch.org.uk/2009/01/16/bus-ad-draws-from-mps-and-a-bus-driver/
http://www.nullifidian.net/2009/01/19/mps-attempt-to-ban-atheist-bus-campaign/
http://friendlyatheist.com/2009/01/19/british-mps-try-to-ban-atheist-bus-ads/

MrPudding

pH wrote: »

This needs to be filed under "shouldn't there be a law against this?"

Offensive advertisements on public transport
That this House notes that posters with the slogan `There’s Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life’, appear on 800 buses in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as on the London Underground; notes that this causes concern to Christian and Muslim people, many of whom feel embarrassed and uncomfortable travelling on public transport displaying such advertisements and would not wish to endorse the advertisements by using that public transport; regrets that the British Humanist Association backs the campaign; and calls on Ministers responsible for public transport and advertising media to investigate this matter and to seek to remove these religiously offensive and morally unhelpful advertisements.
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=37418&SESSION=899

More commentary:
http://www.mediawatchwatch.org.uk/2009/01/16/bus-ad-draws-from-mps-and-a-bus-driver/
http://www.nullifidian.net/2009/01/19/mps-attempt-to-ban-atheist-bus-campaign/
http://friendlyatheist.com/2009/01/19/british-mps-try-to-ban-atheist-bus-ads/

Seems like it is working then....

MrP

The Mad Hatter

pH wrote: »

This needs to be filed under "shouldn't there be a law against this?"

Offensive advertisements on public transport
That this House notes that posters with the slogan `There’s Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life’, appear on 800 buses in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as on the London Underground; notes that this causes concern to Christian and Muslim people, many of whom feel embarrassed and uncomfortable travelling on public transport displaying such advertisements and would not wish to endorse the advertisements by using that public transport; regrets that the British Humanist Association backs the campaign; and calls on Ministers responsible for public transport and advertising media to investigate this matter and to seek to remove these religiously offensive and morally unhelpful advertisements.
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=37418&SESSION=899

More commentary:
http://www.mediawatchwatch.org.uk/2009/01/16/bus-ad-draws-from-mps-and-a-bus-driver/
http://www.nullifidian.net/2009/01/19/mps-attempt-to-ban-atheist-bus-campaign/
http://friendlyatheist.com/2009/01/19/british-mps-try-to-ban-atheist-bus-ads/

Holy ****.

Pun intended.

MatthewVII

pH wrote: »

morally unhelpful advertisements

I really fail to see how saying "There's probably no God" is morally unhelpful. I fail to see how ads saying "Jesus is our Saviour" is morally helpful in comparison.

Religion =/= morals. I wonder why people still don't get it?

robindch

MatthewVII wrote: »

Religion =/= morals. I wonder why people still don't get it?

Coz lots of people who gain reputation from/make money out of religion tell their flocks that religious people are better people than irreligious ones?

Plus, quite a few religious people seem to think that they're only nice because there's a god out there who'll clobber them if they're bad, so they conclude erroneously that everybody else must also need to think that there's a god out there, so that they remain sociable.

If you're been brought up from birth to believe that there's a causal link between religious belief and being good, then any threat to the religion can be seen as a threat to the "moral order" of society too.

swiss

MatthewVII wrote:

Religion =/= morals. I wonder why people still don't get it?

I recall seeing a clip on youtube where Richard Dawkins was on a radio station with Alan Colmbes where he was making the point that people don't get their morals from religion. A caller called in who believed that without God there would be nothing to stop him from murdering and raping.

I know its an extreme example, but there are people who think that it is religion that gives them their moral compass. In fact, I think they're partially right. I'm not going to treat the bible as any source of factual accuracy but I do agree with the parts about treating each other with respect and other tidbits of moral philosophy that are consistent with my view about how people should behave.

Its just a pity it's wrapped in a big pile of crazy.

pH

phew!
(ASA have ruled)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7842769.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5561137.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/21/asa-clears-atheist-bus-ad-campaign

Dades

Huzzah!

Daily Bugle wrote:

Today, in a landmark ruling the Advertising Standards Authority decided that there was, in it's opinion, "probably no God".

They also added that people should "stop worrying and enjoy their lives".

The Mad Hatter

Dades wrote: »

Huzzah!

D'you have a source that's not a newspaper from Spiderman?

The Daily Planet, say?

:P

MrPudding

swiss wrote: »

A caller called in who believed that without God there would be nothing to stop him from murdering and raping.

Yes. He is called Wolfsbane and you will find him on the christianity forum.

MrP

failsafe

Found a site that lets you make your own slogan. Link

My version:

condra

Hours of fun

failsafe

Only minutes after I posted this I came accross Victor Stenger's version here

bnt

It is a lot of fun, isn't it?

Zamboni

Sorry but I had to go low brow!

Galvasean

Goduznt Xzst

pH

epic bumpage



Can I has meme now?

pts

Looks like those crazy kids are creating something new: "The atheists guide to Christmas"

Might be worth ordering a copy for the whole family.



And in the spirit if Christmas (no pun intended) the full advance and all royalties from the book are going to the UK HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust.

EDIT: pre-orderable at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atheists-Guide-Christmas-Ariane-Sherine/dp/0007322615/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252064471&sr=8-1

Dades

They could also release a kids version...

"There's probably no Santa. The atheist child's guide to Christmas".

robindch

pts wrote: »

Might be worth ordering a copy

Hmm... does it come with a pinup of Ms Sherine?



(for anybody who might have forgotten)

Zillah

That's a pretty good British celebrity list. I like how this is turning into a whole movement.

pts

robindch wrote: »

Hmm... does it come with a pinup of Ms Sherine?



(for anybody who might have forgotten)

In that case I'd buy a few of them

Zillah wrote: »

That's a pretty good British celebrity list. I like how this is turning into a whole movement.

Yeah I liked the list too. It contains a fair few people who were on my list when ChocolateSauce asked for suggestions for speakers a while back.

The Mad Hatter

New ad: (Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere...)



(From Derren Brown's blog.I very much like how the list of bad labels includes "Atheist child.")

nozzferrahhtoo

Indeed:

BHA Special announcement.
18th November 09

"Billboard adverts will go up today in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, as the internationally renowned poster campaign which began earlier this year on London buses launches its second phase. So much money was donated towards the campaign after the bus posters had been launched that it was announced that further money raised would be put towards new adverts later in the year.

The billboards will remain up for two weeks and you can see them here."

http://www.humanism.org.uk/billboards

philologos

A good article in the Guardian today, dealing with the idea of the atheist billboard:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/19/atheist-billboards-faith-schools

I'm pretty much in full agreement with her on this:

It is surely central to the role of a parent, whether committed to a religious faith or not, to want to pass on to their child the things they value most, the beliefs and world view that shape how they live. It is also consistent with that role to want to have those beliefs and world view acknowledged and affirmed as part of their children's education.

It's not going to be a battle won. Certainly nobody has a right to deprive parents of this freedom.

Another entertaining article about them -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6925781.ece

patmartino

Jakkass wrote: »

It's not going to be a battle won. Certainly nobody has a right to deprive parents of this freedom.

Freedom based on lies?

Turtwig

Jakkass wrote: »

A good article in the Guardian today, dealing with the idea of the atheist billboard:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/19/atheist-billboards-faith-schools

I'm getting really sick of people purposefully twisting the message.
We're ok with parents educating their children on their own faith.
What we do not like is parents saying "my child is Christian" when the child is barely old enough to know how to spell religion.
Would you call this child a Liberal Democrat??

Mike 1972

Jakkass wrote: »

A good article in the Guardian today, dealing with the idea of the atheist billboard:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/19/atheist-billboards-faith-schools

If by "good" you actually mean completly missing the point then yeah I guess

lostexpectation

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

New ad: (Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere...)



(From Derren Brown's blog.I very much like how the list of bad labels includes "Atheist child.")

what do you call a child who has no religion, a secular child?

Mike 1972

what do you call a child who has no religion

Tom or David or Alice or Caroline or...............

philologos

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Tom or David or Alice or Caroline or...............

Pretty much the same as you call a child with a religion I would have thought

drkpower

Jakkass wrote: »

It's not going to be a battle won. Certainly nobody has a right to deprive parents of this freedom.

You are correct legally; unless something very strange happens in this country.

But this is not really aimed at the fundamentalists or strong religonists out there who indoctrinate their children from an early age and for whom religon is a central part of their lives. Its very unlikely that people like these will stop indoctrinating their children.

Its about encouraging the masses, in Ieland, the 'a la cartes', to stop and think, rather than automatically and unthinkingly force the kid to go to a Catholic school, to say his prayers at night, to go to mass on Sunday etc etc.... Slowly but surely, the pervasive nature of religon in this country will (continue to) subside. This is a slow-burn issue; its about small steps and mindset change. When the mindset changes, then the real changes can begin.