by mr willowSo, did you hear the one about the atheists who decided to become evangelists? That's right, there were some anti-God folks in England who got ticked off one day by all the religious messages that were displayed on the side of city buses. So they decided to... wait for it... display an atheist message on the side of city buses. Uh-huh. I'll call this the Sixth Spiritual Law: "The more you hate something, the more you tend to become like it." (I've forgotten the fifth one; I think it has something to do with how people who reject the
first four tend to wind up believing something strange. But I digress.)
The result was an advertisement that confidently preached, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Results: scattered outrage, splash in the press, flurry in the blogosphere, happy atheists, happy ending.
I can't say I totally agree with the first part of the message, but that's probably just because I'm a theist. The second part I like just fine, since abandoning worry (
Philippians 4:6-7) and enjoying life (
John 10:10) are also two of the very nice bits of the Christian message, so it's good to know we have that in common. (See also
Bugaboos.) I fail to see how the lack of belief in an ultimate purpose to life helps in achieving those ends, but maybe that's just me.
(Actually, it's at least me and Jennifer from
Conversion Diary, one of the best-written faith blogs I've seen lately. Check out
this story.)
But I'm a big believer in freedom of speech, which means, among other things, that I think anyone at all should have the right to display whatever opinion they want on the side of a bus, unless perhaps it's the opinion that the bus is carrying a bomb. I think that's true even--no, especially--if the opinion is one I disagree with or find a bit silly. ("Probably?" For real? Would you invest one dime in a bank that told you they
probably wouldn't go broke next week?)
So, go atheists! In fact, let's not stop there. I think there ought to be bus billboards promoting lots of different philosophies and opinions, so we can all make a more informed choice. Here are a few possible contenders:
Agnosticism 
Postmodernism 
Pessimism 
Nihilism 
Cosmological Argument (ironically put) 
Calvinism 
You can blame all the above pictures on the
Bus Slogan Generator. You know you want to try it; go knock yourself out. If you come up with any good ones, put a link below so the rest of us can share the laughs. All in good fun, I hope. Props to
Friendly Atheist (which is my favorite kind of atheist) for the link.
No article is complete without a contrasting perspective, so...
Recommend
Comments (251)
ew I don't like the first one
it's so stupid
it's like Christians putting up a sign that says
BECOME CHRISTIAN OR BURN IN HELL
WHICH, I hate when Christians say >.<
this was mentioned in my religion class. my prof also brought up the technicality that since it says "theres PROBABLY no god" that the atheists have actually sided with the agnostics, and what they meant to say is "there IS no god" lol.
I have to admit I laughed at your post! I so agree with what you said about the "probably" no God! That doesn't sound so threatening, really, does it?? I mean....then the atheists ARE admitting that there IS a possiblity that there is a God, aren't they?? Hmm...
Great post, loved it!
haha awesome @Dylan_Disast3r@xanga - agreed
@Dylan_Disast3r@xanga - How on earth does it say that? There's a big jump between saying "worry about your belief about God" to saying "believe or get burned"
This was a great post. Thanks Mr. But I don't think that's nihilism.
Hahah! Those are the greatest advertisements ever!
Your marketing tactics are limitless, maybe we should put these slogans on Starbucks cups or plastic shopping bags too...
I remember reading the original article with the saying and the photo. I agreed for the reasoning behind it. I mean I know a lot of Christians and some are so worried to death about not doing what is "right" that they forget to live life, and the miss out on the grander of things. I do think it's quite funny though.
This post was full of win.
HAHA!
^_^
I love the accurate interpretations of what each worldview would say on the side of the bus...LOL.
I love the sign they put on the bus. I think it's quite funny. And personally, I think is probably true. (Yes, probably true, how the heck am I supposed to know?) I pass signs on the highway driving home, to school, and to friend's homes that say "Jesus is real," "Hell is real," and "If you die today, where will you spend eternity?" I think it's refreshing to see another perspective. I mean, the "Jesus is real" thing is fine and dandy, everything written about him makes him seem like a pretty cool dude, but "Hell is real" just seems threatening and I don't think religion should be threatening, it should open you up, fill you with love, and allow you to live a good life. I think you should be able to believe whatever you want as long as it makes you a good person and we shouldn't get so worried about the details. I don't think belief in a God and then being a bad person deserves a ticket to heaven, but no belief in God but being a good person directs you to hell. (I know not everyone believes this, but some do). Anyway, if you can be a good person with out religion, then that is a lovely way to sleep in on Sundays.
Good sense of humor, made me chuckle.
However, (I believe) there is a big difference in an atheist's statement to "stop worrying and enjoy your life," and the full and abundant life in Jesus Christ. It is easy to quote the verses like Phil 4:6-7 and John 10:10 without recognizing the context of that life we are called to live in as believers. Paul calls himself a slave and servant to Christ and the gospel. Jesus himself says we must lose our life in order to gain it. (Matthew 16:25)Â That's a much different philosophy that the world cannot see or understand. We must give up everything.they're doing this in toronto, on too (TTC-toronto transit committee) not cool!! ..nice blog..now CHECK OUT MY "NEED HELP?" BLOG...thanks
ps. THERE CLEARLY IS A GOD
@watchthe_xsky@xanga - "Hell is real" just seems threatening and I don't think religion should be threatening, it should open you up, fill you with love, and allow you to live a good life."
While I agree that a non-threatening religion sounds good, what sounds good and what we'd like are very different from what's true. I'm not so interested in believing what makes me feel good as much as I am in finding what's true. If it makes me uncomfortable or unhappy, so be it. I'd rather be wise and troubled than carefree and foolish.
There are several of these things going on in my area as well. As an atheist I think its good, but most of the atheists I meet go too far, don't really know much about theism, are radical because they are a minority, blah. Eh, It's good because it lets others know it's okay to be "different", but I understand why theists would be upset, then again the atheists are doing the same thing theists have been doing for years. For better or for worse eventually lots of people will become atheists, as long as they have some moral sense/duty its all gravy, which most of them I know have very strong convictions because of the atheist=immoral feelings most people have.
o well, shalom,
-nick
I love philosophy, so I got a big kick out of this! Thanks!
Hahahaha, there's "probably" no God?? What a convincing argument...if you're going to spend the money to make a controversial statement, at least put some confidence behind it! Sheesh.
@Theophilus166@xanga - I agree with you fully on this brother!
Going around choosing a religion (or bits and pieces) that makes one feel happy and comfortable makes US "gods", doesn't it? Goes back to the Garden of Eden again... humankind wants to make its own decisions on what is right and wrong, rather than face the truth.
That's kinda illogical isn't it. If God is God, then He makes the rules and not us. Does the clay chooses the potter? I don't think so.
That was actually pretty funny.
But referring to the ultimate purpose thing, I'm sure people are capable of finding the meaning of life with or without God. I'm sure you can find theists who become hopeless and depressed and still wonder their purpose in life. And I'm sure you can find atheists who are perfectly satisfied with their life and feel they're making a difference in the world/ community, and vice versa for both cases. You should read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankyl (sp?).
Ultimately, it seems like you can but any sort of message in front of the tagline and it still works. I don't suppose it'll be long before we start co-opting it and saying "God Loves You, So Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life."
Atheism does not constitute a religion. Hence "probably". Because that's the best science can do- point out that although science can't disprove a god, that doesn't mean his existence is very likely. And it isn't. The sign should have read "there almost certainly is no god".
Anyway, I hope there is more bus campaigns like this in the future. It's good for people to know that there is an alternative to religion.
This was AWESOME! Thanks!
@Theophilus166@xanga -
" I'm not so interested in believing what
makes me feel good as much as I am in finding what's true. If it makes
me uncomfortable or unhappy, so be it. I'd rather be wise and troubled
than carefree and foolish."
It's funny that we both seem to have the same approach, but yet have ended up on somewhat opposite ends of the spectrum.
@loveandpolitics@xanga - My question is: how can you determine the probability that God exists? We can mathematically determine the probability of winning the lottery. We can historically predict the probability that a hurricane will hit Miami this year. We can economically predict what will happen if fuel prices shoot back up to what they were last summer.
But how do you predict the probability of the existence of God? It's not like we've investigated 1,000 other worlds and discovered that 900 of them have gods. There's only one universe, we've never experienced it before, and we're in a time-space continuum that has nowhere to go but forward. The idea that we can determine the "probability" of the existence of God seems a bit...presumptuous to me. Especially when we consider that God, by very definition, could choose to hide himself in the furthest corner of the galaxy, hidden from us all. How can you come up with a probability on that?
"If there were no God, there would be no Atheists."-GK Chesterton