Posted by: RFM on: January 7, 2009
The campaign started in response to some Christian bus advertising last year. There’s an accompanying web site (of course) and FaceBook group (of course), and they raised so much money that they’re putting the ads on 800 buses.
Atheist bus campaign spreads the word of no God nationwide | World news | guardian.co.uk.
Personally, I think they’ve pulled their punches. Probably? Seems like sitting on the fence to me.
UPDATE:
See the comments for a link to the story about complaints to the ASA about this campaign. And here’s an article in which A C Grayling complains about that word “probably.” Snip:
Thus the metaphysical authority of advertisers. You have to take your hat off to this one. If one wished to cite a better example of insidiousness, pusillanimity, timidity and absurdity, you would be hard pressed. There is something delicious about the thought of a functionary in an advertising agency doing ontology by arbitrating on the question of which fictional characters need a grey area of uncertainty around discussion of their existence – Little Red Riding Hood? Rumpelstiltskin? Santa? Betty Boop? Saint Veronica (who allegedly started out as sweat on a cloth and became a person)? Aphrodite? Wotan? Batman?
Nah – the “probably” in “there is probably no god, relax and enjoy life” will allow the atheists to pretend that they are quoting an Anglican Bishop somewhere …
January 8, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Brilliant!
but i think your right, the ‘probably’ takes away from it really…