Atheist Bus Campaign
Encyclopedia
The Atheist Bus Campaign aims to place "peaceful and upbeat" messages about atheism
on transport media
in Britain, in response to evangelical Christian advertising.
It was created by comedy writer Ariane Sherine
and launched on 21 October 2008, with official support from the British Humanist Association
and Richard Dawkins
. The campaign's original goal was to raise £5,500 to run 30 buses across London for four weeks early in 2009 with the slogan: "There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life".
Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion
, agreed to match all donations up to a maximum of £5,500, providing a total of £11,000 if the full amount were to be raised. The campaign reached that target by 10:06AM on 21 October and had raised £100,000 by the evening of 24 October. The campaign closed on 11 April 2009, having raised a total of £153,516.51.
The first buses started running on 6 January 2009 – 800 are running around the whole of the UK and it is also planned to place 1,000 adverts on the London Underground featuring quotations from famous atheists. Subsequently, two large LCD screens have been placed on Oxford Street
, central London.
Since the target for the buses was reached many times over, and the buses are now on the streets, visitors to the Atheist Bus website are now being encouraged to donate to the general campaigns of the British Humanist Association instead through a new, linked, campaign called The Next Stop. However any further money given to the main campaign will go to a second wave of adverts after the donation site closes on April 11.
Comment is Free blog post, Atheists – gimme five in the Guardian
. She expressed her frustration that the Christian organisation JesusSaid.org was allowed to place the URI
on their bus adverts of a website which said all non-Christians would burn in hell for all eternity. Sherine called on atheists to counter this kind of evangelical advertising by donating five pounds towards a positive philosophical advert. Her idea was taken up by political blogger Jon Worth, who went on to set up a PledgeBank
page. The PledgeBank page closed on 31 July 2008, having received 877 of the 4,679 pledges necessary for the original target of £23,400. This event attracted some limited comment in the mainstream media early in August. Sherine then wrote a follow-up Comment is free
article, Dawkin 'bout a Revolution, detailing events since the original piece. In response, the British Humanist Association offered to lend the campaign its official support and undertook to administer all donations. Sherine then asked Richard Dawkins for a quote for the campaign, at which point he offered to match the first £5,500 raised.
After four days the campaign had raised more than £100,000. There have been donations to the Justgiving page every day since the campaign's launch, and by 9 January 2009 the total had surpassed £140,000. The BHA has reported a flood of interest in its activities and the Atheist Bus Campaign Facebook group has been growing rapidly since the launch. Many atheists feel the campaign has given them a voice and represented them in a way they have long hoped for.
The story attracted widespread media attention around the world. Writing in The Times, Joan Bakewell observed that "Not since Going to Work on an Egg
has an advertising initiative made such an impact, and for so little cost."
There has been some opposition to the adverts. By 21 January 2009 the ASA
had received 326 complaints about the bus adverts, including a complaint from Stephen Green of Christian Voice (UK)
who said "It is given as a statement of fact and that means it must be capable of substantiation if it is not to break the rules." Hanne Stinson of the BHA has suggested that if the ASA rule on this complaint, then the ASA will be ruling on whether God
exists.
On 21 January the ASA ruled that the adverts were not in breach of its rules as the advert "was an expression of the advertiser’s opinion" and was incapable of substantiation. They also claimed that although the advert was contrary to many people's beliefs, it would not generate "serious or widespread offence".
The campaign has also received criticism from leading clergy including George Carey
, the former Archbishop of Canterbury
, and Peter Price, the current Bishop of Bath and Wells
, who said "the campaign lacked both judgement and a sense of reality."
In Southampton, a bus driver refused to drive a bus displaying the advert. His employers, First Bus
, undertook to find him another bus to drive.
Canadian author, Margaret Atwood
, has said of the campaign: "That’s religion! Once you’re paying money to put slogans on things, well it’s either a product you’re selling, a political party or religion".
was the fourth person to donate to the campaign, giving £100 with the comment "I hope to God this helps". The poet and musician Labi Siffre
donated £1000 on 22 October 2008 with the verse, "As God knew / What Judas would do / In the final accounting / Who betrayed who?". Philosopher AC Grayling donated £500, while writer Zoe Margolis donated with the comment "About time the rational voices were heard too". Richard Dawkins
donated the most of any celebrity with £5,500, but even his donation has been eclipsed by that of an unknown donor called Simon Bishop, who has given £20,000 to the campaign. The campaign is also supported by Matthew Parris
. Additionally, Paul Woolley, the director of Christian think tank
Theos
, and a close associate of the Archbishop of Canterbury
, has donated £50 as he thinks the campaign is a "great way to get people thinking about God. The posters will encourage people to consider the most important question we will ever face in our lives." The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association
is a supporter of the Campaign.
felt that this qualification let the campaign down, but admired it for introducing some tentativeness into an often polarised debate, while atheists including A. C. Grayling
think that they can be certain there is no God and therefore the word 'probably' should not be used. It was also suggested that inserting the word would avoid a breach of the Advertising Standards Authority
's rules.
's Inclusive Schools campaign.
Following publicity from the campaign, the BBC
has agreed to allow a special version of Thought for the Day
. It will be presented as Thought for the Afternoon, and will be the first programme of the series not presented by a figure from an established faith.
Partly in response to the campaign three different Christian groups have launched advertising campaigns. Slogans include, "There definitely is a God; so join the Christian Party and enjoy your life."; "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.", a quote from Psalm 14
; and "There IS a God, BELIEVE. Don't worry and enjoy your life."
Influenced by the Atheist Bus Campaign, the American Humanist Association
launched a bus campaign in Washington DC in November 2008 with the slogan "Why believe in a God? Just be good for goodness' sake." The Freedom From Religion Foundation
has also launched a bus campaign in the United States
, with buses featuring various quotations to appear in February and March 2009.
In February, a campaign formed in Bloomington, Indiana
to run ads saying "You Can Be Good Without God" in various cities in the state of Indiana.
However, more attention and media coverage has been devoted to local-level roadside billboard campaigns
.
In February 2009, a nation-wide campaign was launched by the Freethought Association of Canada with Katie Kish and Justin Trottier
serving as spokespersons. The Toronto Transit Commission
in Canada
approved the advertisements on the commission's buses
, trams
, and metro and rapid transit trains
, with the same message as the British adverts, and debuted in mid-February.
Following a request by the Association humaniste du Québec, the Société des transports de Montréal, Canada, accepted the proposed message "Dieu n'existe probablement pas, alors cessez de vous inquiéter et profitez de la vie", a translation of the original UK advert, and the bus should take to the road during March 2009. Secular Humanists and Free Thinkers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and London
have had their adverts refused. In Canada's capital city, Ottawa
, the ads were initially refused, but the decision was ultimately overturned by Ottawa City Council and the ads will be permitted. In British Columbia
, Vancouver
, Victoria
and Kelowna
adverts were barred on the ground that no religious advertisement is allowed on buses.
The ads also ran in Calgary
and eventually Halifax and Ottawa
. The ads were initially rejected in both Halifax and Ottawa, but court cases overturned the bans.
On December 11, 2010 the Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics (Atea) also attempted to run a bus campaign with the slogan "Atheism – celebrate reason", but were prevented from doing so. Atea was prevented from relaying on a bus in Salvador (Bahia) and Porto Alegre messages like "Religion does not define character" and "If God exists, everything is permitted".
The agency responsible for the ads in Salvador informed that they could not fulfill the contract for fear of a lawsuit by the state and the entrepreneur's bus.
In Porto Alegre, the association of passenger barred campaign as the argument that a city ordinance prevents the 'Busdoor' bears message with pornography, alcohol, religious events, among other topics. In the same city, with the same slogans, outdoors were placed. It is the first atheist campaign in Brazil.
The Atheist Foundation of Australia
also attempted to run a bus campaign with the slogan "Atheism – celebrate reason", but were prevented from doing so by advertising company APN Outdoor, Australia's largest outdoor advertiser, which refused to run the adverts.
In the state of Tasmania
the government-owned bus company, Metro Tasmania
, also rejected the ads, citing their precedent of blocking any controversial material. However, after conciliation before the office of the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner the ads are scheduled to appear in 2010.
In New Zealand
, fund-raising was started in December 2009 for the NZ Atheist Bus Campaign, administered by the Humanist Society of New Zealand
.
In just a couple of days, the original target of NZ$ 10000 was reached. A new doubled target of NZ$20000 was reached in under a week.
The organisers said this will provide signs for 12 buses in Auckland, eight in Wellington and four in Christchurch. However the advertisements were later rejected by several bus companies, notably NZ Bus leading the organisers to bring a claim of discrimination to the Human Rights Review Tribunal
. The organisers later ran a billboard campaign in the three cities with some of the money raised for the bus campaign using three different slogans combined with the slogan used in the original United Kingdom campaign.
An atheist bus campaign promoted by the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics
(UAAR) was due to start on 4 February 2009 in Genoa
. The city was chosen on the occasion of the nomination of its archbishop
, Cardinal
Angelo Bagnasco
, as president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). The slogan of the Italian campaign reads "La cattiva notizia è che Dio non esiste. Quella buona è che non ne hai bisogno", meaning "The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that you do not need him".
On 16 January 2009 IGPDecaux, the company holding licenses for ads on public transport in Genoa, refused to give authorization to the atheist bus campaign on the grounds that it may "offend the moral, civic and religious convictions of the public". Antonio Catricalà, the head of the Italian National Authority for Fair Trading and Competition, announced that the Authority filed a case against the Atheist Bus initiative because of the potentially "dangerous and mendacious nature" of the ads. As a reaction, the UAAR launched a new campaign in Genoa with a different slogan to comply with the advertising authority's rules: "The good news is there are millions of atheists in Italy. The excellent news is they believe in freedom of expression".
In Spain
an advertising campaign has been launched with the slogan "Probablemente Dios no existe. Deja de preocuparte y goza de la vida", a direct translation of the British advert, on buses in Barcelona
which started on 12 January. Madrid
and Valencia will follow up at the end of January. This campaign has received criticism from Catholics.
In Finland
a similar campaign was announced on 16 March 2009 to run on buses in Finland in two of the country's largest cities, Helsinki
and Tampere
.
The German
Atheist Bus Campaign had problems finding a bus company which would run their ads and the official website states that they were rejected by 17 companies from all over Germany. Instead they decided to drive the bus themselves on a tour which will cover 20 major German cities. On each stop the bus will take people from the city on a sightseeing roundtrip with an emphasis on scientific and religious historical developments in respect to secularisation and atheism. This decision was met with mixed reactions from the supporters of the campaign who had originally hoped for a conventional advertising campaign which had succeeded in other countries.
The Humanist Association of Ireland
ran a series of advertisements on Dublin commuter trains which they called the Unbelievable Campaign. The campaign was to highlight that judges and the president have to take a religious oath, which effectively stops 250,000 people from taking these posts.
In Sweden
, the Swedish Humanist Association
ran ads in the Stockholm Metro
during the summer of 2009 with the slogan "Gud finns nog inte", meaning "God probably does not exist" that were influenced by the British ads.
In Russia
in September 2010 activists of "Общественное объединение по продвижению секуляризма в России" decided to make the same campaign in Moscow
. It is proposed the slogan "По всей видимости Бога нет" (There's probably no God). But clericals in the authorities prohibited it. After the activists were trying to get success via change the Campaign slogan on quotation from art.14 of Constitution of Russia "Russian Federation is a secular state", but clerical lobby prohibited this quotation also. Atheists were refused by Advertising Committee of Moscow, large advertising company News Outdoor (division of News Corporation
of Rupert Murdoch
) and small advertising agencies, city bus operator Mosgortrans, etc.". Now activists are collecting donations for "Atheistmobile" to ride in Moscow with Campaign slogan.
On November 21st 2009 it was reported in the Times
and the Daily Telegraph that the children featured in the 'Don't Label Me' campaign were from an Evangelical Christian family. The British Humanist Association responded that the photographs had been sourced from a photographic agency website, and that it was unaware of the religious background of the models.
, bigfoot
, UFOs, Homeopathy
, Zeus
, Psychics and Christ
.
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
on transport media
Bus advertising
In bus advertising, buses and their related infrastructure is a medium commonly used by advertisers to reach the public with their message. Usually, this takes the form of promoting commercial brands, but can also be used for public campaign messages...
in Britain, in response to evangelical Christian advertising.
It was created by comedy writer Ariane Sherine
Ariane Sherine
Ariane Sherine is a British comedy writer and journalist. She created the UK version of the Atheist Bus Campaign, which ran in January 2009. She lives in London.- Career :...
and launched on 21 October 2008, with official support from the British Humanist Association
British Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
and Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
. The campaign's original goal was to raise £5,500 to run 30 buses across London for four weeks early in 2009 with the slogan: "There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life".
Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion
The God Delusion
The God Delusion is a 2006 bestselling non-fiction book by British biologist Richard Dawkins, professorial fellow of New College, Oxford, and inaugural holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that...
, agreed to match all donations up to a maximum of £5,500, providing a total of £11,000 if the full amount were to be raised. The campaign reached that target by 10:06AM on 21 October and had raised £100,000 by the evening of 24 October. The campaign closed on 11 April 2009, having raised a total of £153,516.51.
The first buses started running on 6 January 2009 – 800 are running around the whole of the UK and it is also planned to place 1,000 adverts on the London Underground featuring quotations from famous atheists. Subsequently, two large LCD screens have been placed on Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
, central London.
Since the target for the buses was reached many times over, and the buses are now on the streets, visitors to the Atheist Bus website are now being encouraged to donate to the general campaigns of the British Humanist Association instead through a new, linked, campaign called The Next Stop. However any further money given to the main campaign will go to a second wave of adverts after the donation site closes on April 11.
Initial proposal
Sherine first proposed the campaign in June 2008 in a guardian.co.ukGuardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
Comment is Free blog post, Atheists – gimme five in the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. She expressed her frustration that the Christian organisation JesusSaid.org was allowed to place the URI
Uniform Resource Identifier
In computing, a uniform resource identifier is a string of characters used to identify a name or a resource on the Internet. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network using specific protocols...
on their bus adverts of a website which said all non-Christians would burn in hell for all eternity. Sherine called on atheists to counter this kind of evangelical advertising by donating five pounds towards a positive philosophical advert. Her idea was taken up by political blogger Jon Worth, who went on to set up a PledgeBank
PledgeBank
PledgeBank is a website which runs pledges on all topics, of the form: "I will do x if y number of people agree to do the same." Such public commitments are a non-coercive way to solve problems of collective action, especially when the goal is a public good. PledgeBank was founded by mySociety and...
page. The PledgeBank page closed on 31 July 2008, having received 877 of the 4,679 pledges necessary for the original target of £23,400. This event attracted some limited comment in the mainstream media early in August. Sherine then wrote a follow-up Comment is free
Guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
article, Dawkin 'bout a Revolution, detailing events since the original piece. In response, the British Humanist Association offered to lend the campaign its official support and undertook to administer all donations. Sherine then asked Richard Dawkins for a quote for the campaign, at which point he offered to match the first £5,500 raised.
History of the campaign
The Atheist Bus Campaign's donation phase launched on Tuesday 21 October 2008 with another article by Sherine, All aboard the atheist bus campaign, on Comment is free. To the surprise of the organisers the fundraising target was broken within hours of the launch, raising almost £48,000 by the end of day one.The story attracted widespread media attention around the world. Writing in The Times, Joan Bakewell observed that "Not since Going to Work on an Egg
Go to work on an egg
"Go to work on an egg" was an advertising slogan used by the United Kingdom's Egg Marketing Board during the 1950s as part of more than £12 million it spent on advertising, including a series of television adverts starring the comedian Tony Hancock and actress Patricia Hayes in 1965. The...
has an advertising initiative made such an impact, and for so little cost."
There has been some opposition to the adverts. By 21 January 2009 the ASA
Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)
The Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances...
had received 326 complaints about the bus adverts, including a complaint from Stephen Green of Christian Voice (UK)
Christian Voice (UK)
Christian Voice is a Christian pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its stated objective is "to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy, and to defend and support traditional family life." It is independent of...
who said "It is given as a statement of fact and that means it must be capable of substantiation if it is not to break the rules." Hanne Stinson of the BHA has suggested that if the ASA rule on this complaint, then the ASA will be ruling on whether God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
exists.
On 21 January the ASA ruled that the adverts were not in breach of its rules as the advert "was an expression of the advertiser’s opinion" and was incapable of substantiation. They also claimed that although the advert was contrary to many people's beliefs, it would not generate "serious or widespread offence".
The campaign has also received criticism from leading clergy including George Carey
George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton PC, FKC is a former Archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1991 to 2002. He was the first modern holder of the office not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge University...
, the former Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, and Peter Price, the current Bishop of Bath and Wells
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
, who said "the campaign lacked both judgement and a sense of reality."
In Southampton, a bus driver refused to drive a bus displaying the advert. His employers, First Bus
First Hampshire & Dorset
First Hampshire & Dorset is a subsidiary bus company within FirstGroup, which operates buses and trains throughout Great Britain.First Hampshire & Dorset has its head office in Empress Road, Southampton and operates bus services in the Weymouth and Bridport areas in Dorset; and services in...
, undertook to find him another bus to drive.
Canadian author, Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
, has said of the campaign: "That’s religion! Once you’re paying money to put slogans on things, well it’s either a product you’re selling, a political party or religion".
Notable donors
Television critic Charlie BrookerCharlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
was the fourth person to donate to the campaign, giving £100 with the comment "I hope to God this helps". The poet and musician Labi Siffre
Labi Siffre
Labi Siffre is a British poet, songwriter, musician and singer most widely known as the writer and singer of " So Strong", "It Must Be Love" and "I Got The", the sampled rhythm track which provides the basis for a number of well-known hip hop tracks such as Eminem’s breakthrough hit single, "My...
donated £1000 on 22 October 2008 with the verse, "As God knew / What Judas would do / In the final accounting / Who betrayed who?". Philosopher AC Grayling donated £500, while writer Zoe Margolis donated with the comment "About time the rational voices were heard too". Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
donated the most of any celebrity with £5,500, but even his donation has been eclipsed by that of an unknown donor called Simon Bishop, who has given £20,000 to the campaign. The campaign is also supported by Matthew Parris
Matthew Parris
Matthew Francis Parris is a UK-based journalist and former Conservative politician.-Early life and family:...
. Additionally, Paul Woolley, the director of Christian think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
Theos
Theos (think tank)
Theos is a public theology think tank based in the United Kingdom which exists to undertake research and provide commentary on social and political arrangements. Theos aims to impact opinion around issues of faith and belief in society through research, publications, media engagement and events...
, and a close associate of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, has donated £50 as he thinks the campaign is a "great way to get people thinking about God. The posters will encourage people to consider the most important question we will ever face in our lives." The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association
Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association
The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association is a democratic, membership-based, Humanist campaigning organisation that represents the many non-religious in the lesbian and gay community in the United Kingdom and beyond...
is a supporter of the Campaign.
The word "probably"
The wording of the proposed advert has caused considerable debate amongst atheists and Christians alike, and Sherine discussed it in a post-launch article, Probably the best atheist bus campaign ever, on the Guardian's Comment Is Free. Dawkins stated that he preferred the wording "There is almost certainly no God". Ariane Sherine claims it is necessary to be factually accurate, and that as it is impossible to disprove the existence of God it is only possible to say one 'probably' does not exist. Critic D. J. TaylorD. J. Taylor
David John Taylor is a British critic, novelist and biographer. After attending school in Norwich, he read Modern History at St John's College, Oxford, and has received the 2003 Whitbread Biography Award for his biography of George Orwell. His novel Derby Day was longlisted for the 2011 Man Booker...
felt that this qualification let the campaign down, but admired it for introducing some tentativeness into an often polarised debate, while atheists including A. C. Grayling
A. C. Grayling
Anthony Clifford Grayling is a British philosopher. In 2011 he founded and became the first Master of New College of the Humanities, a private undergraduate college in London. Until June 2011, he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, where he taught from 1991...
think that they can be certain there is no God and therefore the word 'probably' should not be used. It was also suggested that inserting the word would avoid a breach of the Advertising Standards Authority
Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)
The Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances...
's rules.
Follow up works
In addition, Atheist Bus Campaign donors have raised over £23,000 for the British Humanist AssociationBritish Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
's Inclusive Schools campaign.
Following publicity from the campaign, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
has agreed to allow a special version of Thought for the Day
Thought for the Day
Thought for the Day is a daily scripted slot on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7.45 each Monday to Saturday morning...
. It will be presented as Thought for the Afternoon, and will be the first programme of the series not presented by a figure from an established faith.
Partly in response to the campaign three different Christian groups have launched advertising campaigns. Slogans include, "There definitely is a God; so join the Christian Party and enjoy your life."; "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.", a quote from Psalm 14
Psalm 14
Psalm 14 is the 14th psalm from the Book of Psalms. Attributed to David, it is a prophetical reference to the destruction of the First Temple....
; and "There IS a God, BELIEVE. Don't worry and enjoy your life."
United States
Influenced by the Atheist Bus Campaign, the American Humanist Association
American Humanist Association
The American Humanist Association is an educational organization in the United States that advances Humanism. "Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that...
launched a bus campaign in Washington DC in November 2008 with the slogan "Why believe in a God? Just be good for goodness' sake." The Freedom From Religion Foundation
Freedom From Religion Foundation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is an American freethought organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. Its purposes, as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the separation of church and state and to educate the public on matters relating to atheism, agnosticism and nontheism. The FFRF publishes...
has also launched a bus campaign in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with buses featuring various quotations to appear in February and March 2009.
In February, a campaign formed in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
to run ads saying "You Can Be Good Without God" in various cities in the state of Indiana.
However, more attention and media coverage has been devoted to local-level roadside billboard campaigns
Atheist billboard
An atheist billboard is an outdoor billboard which promotes divestment or outreach to atheists, nontheists or non-religious individuals. Similar to the Atheist Bus Campaign first undertaken in the United Kingdom by Ariane Sherine in October 2008, atheist billboards often include messages or...
.
Canada
In February 2009, a nation-wide campaign was launched by the Freethought Association of Canada with Katie Kish and Justin Trottier
Justin Trottier
Justin Trottier is an English-Canadian columnist, public speaker and media personality, political candidate, and a former manager of an educational charitable organization. In 2009 he was one of the main spokespersons for the Canadian atheist bus campaign...
serving as spokespersons. The Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
approved the advertisements on the commission's buses
Toronto buses and trolley buses
Toronto Transit Commission buses are transit buses used for public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buses are owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . With over 140 routes in operation, the TTC attracts over 400 million riders each year. Each route is further divided into branch...
, trams
Toronto streetcar system
The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...
, and metro and rapid transit trains
Toronto subway and RT
The Toronto subway and RT is a rapid transit system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of both underground and elevated railway lines, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . It was Canada's first completed subway system, with the first line being built under Yonge Street, which opened in...
, with the same message as the British adverts, and debuted in mid-February.
Following a request by the Association humaniste du Québec, the Société des transports de Montréal, Canada, accepted the proposed message "Dieu n'existe probablement pas, alors cessez de vous inquiéter et profitez de la vie", a translation of the original UK advert, and the bus should take to the road during March 2009. Secular Humanists and Free Thinkers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and London
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
have had their adverts refused. In Canada's capital city, Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, the ads were initially refused, but the decision was ultimately overturned by Ottawa City Council and the ads will be permitted. In British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
and Kelowna
Kelowna
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
adverts were barred on the ground that no religious advertisement is allowed on buses.
The ads also ran in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
and eventually Halifax and Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. The ads were initially rejected in both Halifax and Ottawa, but court cases overturned the bans.
Brazil
On December 11, 2010 the Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics (Atea) also attempted to run a bus campaign with the slogan "Atheism – celebrate reason", but were prevented from doing so. Atea was prevented from relaying on a bus in Salvador (Bahia) and Porto Alegre messages like "Religion does not define character" and "If God exists, everything is permitted".
The agency responsible for the ads in Salvador informed that they could not fulfill the contract for fear of a lawsuit by the state and the entrepreneur's bus.
In Porto Alegre, the association of passenger barred campaign as the argument that a city ordinance prevents the 'Busdoor' bears message with pornography, alcohol, religious events, among other topics. In the same city, with the same slogans, outdoors were placed. It is the first atheist campaign in Brazil.
Australia
The Atheist Foundation of Australia
Atheist Foundation of Australia
The Atheist Foundation of Australia, Inc. was established in South Australia in 1970, when The Rationalist Association of South Australia decided upon a name change to better declare their basic philosophy, namely atheism....
also attempted to run a bus campaign with the slogan "Atheism – celebrate reason", but were prevented from doing so by advertising company APN Outdoor, Australia's largest outdoor advertiser, which refused to run the adverts.
In the state of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
the government-owned bus company, Metro Tasmania
Metro Tasmania
Metro Tasmania is the primary provider of public transport in the Australian state of Tasmania. For bus timetable and route information see the...
, also rejected the ads, citing their precedent of blocking any controversial material. However, after conciliation before the office of the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner the ads are scheduled to appear in 2010.
New Zealand
In New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, fund-raising was started in December 2009 for the NZ Atheist Bus Campaign, administered by the Humanist Society of New Zealand
Humanist Society of New Zealand
The Humanist Society of New Zealand is a New Zealand organisation that promotes secular humanist philosophy and ideals. The Society meets in Wellington with members throughout New Zealand....
.
In just a couple of days, the original target of NZ$ 10000 was reached. A new doubled target of NZ$20000 was reached in under a week.
The organisers said this will provide signs for 12 buses in Auckland, eight in Wellington and four in Christchurch. However the advertisements were later rejected by several bus companies, notably NZ Bus leading the organisers to bring a claim of discrimination to the Human Rights Review Tribunal
Human Rights Review Tribunal
Human Rights Review TribunalThe Human Rights Review Tribunal is a statutorily established institution fundamental to the application, determination and up holding of Human Rights in New Zealand. The tribunal is established under the New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993...
. The organisers later ran a billboard campaign in the three cities with some of the money raised for the bus campaign using three different slogans combined with the slogan used in the original United Kingdom campaign.
Italy
An atheist bus campaign promoted by the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics
Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics
The Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics is the only nationwide association of atheists and agnostics in Italy...
(UAAR) was due to start on 4 February 2009 in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. The city was chosen on the occasion of the nomination of its archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
, Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Angelo Bagnasco
Angelo Bagnasco
Angelo Bagnasco is an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Genoa and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference , and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007....
, as president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). The slogan of the Italian campaign reads "La cattiva notizia è che Dio non esiste. Quella buona è che non ne hai bisogno", meaning "The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that you do not need him".
On 16 January 2009 IGPDecaux, the company holding licenses for ads on public transport in Genoa, refused to give authorization to the atheist bus campaign on the grounds that it may "offend the moral, civic and religious convictions of the public". Antonio Catricalà, the head of the Italian National Authority for Fair Trading and Competition, announced that the Authority filed a case against the Atheist Bus initiative because of the potentially "dangerous and mendacious nature" of the ads. As a reaction, the UAAR launched a new campaign in Genoa with a different slogan to comply with the advertising authority's rules: "The good news is there are millions of atheists in Italy. The excellent news is they believe in freedom of expression".
Spain
In Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
an advertising campaign has been launched with the slogan "Probablemente Dios no existe. Deja de preocuparte y goza de la vida", a direct translation of the British advert, on buses in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
which started on 12 January. Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Valencia will follow up at the end of January. This campaign has received criticism from Catholics.
Finland
In Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
a similar campaign was announced on 16 March 2009 to run on buses in Finland in two of the country's largest cities, Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
and Tampere
Tampere
Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
.
Germany
The German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Atheist Bus Campaign had problems finding a bus company which would run their ads and the official website states that they were rejected by 17 companies from all over Germany. Instead they decided to drive the bus themselves on a tour which will cover 20 major German cities. On each stop the bus will take people from the city on a sightseeing roundtrip with an emphasis on scientific and religious historical developments in respect to secularisation and atheism. This decision was met with mixed reactions from the supporters of the campaign who had originally hoped for a conventional advertising campaign which had succeeded in other countries.
Ireland
The Humanist Association of Ireland
Humanist Association of Ireland
The Humanist Association of Ireland is an Irish organisation that was founded in 1993 to promote Humanism, which they describe as:an ethical philosophy of life, based on a concern for humanity in general, and for human individuals in particular. This view of life combines reason with compassion...
ran a series of advertisements on Dublin commuter trains which they called the Unbelievable Campaign. The campaign was to highlight that judges and the president have to take a religious oath, which effectively stops 250,000 people from taking these posts.
Sweden
In Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the Swedish Humanist Association
Swedish Humanist Association
The Swedish Humanist Association is the largest humanist/rationalist organisation in Sweden with over 4,000 members. It's a member organisation of the International Humanist and Ethical Union ....
ran ads in the Stockholm Metro
Stockholm Metro
The Stockholm Metro is a metro system in Stockholm, Sweden. The first line opened in 1950, and today the system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are underground and 53 above ground. There are seven lines numbered from 10 to 19, in three groups identified by a color: the Green, Red and Blue lines...
during the summer of 2009 with the slogan "Gud finns nog inte", meaning "God probably does not exist" that were influenced by the British ads.
Russia
In Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in September 2010 activists of "Общественное объединение по продвижению секуляризма в России" decided to make the same campaign in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. It is proposed the slogan "По всей видимости Бога нет" (There's probably no God). But clericals in the authorities prohibited it. After the activists were trying to get success via change the Campaign slogan on quotation from art.14 of Constitution of Russia "Russian Federation is a secular state", but clerical lobby prohibited this quotation also. Atheists were refused by Advertising Committee of Moscow, large advertising company News Outdoor (division of News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
of Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
) and small advertising agencies, city bus operator Mosgortrans, etc.". Now activists are collecting donations for "Atheistmobile" to ride in Moscow with Campaign slogan.
Don't Label Me campaign
The final phase of the campaign challenged the idea that children should be labelled with their parents' religion. In November 2009, an ad appeared on billboards, not buses, in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, displaying a young girl's picture with the caption "Please don't label me" followed by "Let me grow up and choose for myself". The background displays phrases ascribing various labels to the child—"Libertarian child", "Catholic child", "Sikh child", "Capitalist child", "Atheist child", "Protestant child", and so forth.On November 21st 2009 it was reported in the Times
Times
The Times is a UK daily newspaper, the original English language newspaper titled "Times". Times may also refer to:In newspapers:*The Times , went defunct in 2005*The Times *The Times of Northwest Indiana...
and the Daily Telegraph that the children featured in the 'Don't Label Me' campaign were from an Evangelical Christian family. The British Humanist Association responded that the photographs had been sourced from a photographic agency website, and that it was unaware of the religious background of the models.
Extraordinary Claims Campaign
In late 2009, CFI Canada announced plans to put ads on Canadian buses with the phrase "Extraordinary Claims require Extraordinary Evidence". Below that phrase it lists AllahAllah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
, bigfoot
Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
, UFOs, Homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
, Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, Psychics and Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
.
External links
- Official site
- Atheist Bus donation page
- The Next Stop donation page
- Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign
- Bus Locations—British Humanist AssociationBritish Humanist AssociationThe British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
- German Atheist Bus Campaign
- New Zealand Atheist Bus Campaign