The Atheist Bus

What on earth is the world coming to? A group of individuals is now raising funds to pay for advertising on the side of London buses that states "There's probably no God - now stop worrying and enjoy your life." What is this message supposed to mean and who exactly is it aimed at? Presumably atheists are already enjoying life knowing that there is no God. Religious folk are already enjoying life knowing that there is a God. And agnostics probably don't really care either way - they are too busy enjoying life to have time to really consider the issue. I have come across some agnostics who are "searching" but I don't think I have ever met one who is "worrying", certainly not to the extent that they are not enjoying life.



Or is the message supposed to mean that religious folk don't enjoy life? If so it betrays a sad misunderstanding of the situation. Certainly there are a few miserable looking individuals who go to church but, as far as Christians are concerned, one of the "gifts of the spirit" is joy. Statistics also show that people with an active faith life have, on average, a longer life expectancy than those without.



It seems like a sad case of sour grapes to me. The atheists are fed up with seeing various Christian slogans on the side of buses and elsewhere and are trying to retaliate, just to let everyone know they are there. But what is the point of trying to sell nothing? It's like Sainsburys taking out a full page ad in the Times to announce the fact that they are NOT selling bread this week. The atheist lobby, apparently, claim that it is wrong of religious folk to make out that atheism is an absence of anything. Instead, they say, it "constitutes a body of belief in humanity and its virtues". They want it to be known that they have a strong moral framework. ......... exactly what most religious people would claim. The only thing that makes atheists different is the negative aspects. They want to claim the glory but they don't want to acknowledge where it comes from. Christian tradition has it that there was once an angel in the same position - and he came to a rather unfortunate end and has been reviled by most people ever since. Certainly not something you would want to advertise on the side of a London bus!