Friday, May 22, 2009

Atheist Bus Campaign FTW

As readers will know, I thought the 'Atheist Bus' campaign was a clever, well-intentioned gigantic waste of money. Their slogan 'There probably is no God; so stop worrying and enjoy your life' was so watered down and tepid, it made me (a marketing copywriter) cringe a little.

But if clever catchphrases are what was needed, the people behind the 'Atheist Bus' campaign have hit a winner with this; it sums up everything that makes me edgy about so-called 'faith' and it's rejection of science, rationalism and nature.

"Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings."

5 comments:

The Dirty Scottish Bastard said...

OMG!!! I love this one! I'm not a religious man by any means. I grew up with southern batptist influences (can you say front seat to the televangelists show?) but I've strayed and let life guide me.

I've always felt that science provided me with the answers that religion failed to.

Now I look to spirituality. I think most Gen X'ers are heading that way. Maybe it becuase I get what I'm looking for (a sense of calmness and connection with the world) without being told I'll go to hell if I don't change my ways.

Sorry grandma, you can have heaven.....I'm going with Shangrila.

Hopefully the atheist bus will be coming to a community in the Northwest soon.

Thesauros said...

"Religion flies you into buildings"

Just as gutless and watered down as the first attempt. It's Islam and no other religion that would do that but "Oh my! We mustn't do anything dangerous."

Igor said...

Gigantic waste of money indeed. There are cheaper and less obnoxious ways (I have a distaste for bus ads)to speak out. It should be done in public forums such as this one, in stories and novels that challenge religious predilections and superstition (NOT Da Vinci Code or similar rubble). But, perhaps for those who don't read much, bus ads are an eye catcher and can be a source of controversy ripe for the courts.

However, on academic philosophical and sociological level religion still fascinates me.

Igor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Igor said...

"no other religion that would do that "

To be fair, Christians do not commit acts of terrorism on such a large scale (anymore) but that has to do with historical, economic, and social forces rather than its tenets. For when something is without any objective and verifiable foundation, it could mean different things to different people. Indirectly however, Christianity is responsible for millions of deaths during the later parts of 20th century by promoting fallacies about condoms and their use and thereby enabling the spread of HIV/AIDS.