Atheist bus adverts could lead to watchdog ruling
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Topic: Atheist bus adverts could lead to watchdog ruling
Posted By: Zagros
Subject: Atheist bus adverts could lead to watchdog ruling
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2009 at 13:52
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on god's existence. "There's probably no god, now stop worrying and enjoy your life." will be plastered on busses across the country (originally it was only meant for London but generous donations from members of the public have turned it national). Technically, the slogan is an agnostic statement since it isn't definitive. Funny, if slightly pointless. Though I object to the religious fanatics who find it offensive since no one complains when they plaster their pointless AND unfunny slogans hither and thither or try to bnrainwash or emotionally blackmail you into their respective cults. More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4177717/Atheist-bus-adverts-could-lead-to-watchdog-ruling-on-Gods-existence.html |
Replies:
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2009 at 14:38
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The add is attacking the religious industry, a trillion dollar bussines worldwide... No wonder there is a reaction. The tobbaco industry also counterattacked. ------------- |
Posted By: Parnell
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2009 at 14:58
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This is mad - walking down a Dublin street today I saw a massive billboard sign saying something like 'repent, and ye shall be saved' or something equally ludicrous. If they can do it, so can we. ------------- |
Posted By: Aster Thrax Eupator
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2009 at 21:04
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true, but I think that having it completely over busses is far more provocative - religious groups in England don't do that to such an extent ------------- |
Posted By: Cryptic
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2009 at 21:23
Notice, even the atheists say "there is probably no god"... . Maybe they are hedging their bets  .
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Posted By: Constantine XI
Date Posted: 09-Jan-2009 at 21:31
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This advert was in response to religious adverts on buses threatening people with going to hell for disbelief - the atheist response is a measured and pleasant one. I don't see how bus adverts threatening people with hell should not be subjected to scrutiny if these less offensive ones are.
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Posted By: JanusRook
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 00:28
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But...but...they're corrupting our youth..... Ha, as if an advertisement can change the hearts of people. I'm certain their just as effective as the religious advertisements. Personally I think they should stop the ads by the end of the year because by then the joke (and publicity) will be over but till then laugh it up everyone. ------------- Economic Communist, Political Progressive, Social Conservative. Unless otherwise noted source is wiki. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 00:32
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Excellent point!!
Advertisement is useless. I just wonder when companies that promote products through adds will figure it out that. ------------- |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 02:13
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That's the primary problem I see with the issue. Religious groups advertise, futilely, because they believe themselves to be right and wish to 'save' others. Atheist advertisements serve no purpose because, if there is no God, then it doesn't matter what we believe. Hence Atheist/Agnostic advertisements can only serve the purpose of antagonising religious groups as a sort of 'pay-back' for their advertisements.
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Posted By: Constantine XI
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 04:19
This is true. And in the process perhaps this will discourage religious groups from putting up advertisements which tell people they will burn forever unless they believe such-and-such. Which is a worthwhile objective, no one likes to be confronted with personally unpleasant messages as they board public transport. ------------- |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 04:32
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It seems silly from both sides in my opinion on the matter. The belief in one particular and the disbelief in all are both trespassing in the public sphere. Such adverts should remain private, within the individual sphere, and should not be allowed to create useless debate between two set opinions on a relative truth or untruth. ------------- |
Posted By: Suren
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 06:02
viva la atheists!
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 06:17
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While most religious ads are definitely a touch intrusive, I still do have to condemn the Atheist advertisements as both immature and intentionally provocative.
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Posted By: JanusRook
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 06:22
Actually advertisements for products do work if a product is searching for brand recognition. However once a market is saturated it does no good to continuously advertise, I'm looking at Coke, McDonald's, CNN. But if I have a brand of Cola called Janus Cola, I'll have to get some advertisement out for people to get to know my product. ------------- Economic Communist, Political Progressive, Social Conservative. Unless otherwise noted source is wiki. |
Posted By: Omar al Hashim
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 07:55
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Firstly I should point out that this is religious fundamentalism, from an atheist perspective. It is as has been pointed out exactly the same as the "Join Jesus" type billboards. Personally I would like to see both Christian and Atheist advertisements banned. All they do is demean the religion they are supposed to be representing. But if one is allowed the other has to be. On a related link to the above, the same type of adverts have been blocked in Australia. Not surprising, given our current & historical track record on Freedom of Speech (Suppress it! Only conservatism allowed in Australia  )http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/4159715/Atheist-bus-Sleep-in-on-Sunday-morning-adverts-banned.html ------------- |
Posted By: Constantine XI
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 08:33
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I think the point of the atheist advertisements is being missed by just about everyone here. The point is not to influence people to join a certain faith (or abandon one). The point is it is a form of protest. Because for once the evangelicals are on the receiving end of their own style of propaganda. And as a form of protest it has worked beautifully. It has created headlines around the world, and the financial donations for it have been so vast that the project has expanded far beyond its initial modest aims and are now running the advertisements for an extended period, nationwide. This should give the evangelicals some idea of just how sick and tired the general public is of their unsolicited preaching, and that they are willing to put their money where their mouth is to prove it. Indeed, it is a very civilised way of sending a message of protest to predatory evangelical groups, and the huge backing it has garnered only adds to the triumph of this protest. ------------- |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 09:58
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Isn't that sort of protest akin to 'fighting for peace' or other commonly quoted examples though?
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Posted By: Constantine XI
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 10:14
Not that I can see. Would you care to substantiate how that perspective is true? ------------- |
Posted By: Omar al Hashim
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 10:45
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Well its just going to make atheists look as bad as Christians, unless you get it (which 40-60% probably won't). Although I do respect the style of the protest.
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Posted By: Constantine XI
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 10:59
The 40-60% who don't get it will just forget about it soon enough. If they aren't in tune enough to figure out the meaning of the protest, they aren't likely to remember in a few weeks anyway. Any negative press for atheists will be minor and short lived. The targets of the protest, the evangelicals, will take note - and I dare say the more intelligent among them will understand the message (not the one on the bus, the one that made them put the ads on the bus). ------------- |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10-Jan-2009 at 11:21
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Yet this message isn't exactly going to stop them, especially if it DOES result in some negative press for Atheists. More likely it will result in a step up in Christian advertisements, which I also do not want to see as they're typically from far-right-wing evangelicals. Regarding my previous analogy, are not Atheists producing annoying signs to counter annoying signs? Which in many ways is making them what they are complaining about, hence my reference to sayings such as 'drinking for sobriety' and the like. ------------- |
Posted By: Constantine XI
Date Posted: 12-Jan-2009 at 05:06
I see your point, however, I still think the atheist advertisements in this case are both logical and pragmatic. It is possible the evangelicals will try to make more advertisements. But their organisation has finite financial resources, and can only drain their supporters of so much money. Additional financial strain is going to unbalance their organisation. It is more likely that the scale of the atheist advertisements will give them an idea of just how widely the general public in the UK is opposed to evangelical advertising. To continue to pour money into such a demographic would result in a poor return on investment (lots of money invested for minimal conversion numbers). It seems more likely that they would instead either invest their advertising money in other areas e.g. charity works, or simply reorient their unsolicited preaching to a new country. I don't think the analogy with "drinking for sobriety" is a valid one, but I do think the "fighting for freedom" is a valid one. For years now non-evanglical people have done the opposite of the evangelicals: nothing. Has it worked? No. If anything, zero response has emboldened these evangelical groups to escalate their advertisements to the point of publicly threatening commuters with becoming hell bound. When an army invades a nation, it will probably conquer it if it meets no opposition. Having met no substantial opposition, evangelical groups continue to expand their operations in both scope an intensity. When the invaded nation develops the willpower to create a well designed defence force, it can repulse the invader. When the general public develops the willpower to intelligently show their displeasure at unsolicited and threatening public advertisements, they too can stimulate the retreat of the organisations making those statements. ------------- |
Posted By: eaglecap
Date Posted: 12-Jan-2009 at 20:23
I do not know about England but here in the USA that is called free speech and while I don't agree with these atheist it is their right to speak freely. I would suggest that any religious person who would get offended by this is insecure in his/her faith, whatever that would be. I would defend the athiest to speak freely like I would Christians in the USA. or any group!! ------------- Λοιπόν, αδελφοί και οι συμπολίτες και οι στρατιώτες, να θυμάστε αυτό ώστε μνημόσυνο σας, φήμη και ελευθερία σας θα ε |
Posted By: Omar al Hashim
Date Posted: 13-Jan-2009 at 00:49
It just occurred to me that the portion of the human brain that thought up these advertisements is exactly the same portion of the human brain that prompts Hamas to shoot rockets at Israel. Quite a different situation of course, but the reaction is analogous. ------------- |
Posted By: Constantine XI
Date Posted: 13-Jan-2009 at 04:00
I agree with your analysis. The part of the brain you are looking for here is the amygdala, which is responsible for the fight/flight response an organism makes when it encounters a threat. ------------- |
Posted By: gcle2003
Date Posted: 13-Jan-2009 at 10:59
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Everybody seems to be overlooking the fact that these ads say 'Don't worry' whereas they are countering ads that say 'Be fearful'.
That seems to me to be rather more important than any message about the existence or otherwise of God.
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 13-Jan-2009 at 11:57
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Personally I would disagree. An ad saying "don't worry", while a nice little upper, doesn't really serve any purpose. So what you're really saying is that the key difference is meaning. One, depending on your views, may have one. The other really lacks an objective or real meaning. I do agree with eaglecap though, it is within their rights to say what they do, good taste or not. ------------- |
Posted By: gcle2003
Date Posted: 13-Jan-2009 at 15:56
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If it's a 'nice little upper' of course it serves a purpose: it cheers people up. Lots of people have found the whole thing amusing, which can only be good, unless you prefer people to be unhappy.
And if anything I was saying the key difference is not in meaning, but in effect. Effect is usually more important than meaning in advertising.
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