Is God on the bus? Advertisers believe he probably isn't
Jan 7 2009 by Dan Warburton, The Journal
ADVERTS declaring “there’s probably no God” have been placed on 55 buses around Newcastle after an unprecedented fundraising campaign.
A total of 200 bendy buses in London and 600 buses across England, Scotland and Wales will carry the slogan following a fundraising drive which raised more than £140,000.
They feature lines doubting the existence of God, and celebrating the natural world, written by Albert Einstein, Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Adams and Emily Dickinson.
It is the first atheist advertising campaign in Britain, and similar adverts are running on public transport in America and Spain.
Ariane Sherine, a writer who first thought of the bus adverts, said: “You wait ages for an atheist bus, then 800 come along at once. I hope they will brighten people’s days and make them smile on their way to work.”
The fundraising drive was prompted by a suggestion from comedy writer Ariane Sherine, who received support from the British Humanist Association and atheist campaigner Professor Richard Dawkins.
It is understood there will be 20 vehicles from the Stagecoach Busways depot in Byker, Newcastle, and 20 from their base in Slatyford. Meanwhile there will be 15 buses operating from the Arriva Northumberland’s depot in Jesmond, Newcastle.
The campaign has even been welcomed by religious groups for increasing the profile of debate about faith. Paul Woolley, director of Theos, a theology think-tank which donated £50 to the cause, said: “The posters will encourage people to consider the most important question we will ever face in our lives.” Some atheist supporters of the campaign were disappointed that the wording of the adverts did not declare categorically that God does not exist, although there were fears that this could break advertising guidelines.
Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said the adverts were “overwhelmingly positive” and were intended to reassure agnostics and atheists that there is nothing wrong with not believing in God.
