This Will “Probably” Cause a Stir

A few weeks ago, I did a post on various atheist “campaigns.” Many of you who commented seemed to think the ads were purchased to drum up support/membership for the organizations that sponsored them. I felt that the efforts were aimed at a somewhat larger goal: to let others with religious doubts know that they’re not alone and/or to spur people to think about the possibility that god(s) do not exist.

Well I’m curious to know what you all think about this one. A new atheist bus campaign has just started all over England on 800 buses funded completely by donations. Clearly the donors are not looking to be repaid… so what’s behind it?

I also find it curious, if you read through some of the comments at Dawkins’ site (linked above), that the Christian commenters really seem to take issue with the “probably”. I guess they see it as a weakness in the atheist argument, a fatal flaw that shows how empty the atheist view is. To me it is exactly what any scientifically-minded atheist/agnostic/realist/humanist should say. It is not a weakness of one’s position to be open to being wrong, openness is not a weakness… why would a Christian think that it is?

Oh, and do watch this video. Ariane Sherine is… well… er, you can see plainly what she is!

The Vileness of “Imagine No Religion”?

 

   Most of you have probably heard about the Atheist “ads” that have gone up in various spots in the U.S. and England. Last year the Freedom From Religion Foundation did an “Imagine No Religion” campaign that looked something like this…

In response, some within the religious community have had “extreme” reactions. Bishop Council Nedd from In God We Trust is a good example. Nedd characterizes the billboard above as a “vile message demanding Americans to abandon faith.”

Really? Is that what he sees when he looks at that phrase. This reaction is, I think, telling. I’ve often wondered how two equally religious folks can get nearly opposite meanings out of the same scriptural passage, and perhaps this gives me some indication… what they see may not coincide with what is actually written. Religion works on the mind in mysterious ways. It seems to warp one’s very experience of the outside world. I also had to chuckle at Bishop Nedd’s closing line:

…despite the continued efforts of the most radical members of the American atheist movement, we are winning, America is winning and God is winning.