Atheists hope (don't pray) to bring ads to Toronto (G&M)

[jenny_zhang]

Just don't think about it. That's what I try to do.

That's what it's like in Japan and Singapore. There are some religious people, but the majority doesn't really think about it in day to day life and it doesn't affect them. Religious festivals, traditions and etc, are driven by how firmly they're rooted in the culture rather than any real religiosity.

Similar to how many secular Canadians celebrate Christmas.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

The "probably" in the sentence probably means that they're agnostics. I'm an atheist turned agnostic. As a humble human being who never traveled more than 14,000 km from his house, disputing or confirming the presence of a Universal Creator seems a little beyond my abilities.

i disbelieve in the existence of gods but i also allow the possibilities for gods to exist. like i said before, to disprove the existence of something, you would have to observe everything, all at once, forever. if anyone wants to believe in gods, that's fine. just don't anyone claim to know what gods want of us and don't hurt anyone for religious reasons. this message is not aimed at anyone here specifically, just a general statement. we don't now or can know if gods exist so nobody can claim to know greater details and specifics.

I would say that outside of the Internet atheists are the least likely to randomly attempt to argue..

i like to "preach to the choir". it's more for conversation purposes and to share ideas. i constantly have people come up to me and tell me that god will help me (because they see the condition i'm in) and i don't give them grief for saying it. i know they're trying to be nice and do whatever they can to try and help. i also know that belief can help some people feel good and i wouldn't mess up their high for them, as long at they're ethical about it.

this may come as a shock to some but i don't hate jesus. i know that the books that compose the bible were written by men & were copied by scribes and they liked to add their own creativity to the story. i still reserve the possibility that jesus didn't say or do alot of the things the writers wrote about. sometimes i like to think that jesus was a very cool guy that went around helping people and maybe mary magdalene was his girlfriend. maybe they got together, played musical instruments by an olive tree & nursed injured animals back to health or something. who knows? then again, my imagination is not the one that wrote the bible. my character is a different guy from what is written. all the ladies want him and all the men wanna be like him. he's a cool daddy-o and every thursday, he uses his time machine to get to manhattan in the 60's and throws down a mad beat in the cafe on the corner. he smokes but instead of puffing out harsh stuff, it's pure oxygen man!

 

[AKS]

I somehow get the feeling this may create chaos in bad neighbourhoods to do whatever they like. Like robbing people, killing, property damage etc. Though I'm an atheist myself and I hate ads that advertise religion. Advertising don't worry and enjoy life might have other connotations to "do whatever you want, there's no punishment"

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

I somehow get the feeling this may create chaos in bad neighbourhoods to do whatever they like. Like robbing people, killing, property damage etc. Though I'm an atheist myself and I hate ads that advertise religion. Advertising don't worry and enjoy life might have other connotations to "do whatever you want, there's no punishment"

if fear of eternal punishment is all that keeps someone from being evil, i doubt that someone will have weak enough faith to abandon their fear just by looking at billboard.

if someone is evil, their faith can inspire (justify) to actually commit evil acts and faith can actually give someone who is not evil the courage to commit evil acts.


i think a good chunk align themselves with a religion because they were raised that way and they believe (were told over and over) that their religion represents the force of all that is good. of course if you look deeper into the subject, you'll find out that it isn't totally true. in my case, the bible clearly states that nonbelievers will burn in a lake of fire forever, all because they don't know god. the context is that the god of the bible won't help people he doesn't know. i'd help people i don't know. i do it many times. if i saw a stranger about to lose their lives and i could do something about it, i would intervene and save that person. one of my goals in life is to be a better person than the god of the bible. it would be a huge shame to me if i ended up just as bad as him, though i don't know if that would ever be possible.

here's a nice quote..

The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.

-Arthur C. Clarke

 

[khris]

I somehow get the feeling this may create chaos in bad neighbourhoods to do whatever they like. Like robbing people, killing, property damage etc. Though I'm an atheist myself and I hate ads that advertise religion. Advertising don't worry and enjoy life might have other connotations to "do whatever you want, there's no punishment"

Isn't that why we have laws? To take care of people who do bad things?

 

[nfitz]

I somehow get the feeling this may create chaos in bad neighbourhoods to do whatever they like. Like robbing people, killing, property damage etc.[/QUOTE]What a bizarre idea! I don't think anyone has ever suggested any kind of links between atheism and increased crime rates before. I'd have thought if anything it was the opposite, given the amounts of sexual abuse that Christian priests and nuns have been reported to do - as these tend to be true believers, you'd think they were the last ones who'd start doing acts that would by their own beliefs send them to Hell - but it doesn't seem to have much impact on them.

This discussion should probably be in an off-topic forum now.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

so far the atheist bus campaign has collected $16,500.00.

IIRC, they will probably start the ads in springtime. it's a while to go since then. i wonder how much money they will raise?

 

[Hydrogen]

I see nothing wrong with these ads. The fact that some people wish to ban them shows nothing more than intolerance. Besides, the use of the word probably is so tentative it's hard to understand what the fuss is about.

 

[Disparishun]

The fact that some people wish to ban them shows nothing more than intolerance.

Who has proposed to ban them?

 

[urbandreamer]

I can't support this movement because imho it is merely a promotional stunt by the comedian to sell herself.

 

[Hydrogen]

Who has proposed to ban them?

I believe they were banned in Italy. I think some people here would want them banned, based on some of the posts. To be more clear, on the basis of this thread, many people would prefer not to see these ads.

"There's probably no god."

It's clear that such a passive sentence will certainly cause some people to neither relax nor enjoy their own life - particularly when it could interfere with them speaking on behalf of a god (hint: many hard-core believers like to play god).

I honestly could not care less if a person is religious or believes in god. To me it's a personal issue, and that's all. But that has not stopped some religious people from hectoring me and many others to believe in what they want me to believe, or preaching to me without invitation, or telling me that my mortal soul will toast in hell courtesy of a supposedly loving god, etc. All too often, I can turn on the news and hear about people killing each other in large numbers on the basis of differing religious views, or on the basis of what god is alleged to have said to them a long time ago, or because god is on their side, or because they are chosen by god and so on.

No, there probably is no god(s). That, or he/she/them is an underachiever. Either a better PR campaign is required, or some irrefutable verifiable evidence is needed. I'd be more interested in the latter.

As for my beliefs (should you even be remotely interested), I think the cosmos/universe/megaverse/whateverthefuckyouwannacallit (the really big outdoors) is infinite. Anything is possible in infinity, so we are all something that just happens from time to time.

 

[DSC]

This from today's Guardian in UK.

The advertising watchdog has ruled that a controversial atheist ad campaign, which sparked the ire of Christian groups for proclaiming "There is probably no God", did not break its code.

Religious groups including Christian Voice complained to the Advertising Standards Authority arguing that the Atheist Bus Campaign, which ran on buses with the strapline "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life", broke the advertising code on the grounds of substantiation and truthfulness.

The ASA, which said that some of the complaints were that the ad was offensive and denigratory to people of faith, faced the prospect of having to decide if God existed in order to rule on Christian Voice's complaint.

However, the watchdog said today that the British Humanist Association's campaign did not breach the advertising code or mislead consumers and that it therefore would not launch an investigation.

"The ASA council concluded that the ad was an expression of the advertiser's opinion and that the claims in it were not capable of objective substantiation," said the ASA. "Although the ASA acknowledges that the content of the ad would be at odds with the beliefs of many, it concluded that it was unlikely to mislead or to cause serious or widespread offence."

 

[digi]

But that has not stopped some religious people from hectoring me and many others to believe in what they want me to believe, or preaching to me without invitation, or telling me that my mortal soul will toast in hell courtesy of a supposedly loving god, etc

Well said.

notice last week, when that A320 landed on the Hudson, many people 'thanked god' for the safe landing....you never hear that when the plane crashes and there are casualties. Why does god get the credit for the survivors, but not the deaths?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Moved to General Discussion - doesn't really have that much to do with transit.

AoD

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Well said.

notice last week, when that A320 landed on the Hudson, many people 'thanked god' for the safe landing....you never hear that when the plane crashes and there are casualties. Why does god get the credit for the survivors, but not the deaths?

'cause that's the devil's fault.