I just read an article on BBC news about a ‘No God’ campaign backed by the British Humanist Association which has posters on 800 buses in England, Scotland and Wales with the slogan ‘There’s Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying And Enjoy Your Life.’
I seriously don’t get why do atheists, agnostics or any other non-Christians in a generalised way think and believe that faith in God is about rules, regulations, worry, intimidation and suppression. Have they even attempted to read the Bible in context and try to understand the beauty, relevancy and usefulness of it? To see it from an open mindset and learn that it is possible to apply the teachings of the Bibles to day to day life? To see how relevant it is to modern day society as the human nature has not changed over the past two millennia but yes, the mode of transportation has, from donkeys to cars.
The human nature is still full of pride, lust, deceit, greed and anger. This does not and will not change over time. And you know what? The Bible addresses all of them.
Anyways, back to the campaign slogan. First of all, let’s break down the slogan into three parts.
- There’s probably no God.
- Believing in God will make you worry.
- Believing in God will make you not enjoy your life.
I won’t be addressing point 1 as that’s a big topic and it’ll take forever to address it. However, I’d like to point out point 2 and 3.
I’m glad the atheist’s agree that we should stop worrying. Even Jesus said so, but much earlier.
25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28″And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:25-34
The second point that the atheist’s encourage you to do is to enjoy your life. Well, Jesus said that too! Surprise surprise!
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. – John 10:10
Well, some might argue that the advertising campaign is just for laughs and Christians should just chill and laugh with it. So what if we rephrased the slogan to ‘God probably exists. Now Stop Worrying And Enjoy Your Life’?
I wonder what and how the atheists might respond to that.
Since there are many shills who sell “get fulfilment in {deity} quickly” I guess this is a fine counter point paid with private money to offer people who feel there’s no deity to worry about some solace. You believe in Jesus, others believe in Buddha others in Shiva etc… We’re very chilled out, our only worry is for those burdened by their faithful peers with guilt for not believing enough. We want to tell them: well not believing is the most reasonable thing to do and there are many morally upright people who do the same…
Yes, it is unfortunate that there are many people who exploit people using religion for big bucks. And this is undeniably wrong, even those who claim faith in God. You know what? Even the Bible warns us against people like these.
True believers of Christ do share the same worry as well, that is why it is important to shed some light and truthfulness to all this in a world of confusion and chaos, where there’s no standard of morality anymore but defined by the individual.
And this is the part that we do not seemingly agree upon. I want to tell them that believing is the most reasonable and logical thing to do. Not because of morality but because Christianity isn’t about that.
It is about an intimate relationship with God who loves and cares for us and the world. The rest stems from that.
Well, for starters, there are people who have experienced negative emotions associated with religion – fear of going to Hell, of displeasing God, of not having enough faith, etc., etc. (And please, no more of this nonsense about how no “true” Christian would teach that or these people didn’t believe in “real” Christianity. You strike me as a fairly intelligent fellow and it would be a shame if you fell victim to the No True Scotsman fallacy.) I have personally known many people who felt freed by the realisation that there is no God; they no longer had to shoulder the fear and guilt and worry that comes from many of the stricter Christian sects. It’s nice that you feel so happy in your faith, but the same isn’t true for everyone.
Also, most atheists actually don’t consider the fact that we don’t believe in God a particularly big honking deal, any more than you mope around the house feeling depressed because Santa Claus isn’t real. It’s the believers who run around making a fuss over our existence and trying to convince us of our sinful ways – and again, if you don’t do this, well done you, but please don’t attempt to deny that there are people like that out there.
The purpose of the ads, as I see it, is twofold. First, and most importantly, it’s to show people who may be having doubts about their religion that atheism is not the end of the world. It is possible to lead a meaningful and enjoyable life without belief in God, and there’s no need to despair, and moreover they are not alone in not believing.
The other purpose is to remind people who *are* religious that atheists exist, we have a right to express our opinions just as much as believers, and we are not going to sit quietly off to one side so we’re easy to ignore. If these bus ads said “God loves you” and an atheist complained, what would you be saying? “You’re quite right, it’s not fair for Christians to push their views on you”? Or, “But we honestly believe that God does love you and we think you’d be better off if you saw the truth of that”?
If the religious did not shove their beliefs down the throats of the general public there would be no need for any atheist response. And how long did it take you to trawl through your bible to find the exact sentences to support your point of view. Pathetic really.
Are you not a little old for imaginary friends? Do you still believe in Santa too, what about pixies and fairies?
I realise that this comment could be classed as attacking your beliefs but I don’t give a fuck, as far as I’m concerned religion is a form of insanity anyway.
This is somewhat ironic.
Of the three observations you have made, points 2 and 3 are simply your personal interpretations of the slogan, just like the many taught interpretations of the Holy Bible you and many others may believe in as Christians. To me, no one interpretation is any more compelling than the other.
I *personally* interpret the Atheist Bus Campaign slogan thusly:
1. The Atheist proposition: There is probably no God.
2. Question: Why would you spend your time on this Earth thinking about the the _existance_ of a God?
3. Advice: Go and enjoy your life the way you best see fit.
Number 2 may appear to be a someone non-question, shouldn’t decided Theists and Atheists alike already not spend their time thinking about the existance of God, having already ‘made up their mind’, so to speak? I think both campaigns are targetting the Apatheists here, particuarly those who believe on paper or come from Christian upbringings but aren’t actually practicing.
As an Atheist I have absolutely no problem with people reading the Bible and/or deriving wisdom and knowledge from it. The Bible is, afterall, a massively important historical document. A document which must be taken in historical context, a context in which the Christian faith has been undeniably been used again and again as a political device. To deny this has had an influence on the Bible text or other religious texts is absurd, but here we are two thousand years are the supposed birth of Jesus Christ and the words of the Bible are being used in such a context again. It is this process of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) based on the study of a single text, which the Atheist campaign is responding to.
To me, the fact that Christian representatives have reported the Atheist Bus Campaign to the Advertising Standards Authority is just evidence of the fact that most Christians have confused the search of wisdom, knowledge and the raising of philosophical questions with the search for some… ‘truth’, divine or otherwise.
Apologies for some of the spelling and grammatical errors above, I thought 20 minutes before lunch was sufficient time to be spending on a comment on this topic but hunger got the best of me.
Hit this website for a rational response to religion.
Indigo: Those who have experienced negative emotions associated with religion I believe in my own opinion anyway (related to Christianity) that they’ve misunderstood what it’s all about or the Christians around them have not presented Christianity in the right way. Instead of condemnation and judgment, peace, love and hope.
I’m ashamed to admit that yes, the church has done a very bad job at this. The “Good News” has become bad news for a lot of people when that’s not how the role of the church was meant to be.
And I’m also not advocating the “No True Scotsman fallacy”. I believe that when the Bible is understood the right way, the truth essence of this “Good News” is actually mean to be, well, good! Unfortunately, Christians are still humans and thus, fallible. No doubt about that. I do not claim that being a Christian makes you perfect. It is us humans and our sinful nature that have corrupted the image of God.
So I guess what I’m saying is, blame us fallible, imperfect humans but don’t blame or disregard God himself.
Look, end of the day let’s take a look at what the Bible says and not what people say. I’d say if you took the time and effort to read and understand it, you’d be surprised to what you’ll find.
anonymous: I consider myself religious but I don’t shove my beliefs down people’s throats. In fact, the Bible never did instruct Christians to shove the Good News down the throats but to share and move on if people don’t want to listen to it (Matthew 10:11-16).
And no, it doesn’t take long to trawl through your Bible if you know it well :) Besides, there’s a thing called an online bible where you can search. You do know that Christians use technology right?
Perhaps you probably fit the generalisation I made in my post.
R Dawkins: No, I don’t believe in Santa, fairies and pixies. Do you? I hope not.
I beg to differ, I did read the bible, in fact i did bible studies. I went to a catholic school, and you know what a lot of the bible says? it spouts archaic and aggressive ideals in reference to sexual equality, the church that builds itself around it, condemning women’s rights to control their own bodies, people’s rights to experience their own loves and people for living lives of their own choice.
For young girls of the faith, who do they look to? a virgin mother…. the apitomy of unobtainable.
The church look the other way regarding priests sexually abusing children and the pope comes out and denounces the use of condoms as a preventative measure from HIV/AIDS.
I HAVE done my homework, and I am an athiest, I believe religion kills more people then it really save, directly or indirectly, and I will never actively support someone in taking part in one. as an educated person, i respect others choices, but in turn i expect the same, and I am truly sick of being told i owe something to a figment of the human mind in its attempt to justify and give pertinence to one’s life.
amanda: I never grew up as a Catholic nor know much about the Catholicism doctrine. However, the bible definitely defends and empowers women’s rights.
It was women whom Jesus first revealed his resurrection to (Luke 12:1-12) in a time and society where women were not treated as an equal and were unable to be witnesses. Even the disciples did not believe their witness at first.
It was a woman who Jesus defended (John 8:1-11) when caught for adultery in a time and society where most likely women were to be blamed for such things instead of men. Even today in parts of the middle east, it is a woman’s fault if she is raped. How ridiculous is that?
In Judges 4, it was a woman called Deborah who was a great judge, prophetess and a military leader.
If you want to argue that the bible doesn’t want people to live their lives of their own choices, you are absolutely right. That is like saying a parent doesn’t want their child to play with fire in case they get burnt and suffer from their mistakes. God always looks out for our best interests whether you like it or not for he is a loving God.
Young girls of faith to only have the virgin mother to look up to? Where in the bible does it say that? Jesus is the only true God and a divine human being so I don’t know why Catholics pray to Mary and revere her so much. God is always first.
The thing I have against the catholic doctrine is that it seems like their core focus is on priests, church and traditions, but not God himself first and formerly. Why do you look to the Pope, the church and priests first for answers? What happened to God and God’s word?
I don’t really see a reason for a pope. Jesus is the great high priest (Hebrews 7:26-28) and you have the holy spirit. Confession of sin and prayer does not need to go through a priest anymore (like in the olden times) but directly to God himself.
Would you blame science if humans used science to develop a nuclear bomb for destructive and evil purposes, or would you blame the people who did that? Would you blame God if sinful humans (including Christians) such as priests who are involved in child sexual abuse and corruption, or would you blame the priests for their downfall?
And you are also correct. Religion is destructive. Religion is what you get when you take God out of it. Christianity was never meant to be a religion/organisation. It is a loving, intimate and wonderful relationship between man and God.
*sigh*
How “useful” is the Bible exactly? Does it tell us how to cure disease? Feed the millions who are starving through scientific application of plant and animal breeding? Does it tell us how to reattach severed limbs (because your god can’t seem to manage that one…)? No? Well then, how can you say the Bible is “useful, except in a “it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside” way?
I hvae read the Bible several times. I’m always surprised at what I find. Genocide, infanticide, patricide, sodomy, rape, torture and war. It is a book that advocates slavery, selling your children into marriage and advises legal ways to rape young girls. How is this a “moral” tome that enriches the world? It’s not even good literature once you hit all those x begat x who begat x who begat x bits…
I also cannot see how this is in any way “debunked” the “probably no God” slogan either. You make a few vague “read the Bible” statements and that is supposed to trump anything? I’m afraid you have to show your workings – real life doesn’t work like that. Although, I hope in your daily life, you don’t cut the corners of your beard, wear clothes of mixed fibres or eat unclean animals. Otherwise you’ll be roasting for a while in the hell you so like to threaten others with…
Oh, and the Bible wasn’t the first to postulate the ideas of “enjoy life” either, so you can’t claim that as a high point.
Your arguments are weak, your reasoning spurious and your conclusions based on fallacies. Sorry.
1/10 Must try harder.
In fact, try reading anything that isn’t the Bible. You might learn something.
Sorry guys for the late reply. I’m on holidays, thus my access to the Internet is somewhat limited.
Andrew: Yes it’s true that people have different interpretations of the Bible and I would be somewhat surprised if they were all the same. Likewise, if you gave 5 people the same news article about the war on Israel and Hamas, their individual interpretations would be somewhat different, however the fundamental truth of it would be the same.
This is also true with reading the scriptures. No matter what, the Biblical interpretations must be consistent with the rest of the Bible and the fundamental truth & message should always remain the same.
With regards to point 2, with the understanding that the Bible is such a huge influence historically and archaeologically as a reliable source, it would be absurd to not look into further what Jesus had to say. In the end, if you’ve given it much thought and consideration and yet decide this is a load of rubbish, that’s fine but please don’t disregard it without some actual logical, scientific and methodological process of analysing what the Bible is all about.
For point 3, I would say the statement “Go and enjoy your life the way you best see fit” would be quite a dangerous statement. To different people, “enjoy life” may be very different. Once again it is an issue of standards which isn’t measured against an absolute standard but the subjective standards of each individual.
For example, enjoying life for one person may be going out fishing and enjoying the summer’s warmth, and for another may be getting drunk and mugging people on the street just for kicks. A lot of people claim that they are “good people” but that once again is very subjective unless measured against an absolute standard which the Bible provides.
For example, many people believe that “lying” is actually ok because it doesn’t physically hurt anyone. However, there are so many broken relationships and marriages which stem from dishonesty and lying to one another.
I think if the atheists are searching for wisdom and knowledge, that is fine and even the Bible encourages it. However, I think that the reason why the Christian representatives have reported the campaign to the ADA is because the statement or claim by the campaign has no background evidence supporting it which I’m sure breaches the advertising laws.
If Coca Cola has an advertisement claiming that Pepsi is fake, contains harmful preservatives and doesn’t taste good, I’m pretty sure Pepsi will file a complaint. But because the Christian representatives are doing the same, why the big hoo-hah? It’s the same concept.
Mark: How useful is the Bible exactly? When was the last time you read it properly? The Bible deals with the human heart, one of the fundamental reasons why there is hurt and suffering in this world. It is the human heart that turns something beautiful into ugly.
Take for example the Internet. The Internet has many uses in terms of communication and information wealth. We’ve been able to do things that we never thought possible. However, there’s also email phishing, scams and cyber attacks which make the Internet not safe at the same time. And please don’t tell me that this is the course of “nature” or “evolution”. The sinful nature of human beings have indeed corrupted it as well.
I also believe that the formation law has also had Christian influences in it (although I haven’t done research into it). Hey, what about Mother Theresa, Salvation Army and the Red Cross? I mean, if you actually put some thought and researched into it, you’ll find the countless amount positive influence that Christianity has had in the world.
End of the day, I don’t think you’ve done any homework and have probably heard all this stories from third party Christian flaming groups. I don’t blame you. A lot of people are like you and it is unfortunate that the church and even Christians have made a bad name for itself. But hey, I’m trying my best here :)
I’m a Catholic and I myself am on a spiritual journey. I totally agree with your comment and the campaign should have said “believing in a religion will make you worry”. Because, well, as you have said, when you take God out of a religion, whichever it is, it is merely a religion with a set of rules that you blindly follow and make you suffer.
Well now just my 2 cents on your specific comment elsewhere on this page :)
I belong to a religion with a strong structure and history, which I believe dates way back to the times of the Apostles hence still practicing traditions inherited from the first Church (the Papacy, the Creed, etc.). However, I also belong to a religion who has slain countless souls, raped children, and chopped Copernicus’ head for claiming that the Earth is round although it was already proven 10 centuries before and even recorded in the Koran.
I do not stand in their defence nor try to judge their deeds because they are humans who make mistakes. The Pope has formally apologised for the past sins of the Roman Catholic Church, which proves they are not Divine Beings. I believe this is normal; just as normal as Protestant Priests who sleep with others’ wives or as Gandhi having a beef burger for lunch. We all sin.
So, Priests do sin. Popes do sin (and some of them sinned really really badly). That is why we do not pray to Priests, nor the Pope, nor the saints nor Mother Mary.
We pray through them, not to them. It’s like asking your friends to pray with you in your times of grieve, or in thankful joy. It is a sin to pray to other beings than God himself. However, when you know there are others praying with you, you can feel more assured and your faith strengthens.
As you have said too, there are a lot of interpretations to this. At the end of the day, religions don’t save people. Nothing can save people. We are saved solely because of God’s mercy.
Totally agree with this. Although differing interpretations, the underlying and fundamental message of God’s word cannot be different.
It’s worrying for me as I’ve met a lot of Catholics who seem to get the idea that they are praying to these saints/priests, and not necessarily through them. The problem I can see with this is that we may tend to rely on these priests/church leaders to ‘pray for us’ too much that when you hear stories of fallen priests/church leaders, their faith wavers and crumbles beneath their feet.
That is why I would rather spur on Christians to solidify their faith onto Christ alone first and formerly and then employ the help of other Christians as a means of encouragement. Definitely God did not create us to be individuals but to be part of the body of Christ, to help one another.
I have nothing intellectual to say about the post but to Danny, keep up the faith!
If people think Christianity is a bed of roses then they are wrong. It is indeed a difficult journey, carrying the cross, standing up for your faith when everyone around you does not bother or even try to dissuade you from believing what is true. It is of the times which the Bible had prophesied, but we must stand firm.
Ultimately, we have to account for all deeds that we have done on this face of the earth to God, regardless of whether you believe it or not. Sometimes I’m tempted to tell ppl, “well, you’ll find out when the end has come” but that’s the lazy man’s way to not share what we believe is true.
ive just read sum of the bullshit bible and from my point ur a cult always will be ..it starts out as god then goes 2 lord god as if its 4 mind controll …2nd if adam n eve the way its talks about them they sound 2 have enough human instinxs 2 not touch if anything the man wuld eat the fruit not the woman ..the church is a money make bizzness so if it was found not 2 be true they wuld have 2 work insted of rooting little boys …and from the friut till now days no womon controll any thing in churchs ..y..because ther scared the will change it and the truth will be told…it says nothing in there apart from how 2 controll ppl and there minds…. ur a cult with money thats all…i think u shuld belive in somthing ..its called ur self…
For the sake of transparency I will publish your comment. But definitely not worth my time & effort addressing it.