I see very little that's positive about this campaign.
I guess I don't see what all the fuss is about. This advert a) is the first of its kind that I've become aware of, and b) isn't trying to threaten or harass or cajole anyone into doing anything except take a step back from their lives and think positively.
so long as they don't seek to impose that faith or its tenets on others?
The point about faith is that it does, quite often, seek to impose its tenets on others. More or less constantly in fact. Even leaving aside advertising and TV programmes, religion is a constant and implicit presence in my life. I live in a predominantly Christian country. We still have blasphemy laws. Religious advertising is so commonplace that it's not even newsworthy. To drive ten minutes to work I pass three churches, a synagogue and a sikh temple (one of those churches has a cheesy billboard with Christian slogans). This one ad campaign is a tiny drop in the ocean compared to that. The crucial difference, in my opinion, is that it's a response to those religious adverts. Without them, it would not exist or need to exist. This is very much a small voice attempting to point out that there are other options, even though you tend not to hear about them or see them promoted very often. As I said, I see this as a "brand awareness" promotion - atheists exist and contrary to what you read aren't all amoral nihilists. In a subtle (and minor) way it's an anti-discrimination advert as much as that Stonewall one.
It smacks of the same snide condescension with which the missionary religious accost the secular.
At the very worst, it's no more harmful than a religious advert, but it seems hard to read it a snide. I might go as far as cheeky. Indeed a lot of the responses including that Barrow piece are themselves quite condescending in a 'cheerful pat on the head' kind of way. (I also think there's a qualitative difference between religious faith, and a set of rational opinions about religion, but then I would, wouldn't I?)
I don't see that the world would be that much better if religion were to go away.
I personally don't think religious belief will ever go away, or if it seemingly does will just morph into some pseudo-scientific version of itself. Religious belief is a deeply attractive way of thinking, part of our upbringing, and tightly bound up with culture heritage and personal identity. Most people aren't going to stop following such human impulses. On the other hand, I do think that if more people were led to question religious tenets and rote adherence to religious doctrine, there might be one less source of fanaticism in the world. Religion doesn't cause intolerance, but it does far too frequently encourage it. And I think that asking people, gently, to critically think through their preconceptions about *anything* is a healthy and positive thing. It encourages a skeptical mindset that's very healthy in all sorts of other areas of life. I certainly don't think atheist advertising will cause religion to go away, but that doesn't mean it serves no purpose.
Addressing any one of these would probably be a better use of £73,000.
Well yes, but addressing one of these would also be a better use of people's money than funding religious advertising, or going down the cinema, or buying a season ticket to their football club, but people do all of those too -- often in addition to giving to charity. Of all the things that may be diverting funds from solving the world's ills, an atheist advertising campaign on London buses must be near the bottom of the list.
it seems incredibly silly to me to suggest that just because a person ceases to believe in God they have nothing to worry about anymore
I don't think the ad is trying to say "Hey! Nothing to worry about any more!" It's trying to say "Hey! One less thing to worry about!" And of course it's trying to address some preconceptions about religions offering reassurance and atheists offering bleakness. I also think it's received media coverage and a negative response far out of proportion to its likely impact, simply because it's a complete novelty.
no subject
I guess I don't see what all the fuss is about. This advert a) is the first of its kind that I've become aware of, and b) isn't trying to threaten or harass or cajole anyone into doing anything except take a step back from their lives and think positively.
so long as they don't seek to impose that faith or its tenets on others?
The point about faith is that it does, quite often, seek to impose its tenets on others. More or less constantly in fact. Even leaving aside advertising and TV programmes, religion is a constant and implicit presence in my life. I live in a predominantly Christian country. We still have blasphemy laws. Religious advertising is so commonplace that it's not even newsworthy. To drive ten minutes to work I pass three churches, a synagogue and a sikh temple (one of those churches has a cheesy billboard with Christian slogans). This one ad campaign is a tiny drop in the ocean compared to that. The crucial difference, in my opinion, is that it's a response to those religious adverts. Without them, it would not exist or need to exist. This is very much a small voice attempting to point out that there are other options, even though you tend not to hear about them or see them promoted very often. As I said, I see this as a "brand awareness" promotion - atheists exist and contrary to what you read aren't all amoral nihilists. In a subtle (and minor) way it's an anti-discrimination advert as much as that Stonewall one.
It smacks of the same snide condescension with which the missionary religious accost the secular.
At the very worst, it's no more harmful than a religious advert, but it seems hard to read it a snide. I might go as far as cheeky. Indeed a lot of the responses including that Barrow piece are themselves quite condescending in a 'cheerful pat on the head' kind of way. (I also think there's a qualitative difference between religious faith, and a set of rational opinions about religion, but then I would, wouldn't I?)
I don't see that the world would be that much better if religion were to go away.
I personally don't think religious belief will ever go away, or if it seemingly does will just morph into some pseudo-scientific version of itself. Religious belief is a deeply attractive way of thinking, part of our upbringing, and tightly bound up with culture heritage and personal identity. Most people aren't going to stop following such human impulses. On the other hand, I do think that if more people were led to question religious tenets and rote adherence to religious doctrine, there might be one less source of fanaticism in the world. Religion doesn't cause intolerance, but it does far too frequently encourage it. And I think that asking people, gently, to critically think through their preconceptions about *anything* is a healthy and positive thing. It encourages a skeptical mindset that's very healthy in all sorts of other areas of life. I certainly don't think atheist advertising will cause religion to go away, but that doesn't mean it serves no purpose.
Addressing any one of these would probably be a better use of £73,000.
Well yes, but addressing one of these would also be a better use of people's money than funding religious advertising, or going down the cinema, or buying a season ticket to their football club, but people do all of those too -- often in addition to giving to charity. Of all the things that may be diverting funds from solving the world's ills, an atheist advertising campaign on London buses must be near the bottom of the list.
it seems incredibly silly to me to suggest that just because a person ceases to believe in God they have nothing to worry about anymore
I don't think the ad is trying to say "Hey! Nothing to worry about any more!" It's trying to say "Hey! One less thing to worry about!" And of course it's trying to address some preconceptions about religions offering reassurance and atheists offering bleakness. I also think it's received media coverage and a negative response far out of proportion to its likely impact, simply because it's a complete novelty.