Australian Atheist Bus campaign
if you’ve been following the stories, here or elsewhere, you’ll know that the Atheist Foundation of Australia (AFA) was trying to have an ad campaign similar to the other atheist bus ads. The largest outdoor advertising company (APN) has rejected the Australian ads.
So now the AFA is asking folks in Australia to be on the look-out for religious advertising carried on billboards or other media owned by APN. This is one example of outrageously offensive ads in Australia:
As you recall, one of the reasons some of the atheist ads elsewhere was that the claims made in the ads couldn’t be proven (which is why the English-language ads said “There’s probably no God.”) And yet, outrageous and unprovable claims like the one above are granted grand leeway to litter the highways. Why? After all, we can assert with the same degree of assurance that the sun probably rises in the east. The likelihood or probably that ANY God exists is so small as to be virtually certain. If anyone thinks he can show the sun rises in the west, they probably need to recalibrate their compass. If anyone thinks he can show that God (any God, not just the Christian God, but ANY of them) exists, they probably need to have their mental capacity verified.
A lot of religious ads that I’ve seen over the years make horribly offensive and outrageous claims, but they get around the “truth in advertising” requirements by putting their lies in quotes and or prefacing the lies with “The Bible says” or including a citation to a Bible verse. Therefore the ad is technically true — yes the Bible does say that — but slips around the other question of whether the quoted statement itself is true or reasonable or rational.
One excellent example is something I used to see a lot in New Orleans:
- Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14.6
Well, yes, that quote is in the Bible, but it is not a true statement and cannot possibly be verified:
- There’s no proof Jesus existed.
- There’s no proof that IF Jesus existed, he actually made such an arrogant statement.
- There’s no proof that even IF Jesus existed, and IF he actually said it, that it could be true.
Yet such nonsense is plastered all over the place without rational question or challenge. Why is this nonsense allowed to be published yet humanists and atheists aren’t allowed to publish an opposing view?
So, bravo to the AFA, and good luck on their pro-active challenge to the APN’s refusal to carry the ads.
(h/t OzAtheist)
