Christian Voice Loses ASA Case
28.01.09 | Ariane |
A week after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled in favour of the Atheist Bus Campaign adverts rather than the complainants (who included Christian Voice), they have stated that Christian Voice is no longer allowed to run adverts making unsubstantiated claims against the HPV vaccine, which protects young girls from cervical cancer.
Here’s the full ruling:
Ad
An advertising feature in the New Statesman, on behalf of a religious group, had the headline “VIOLENT CRIME – SOWING AND REAPING”. Text underneath stated “There is a Biblical principle that we reap what we sow. It applies to nations as well as to individuals. What politicians sow, the people reap. When politicians sow evil, the people reap misery, and the poorest reap it the worst”. The ad went on to describe what the advertisers considered to be the detrimental impact of government policies and various pieces of legislation on society. It included the text “Now we have the disaster of teenage infertility. Every government initiative, including the HPV vaccine, will increase it, but as all the targets revolve around pregnancy, no-one in power knows how many young people they are making sterile and nobody cares”. Text at the bottom of the ad stated “Christian Voice. Working for Godly government; praying for national repentance”.
Issue
One complainant challenged whether the implied claim that the HPV vaccine would result in teenage infertility was misleading and could be substantiated.
The CAP Code: 3.1;7.1;2.2
Response
Christian Voice argued that the claim was an expression of their opinion, and that their right to express that opinion was protected by The Human Rights Act 1998.
Christian Voice provided a link to a page on their website, which they said gave evidence of the failure of the government’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. They said it was clear from national statistics that the approach of successive governments on teenage sexuality have preceded, or at least coincided with, growing levels of teenage conceptions, abortions and sexually-transmitted infections.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted Christian Voice’s response. We considered, however, that the claim “Every government initiative, including the HPV vaccine, will increase it [teenage infertility]” was a statement of fact that was a matter open to substantiation. We noted the webpage submitted by Christian Voice, but we did not consider that that webpage in itself was sufficient to support the claim. Because we had not seen robust, scientific evidence that the HPV vaccine caused infertility in teenagers, we concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Principles), 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Christian Voice not to repeat the implied claim that the HPV vaccine would result in teenage infertility.
January 28th, 2009 at 15:36
Sanity 2, Nuts Utd 0.
Not quite a “bus” article, but very many thanks for posting this great news. My youngest daughter had her HPV vaccine a few months ago, and I’m relieved that neither she, nor her friends, saw Christian Voice’s discredited adverts.
Well done the ASA!
(I hope that Mr Green is a bit less vitriolic about Chris Smith in his next CV article.)
January 28th, 2009 at 16:07
Poor old Stephen Green. You have to feel sorry for him.
Not!
January 28th, 2009 at 16:30
Haha. More good news.
January 28th, 2009 at 16:50
I’m surprised such a vitriolic ad was allowed through in the first place. Aggressive advertising of any kind makes me rather uncomfortable.
The wording of the CV ad makes it seem that the average person will suffer for the choices of those above him. I suppose they are trying to change the ways of those in power, but it just made me feel disheartened and hopeless – and I don’t even believe in such a doctrine!
This all circles back to the classic argument against mass religion [I have no major issues with a personal belief in a higher being] in that it always seems to come back to punishment or abandonment of those not in the loop.
I try to live a ‘good’ life, being friendly and generous to those around me, not lying, stealing or killing, and I work hard to better myself where I can. I do this because I feel that this is the right thing to do in the short lifetime I have. NOT because I’m being bribed by the promise of ‘good things tomorrow’, and NOT because I’m afraid that a big man with a pitchfork will burn me for all eternity – or even because I don’t want to be left out of the eternal party. I live a good life because it makes the most sense to do so, and I enjoy life more when I follow the basic social rules. Surely that makes me an inherently BETTER person than someone who has to be beaten or bribed into making the same choices?
For the argument ’surely it’s better to believe, just in case?’ – while I see your point, and perhaps if you are so afraid of standing behind your choices and so wary of using the brain that you have been given [whether god-given or evolved] to make a decision, then yes: perhaps for you it IS better to ‘believe’, just in case.
But I was raised to weigh up the options, choose something and then to stand by my choice until such time the circumstances alter to a position where another option is more viable.
I have confidence in my ability to reason using the evidence available to me. If new evidence appears, I will re-evaluate, and constantly do so as I’m actively learning more about the world’s religions.
If, when I die, i find myself at the Pearly Gates with a very stern St Peter shaking his head at me, I will be the first person to hold up my hands and say “I’m terribly sorry, I was wrong.” But I will not apologise for using my intelligence in the best way I know how, and I would hope that any omniscient God would understand that I refused to sit on the fence like a dithering fool and that He would be proud that I used the intelligence He gave me to reach a conclusion of my own, no matter how misguided I may have been.
Because, really, would God really be impressed by someone who went to church every week and said their prayers every night, but only did so ‘just in case’? Would He really want such a two-faced, keep-all-options-open kind of person on His team? If He would be, I’m not so sure that I WANT to be involved with a God that is so pleased by hollow flattery and mindlessly-praising lackeys.
If God loves me no matter what I do, then why bother going to a cold building once a week and being bored by a guy in a dress on a box?
If God will punish me for using the brain He gave me, how can I possibly love Him? You cannot force someone to love you by promising punishment if they don’t.
If God will turn his back on me if I don’t believe, then I don’t see how my position changes from living a non-believing life.
Science does not have the answer to everything – but it doesn’t pretend it does.
Conversely, religion doesn’t have the answer to everything, but shrieks loudly that it does. “God did it!” is their answer to everything, and thus it becomes as meaningless as “the ELVES did it!” if that was wailed over and over again by a petulant child.
Science builds on the cumulative knowledge of all of humanity. Every discovery made, or theory offered is considered and used to push forward our ideas. “Standing on the shoulders of giants”, as they say. The books are constantly being updated, each time hopefully coming closer and closer to being ‘true’.
But religion takes the cumulative knowledge of some very wise men, writes it down in a book, and then refuses to ever revise the writings. It has stalled the philosophical, moral and ethical knowledge of the people at a point hundreds of years ago [when the book was written] and any attempt to adapt these writings to apply to the modern world is met with rage and anger that the book could be challenged.
But the book must surely be out of date. Have we really, in thousands of years, made no more progress philosophically or morally? Can the words of men who lived thousands of years ago really STILL be the sum total of our understanding of the world? Are we as a species, so weak now that no one has made a forward movement in all those years? Why can we not update the books of religion? Why can’t we bring God into the 21st century?
If there’s a choice between standing on the shoulders of all the giants humanity has known, or standing on the shoulders of a handful of priests who died hundreds of years ago, I choose the giants.
January 28th, 2009 at 17:05
@Seventh: Thank you for your very cogent, poignant and true post. You are absolutely right.
January 28th, 2009 at 17:12
Wow, Ariane, thank you so much.
I apologise for being so wordy!
January 28th, 2009 at 18:24
Pretending to believe
’surely it’s better to believe, just in case?’
I didn’t choose to be an atheist, because it isn’t a choice. I’m an atheist because I don’t think any gods exist. As we grow in understanding, some of us finally come to realise that all the gods are imaginary; I have yet to come across any convincing evidence for one of them being any less so than the others. I’ll keep being an atheist because I can’t choose to believe in something I have no belief in.
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January 28th, 2009 at 18:47
[...] Read the original post: Atheist Bus – Official Website » Christian Voice Loses ASA Case [...]
January 28th, 2009 at 18:55
The problem with believing just in case is what do you do when you know unfailingly that what you believe in is wrong? Maybe you think God has a gender but it doesn’t, maybe you think it doesn’t but she does. Maybe you think it doesn’t matter but God disagrees.
Do gods tolerate people making up lies about them more than they tolerate being ignored? Will Heckate be more enraged if you just ignore her or if you rub salt in the wound by venerating a nonexistant “all-powerful” deity? What about vice-versa?
If someone’s only reason to believe is fear of getting it wrong then that is no reason at all.
January 28th, 2009 at 23:01
This is good news, I think the more things that are being proven wrong from these guys the more aggressive and desperate they get. One of the main reasons why teenage pregnancy, abortions and STD infections are high is because the UK sex education system is really bad and another reason is that there is no contraceptive that 100% effective and vaccine for all STDs has being developed yet. Considering that these morons also wants contraceptives made illegal then the fight will go on I guess.
There are 4 things that Christian Voice and all the other Christian fundamentalists hate:
1. Being proven wrong
2. Hate non-beleivers
3. People having a choice
4. People of their own religion who don’t share their views and who support the things they are against.
I have been Atheist for 12 years now, I used to respect religion but it is people like Christian Voice that is making me lose respect of it, sure fundamentalists are a minority in every religion but if there is nothing done about them soon then it could become the majority. Coming up with lies about these vaccines shows how desperate they really are.
January 29th, 2009 at 7:19
Christian Voice had one thing right: they did reap what they’ve sown. =D
January 29th, 2009 at 21:08
They’re attacking our Canadian friends – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090129.ATHEIST29/TPStory/National
January 31st, 2009 at 11:12
Love the bus ads – such a great idea. Are we allowed to suggest some more slogans to be considered for future ads? I’ve come up with the following – some better than others. I’d love to hear other people’s opinions.
“There’s probably no life after death. Stop procrastinating. Make this one matter”
“There’s probably no Hell. Worrying about it can be hell on earth. Enjoy your life”
“There’s probably no heaven. It’s what happens on earth that counts”
“There’s probably no judgement day. Let your own conscience decide here & now”
“There’s probably no judgement day coming. It’s here & now. Decide for yourself”
Why let God tell you what to do. Decide for yourself”
Why let God dictate your life. Decide for yourself”
Your life is in your own hands – not God’s or anyone else’s”
February 2nd, 2009 at 16:28
Not my website, but have you seen where you can make your own bus sign?
http://ruletheweb.co.uk/b3ta/bus/
February 5th, 2009 at 15:32
Not the first time that Christian Voice have reaped what they’ve sown. They are pretty well known for their extremist actvities (Or rather their spokesman, Stephen Green is)
They are the ones who tried to get Jerry Springer the Opera closed down and when they failed, Stephen Green used the old blasphemy laws to bring a private prosecution against two BBC execs. When he lost his case he started a petition to get the two execs to foot the £80k legal bill. It makes for entertaining reading
They’ve picketted London Zoo for having a discount day for same sex couples, Waterstones bookshops have had to close for safety reasons because CV have picketted readings of books which they find offensive. They pressurised a cancer charity to return £3000 donation because the money came from Jerry Springer The Opera. He’s threatened to destroy works of art which he considers blasphemous etc.
Stephen Green write a book called Britain in Sin detailing how we should outlaw other religions, prevent women from working (their place is in the home), bring back the death penalty etc
The Co-operative Bank cancelled their account on the grounds that they were blatantly homophoic and discriminatory. There are numerous websites devoted to just how deluded, ignorant, and attention seeking he is.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:22
atheist campaign? are you serious? you people really have nothing better to do than try and strip people of their faith? not only should you not care what we believe but to actively make effort to strip people’s faith is just cruel.
February 7th, 2009 at 21:12
Regarding the new pro-god bus ads – are they allowed to claim “There definitely is a God”? Doesn’t that fall foul of the same unsubstantiated claims rule they tried to nobble our ads with?
February 8th, 2009 at 4:33
Pro-God buses for London streets
Three separate pro-God advert campaigns on the
sides of London buses are set to hit city streets.
Ophelia Benson responds
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/notesarchive.php?id=2605
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February 8th, 2009 at 21:37
Let’s use some slogan which resembles Bertrand Russel’s comment – something like: There definitely is a God? I never noticed!
February 8th, 2009 at 21:57
@16
“..to actively make effort to strip people’s faith is just cruel.”
On the contrary; it’s a great favor.
February 8th, 2009 at 22:45
Religious groups here in the US should be under the same scrutiny.
February 9th, 2009 at 14:36
“to actively make effort to strip people’s faith is just cruel.”
So why let the religious groups get away with doing it to those who believe differently to them?
As for the pro-god buses, good. They’re only harming themselves by resorting to insults and threats as usual.
February 13th, 2009 at 5:34
Despite the Riots & Threats,
I Stand By What I Wrote
Johann Hari |Huffington Post
\\Last week, I wrote an article defending free speech for everyone – and in response there have been riots, death threats, and the arrest of an editor who published the article//
http://tinyurl.com/bsagns
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February 16th, 2009 at 1:03
Notice the creeping insinuation from Green that the HPV jabs are some sort of “less of us and more of them” conspiracy…is Green deviating from religious intolerance into racial intolerance now? I’m not saying he’s a racist but he’s got to explain himself.
September 18th, 2009 at 19:09
I’d just like to draw your attention to this:
“The Atheist’s Guide To Christmas” is the UK’s first atheist charity book, featuring contributions from Richard Dawkins, Derren Brown, Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh, Claire Rayner, David Baddiel, Charlie Brooker and many more. It’s been edited by Ariane Sherine, the creator of the hugely successful Atheist Bus Campaign. It’s out on Oct 1st and all royalties are going to the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust. Please pre-order now:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atheists-Guide-Christmas-Ariane-Sherine/dp/0007322615/
The Atheist’s Guide is a mix of humorous and poignant contributions from over 40 various prominent atheists. It’ll make an ideal Christmas gift for your atheist friends. Your religious friends will love it too, or, even better, it’ll put them in a foul mood for Xmas! So a win-win situation! More info on the Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128903634833
Your support will not only maintain the profile of atheism in the UK, it will also help raise funds for the very worthy THT charity. Please note that the contributors, and Ms Sherine, have waived payment for their considerable input into the “Guide”.
Thank you, and please pass this message on to everyone you know!!
[My apologies if you already know about the Guide!]