Cif Belief, And Lots Of Other Articles
8.03.09 | Ariane |
I don’t know if you’re aware of The Guardian website’s comprehensive new belief section, Cif Belief, but it’s full of interesting debates surrounding atheism and religion. This week, atheist Sue Blackmore has written about the concept of free will, while a Christian admits she doesn’t know whether God exists or not, and Mary Kenny’s talking what can only reasonably be called nonsense again.
But the best article on the site right now (and yes, I may be a little biased) is the fantastic Cath Elliott’s breakdown of the recent Theos survey, which begins:
“I have to admit I was a bit put out when I realised there would be no atheist buses coming to my neck of the woods. I loved the campaign slogan, even with the inclusion of “probably,” and once it became clear that enough money had been raised to convey the message to cities beyond London I was really looking forward to being able to ride on an atheist bus myself. Alas, it wasn’t to be, but now at least I can understand why the organisers omitted to involve East Anglia in the campaign: they weren’t deliberately ignoring us; they simply understood that this region had no need for atheist buses, because the east of England is already full of atheists anyway.”
In other news, Tony Blair has clearly been discussing ideas with Mary Kenny, and on a much brighter note, atheist buses are now running in Calgary as well as Toronto. From the Vancouver Sun:
CALGARY — Atheist ads will start running Monday in Calgary — only the second Canadian city after Toronto to accept the controversial messages on its public-transit vehicles.
Signs bearing the message, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life,” will appear on eight Calgary buses for four weeks.
“It’s time that we show our point of view,” said Cliff Erasmus, executive director of the Calgary Centre for Inquiry.
The campaign started in European and American cities in recent months, and made its way to this country when the Freethought Association of Canada, a national atheist organization, raised $43,000 in donations across Canada to buy similar ads.
March 9th, 2009 at 13:01
Not enough money yet!
March 10th, 2009 at 2:20
Hmmm….I read all four of the columns and I’m going through some of the comments which are interesting. A few thoughts.
Sue Blackmore is a reductionist of the most disturbing variety and I would encourage her to read philosopher David Stove’s ‘Darwinian Fairytales’ to wash some of that out of her system (perhaps you could pass that suggestion along Ariane
). Her view that free-will doesn’t exist is what Stove referred to as Genetic Calvinism and I don’t know if she is aware or not but Calvinists have been saying there is no free will for centuries.
HE Baber is poking around at the real problem, Western Scholasticism. When religious folks place themselves in the model of reality which makes an idolatry out of their scripture and God and makes the world bend to fit it, disaster ensues. The god of the philosophers has nothing to do with us Christians who are supposed to be members of, from the view of history, an apostate sect of Judaism (or third rate Zoroastrianism depending on who you ask
) who follow an experiential faith grounded in mysticism. As for me, I believe in the God revealed through Jesus Christ but I’m reluctant to claim He exists because such petty human terms are worthless.
Mary Kenny has built up a nice persecution complex that isn’t warranted. I take endless crap from people for my beliefs (both sides dislike me) but I don’t claim to be persecuted. If you want persecution in modern times, look at New Martyr Saint Elizabeth or any number of horrible things done to Christians under the Communist regimes.
Cath Elliot really has a strange idea of religion being rammed down his throat. In relation to his crime statistics, he should read up on how correlation doesn’t equal causation.
I’m going to bookmark and join in on those discussions. Thanks for pointing it out!
March 10th, 2009 at 9:44
@tomtom: Eh?!
@Derek: Thanks for your thoughts. Really glad you found the site interesting. (And if you asked me, I’d unsurprisingly go for the Zoroastrianism!)
March 10th, 2009 at 22:14
A totally superficial thing that cheered me up: you put the “é” in Montréal. I am glad the campaign is in “my” city (I don’t live there anymore but will always consider Montréal “ma ville”). At first, I thought the “stop worrying” part of the advert would not work outside its British context, but as we also have very vocal religious zealots who do appeal to guilt to convert (a banner with “the wage of your sin is Hell” written on can be seen downtown Montreal), I think now it works very well in context.
March 10th, 2009 at 22:25
Hahaha….I make that comment to people all the time but it actually means something to you, success!
All of the great monotheistic religions from history are connected. One could easily see the theological significance (from the Christian point of view) of the Zoroastrian Magi who visit the Christ and give him “gifts” as a sign of “passing the torch” by recognizing the fulfillment of their faith.
Now you know what I read and ponder alone on a Friday night. lol
March 12th, 2009 at 0:46
Ariane, die Freidenker-Vereinigung der Schweiz made something similar and they were not allowed to put the stuff on busses in some parts of the country. There was a report on that issue on the national tv (SF). Here you go:
http://geniess-das-leben.ch/
http://www.frei-denken.ch/
March 12th, 2009 at 13:15
There’s probably no sense of life. Now stop thinking! And live to die!
March 12th, 2009 at 18:18
Interesting, Filip, that sounds very like Bushido.
March 15th, 2009 at 11:33
I love it – i have seen so many churches copying the campaign with lame and uninspiring replies like “God DEFINATELY DOES EXIST SO RELAX AND ENJOY EVERLASTING LIFE! – sounds desperate and delusional to me…
It’s funny how some believers now label us aggressive secularists when many religions been actively aggressive to non-believers since the year dot. The shoe is on the other foot.
March 16th, 2009 at 16:17
Surely the money for these ads could be put to better use than a public shouting match that only strokes your own egos. This smacks of smugness and glee in taunting the religious, which atheists are unfortunately too well-known for. Religion is nothing more than superstition. Spending your time wrestling a pig will only lower you to its level, get you dirty, and besides the pig loves it. You validate it every time you wrestle it. Why not donate the money to Amnesty International or other humanitarian causes that are doing something real, rather than arguing over someone’s delusion?
March 17th, 2009 at 8:48
Say that to the religious.
They profess to be more charitable than atheists but advertise far more.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:38
Re the Seattle Atheist Bus:
I had an email exchange with Paul Case at Seattle Atheists last night [18/19-3-09] and they are playing this all very close to their chests until there’s a press release. But the date of April 1 is genuine.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:41
Oh and the RichardDawkins.net site and email appear to be down.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:44
And why is atheistbus.org.uk apparently operating on BST or at least Central European Time?
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:25
hello
just thanks
July 9th, 2009 at 21:03
read this…
http://www.gracejunction.com/blog/atheist-bus-campaign/