I Won’t Ride a Bus with Atheist Advertising On It!

Mayor Mike Moncrief chimed in on the issue late Friday, saying he wants the city and the T to hold a joint meeting to discuss the T’s policy on accepting religious ads.

(McClatchy)

“I totally disagree with (the Fort Worth Transportation Authority’s) decision to allow these divisive ads on the T buses and will express my concerns to the appropriate individuals.” In the same statement, he admits that the city doesn’t fund the T and that it’s an independent agency responsible for its own policies.

http://www.fwweekly.com/index.php?option=com_wordpress&p=7546&Itemid=482
Moncrief Goes Atheist Hunting

I just told a friend about this. An agnostic of sorts, and do you know what his response was? “Why do people have to be so pushy with their beliefs? The Atheists shouldn’t be doing this”.

It doesn’t matter what you say to some people.

“WHAT?! Atheists are claiming to be good?! No no no no no. We can’t have that! How dare anyone suggest my bigotry is misplaced?!”

WHAT?! Religious are claiming to have a right to have an opinion?! No no no no no. They can’t have that! How dare anyone suggest anyone apart from atheist has that right?!

Hemant isn’t suggesting the religious don’t have a right to their opinion. Merely that their opinion is silly. The religious people in this story, however, don’t seem to believe secular organizations have a right to advertise like their churches.

Fine… let them effing walk everywhere then.

It’s not like this is a Rosa Parks situation.

The ad is innocuous in my opinion. If that truly offends people, then that the offended people’s faith is weak, again, in my opinion. I think it’s funny that someone had troll here in favor of the backlash against this ad. It doesn’t attack anyone.

Heck, its fundamental message is “we exist and we aren’t evil people”. Which is the kindest response possible to the belief that atheists shouldn’t exist and that they’re horrible people.

Some people are surrounded by tens or hundreds of religious messages a day, that a mild dissenting message might seem a lot worse than it really is. Kind of like saying “no” to a person used to having a lot of “yes” men.

I treat religious ads the same way I treat erectile disfunction ads. I ignore them. Neither one “speaks” to me. I am sure men ignore ads for feminine products. Ads that are not directed at me do not offend me because they exist; you have to generate the offense yourself, and that is entirely up to you.

Atheists are quickly becoming the oppressed Christians often claim to be.
Everyday we have to explain to our children what religious billboards, and large postings of the 10 commandments mean in relation to our lives. But when we do the same they attempt to censure us, and are scared to explain to their children, and themselves that someone believes something different, and is happy with that decision.

Terry McDonald rocks.

But this Christian tactic of trying to silence our message no matter how soft and friendly we make the message, seems to send another message that I can hear loudly:

If they get offended at ANYTHING we say, why sugar-coat it? They’ll complain if we just put the name of one of our groups in the ad, and nothing more.

So why not ramp up the strength of the message? Just a bit…we’re civil. But more firmness isn’t going to make them angry at us. They already are. I say let’s let them see strength.

As a Christian who supports free speech, I can disagree with the message content without boycotting public transit. “Good without God” speaks to morality and the Bible has already addressed the truth that none is good but God (Matthew 19:17). That is, apart from God, one’s morals will be motivated purely by selfish desires. If a good God transforms a person by the renewing of their mind (Romans 12:2), the moral compass will adjust to the good of God and others. When a Christian says, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” and an atheist says, “Good without God,” each one is speaking from his own conviction. Neither can be proven outside of faith.
Again, my Christian faith leads me to share my beliefs (in loving concern) and leave the response to the hearer. None of us can change another person. One of God’s good gifts is free will. While freedom is good in itself, it also allows for the potential of evil. I disagree with the advertising message displayed on the bus because of my convictions, but those same convictions require me to not attempt to force my beliefs on others. Atheists are often guilty of the same charge they level at Christians — attempting to manipulate others to embrace their own thoughts. The fact is, only a good God can effect that kind of deep change.

@Lamar

Atheists are often guilty of the same charge they level at Christians — attempting to manipulate others to embrace their own thoughts. The fact is, only a good God can effect that kind of deep change.

So God is better than atheists at making more atheists? With you as his boring secret weapon? Very plausible.

@Lamar: it seems to me that religious people’s morality is motivated by selfish desires. They desire to get on God’s good side so they can go to heaven and avoid hell. An atheist’s morality comes from the fact that kindness and compassion are logically beneficial to all in society.
However, I totally respect that you can have your views and not try to push them on others, and see a message and let it be and not boycott the bus.

@Fingon Celebrindal: we atheists aren’t boycotting the many private businesses that have religious signs on them. As long as we the tax payers aren’t having to foot the bill for it, we don’t care. It’s just them voicing their opinions. Those particular Texas Christians can’t handle people voicing a differing opinion, and that is pathetic.

Anyways, Great article! As usual. 🙂

Whenever a Christian compares their noble desire to empower their religion and their god, with the motivation that other people have when they try to empower humanity, I always look at the Christian and ask them if they are God. Because if not, they’re a human.

If we are to ignore human ideas in favor of God’s ideas, then why are all these HUMAN Christians issuing the world instructions and orders for how they should behave? We’re supposed to ignore human ideas, right?

Wrong. Christians want us to obey THEM, not a god. If it was about what a god wanted, they’d wait to hear from that god. Everything used to convey a communication from that god, from the Old Testament to a modern Christian billboard is a HUMAN creation. A HUMAN communication.

Then I walk away, and if they want to discuss it more, I respond by saying their god wants me to ignore them. Their head spins a little, though they try to hide it. :o)

How about a more simple billboard or bus ad.

“Atheist, Agnostic. We Exist.”

Can’t get more basic than that.

@kttk: by the same token it seems unlikely that many people will actually boycott the buses; they take them because they have to. Particularly if the CoR take opportunities to reiterate that they aren’t attacking anyone, if they get people to actually read the ads and see that the CoR isn’t attacking anyone, then the boycott may not get much momentum.

On the other hand … it is the southern US, where the incomprehensible seems to be a daily occurrence.

You know, I really hate sauerkraut. I hate the smell, the taste, and the texture. I am committed to never eating that nasty stuff again.

But how much sense would it make for me to get offended and not ride a bus because it had a sauerkraut advertisement on it? That would be childish and stupid.

So too for believers who petulantly refuse to ride a bus because it advertises something that they don’t like (or refuse to shop at a store that says “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”).

ROSA PARKS IS ROLLING IN HER FUCKING GRAVE!

An amazing black woman who stood up against the oppression of black people.

And now we have these black people standing up FOR oppression! The oppression of non-believers!

Outrageous!

Do Americans have the right to free speech?

Is that right protected?

What reason is there to deny any group that right?

You don’t like the ad being on the bus? Get off the bus and walk! You don’t have a right not to be offended by other people’s views.

I would like to see someone count all of the religious ads in America and compare them to the number of atheist ads. Then we’ll really see who is being “pushy” with their beliefs!

As to whether we atheists should kick it up a notch and get meaner with our ads, I think we should take the moral high ground and stick to the current course of rational, humorous discourse. It makes the religitards’ “we are offended” reaction that much more ridiculous. As others have said, CoR got their money’s worth and then some on this run, and their own reaction to the “controversy” makes them look even better. Once the discussion gets emotional, it will degenerate into a shouting match and then reasonable people on either side will just stop listening altogether.

Of course, throwing in a nice-nasty ad once in a while will generate continued interest in the ads.

Ugh. My least favorite part was the awful “Dallas had the COURAGE to stand up for God.” Um, really? Dallas banned all religious ads. Fine, their call. I think it’s a bit silly myself, but it’s fair. It’s certainly hard to see how that takes courage, though. If anything, that’s the easy out. It’s the Fort Worth T that is having the courage to tell these people they are insane.

I’m SOO sorry that I exist, christians of the world. Oh wait. I’m not.

It’s getting to a point at which I don’t even want to turn on the computer in the morning.

Yeah! That’s right! Somebody’s gotta stand up for the, umn, the almighty, uh…the all-powerful…erm…stand up for him, yeah.

@ Chakolate:

What hypocrisy! Every one of those ministers has a car – but they’re organizing a boycott of the buses, so that their poorest sheep will have to make other arrangements. What jerks!

The civil rights boycotters in the sixties were very well organized. Those who had cars drove those who didn’t to and from work.

Dr. King, Rosa Parks and their colleagues were heroes. These people are just angry, spoiled children having a tantrum because someone dared to say something that made them confront their own repressed doubt.

Re: Kicking it up a notch

On one of those Star-Telegram articles, one of my comments included

Would you prefer we say “Millions of Americans are Bad with God”?

We have to recognize that some envision a de-facto DADT environment. They’ll acknowledge that we have the right to free speech, just so long as we don’t actually exercise it.
Maybe the next one should be “Atheists and Agnostics Exist. Deal.”

It is truly remarkable how many people act as if freedom of religion and freedom of speech actually mean freedom of religion and freedom of speech for themselves only.

I guess I’m living in a completely different world. I’m in Indiana, and I’ve yet to notice any religious advertising. It could be that I am a Christian, and since the ads don’t go against what I believe this time of year, I don’t really notice. I think that we’re more apt to notice the things that challenge our beliefs. If I were to ask an Atheist in my area about Christian advertising, they would probably be more able to point it out. One thing Christians fail to realize is that in America, we are a majority, so we don’t really see the oppression that other religions face in the United States. Things that we may overlook because they are things that we agree with (such as the pledge of allegiance or the printing on our currency) may be offensive to someone else.
Although, I do not agree with the Atheist beliefs, I feel that if any religious advertising is permitted, it all should be permitted. We are all Americans. America was formed because our founders were being forced to believe a certain way; they wanted freedom to believe how they wanted. So, here we are. There are many religious views in America today. Some people are strongly religious, others are not. Of course, we’re going to have disagreements. I remember a few years back, a friend of mine told me “Many things in life are like a buffet, you take what you want, and leave the rest.” If there’s something that I find offensive, especially in advertising, I ignore it.
What I have noticed with many religions, not just Christianity, is the majority feel that other religious views are wrong. Of course we think we’re right. Who wants to think they’re wrong? And if we’re right, what does that make anyone who opposes us? Even in the comments on this page, someone mentions the ‘repressed doubt’ of Christians. Sometimes, I wonder how things would be if we all agreed to disagree.