Pro atheist posters on London Buses

Psyk

I suppose that's true. Religious posters tend to be a bit more specific. If a religious poster just said "there is a god" then it would be about the same.

If they really wanted to get people interested in the humanist movement a better slogan would be something like "You don't need god to have faith".

Exactly.

'There is a God' would be amusing, hehe.

Reply 306

manderlay in flames

There's several arguments to do with the nonexistence of God though, and it's nice to know other people share your views and societies exist for you

Yeah but why would they want to know them? Why does it matter? It's not like they're 'wasting their lives' on religion, and the assertion 'God doesn't exist' is hardly going to stimulate them to find reasons for it. If they cared that much, they'd have researched it all already. And I doubt many agnostics feel alone in their beliefs. Well, it depends what you mean by agnostic. I'm technically agnostic but 'God doesn't exist' on a bus isn't going to convince me/stimulate me to do anything.

Reply 307

Calumcalum

Because I think it's a waste of money.

It is not just about making people smile though, it is also about raising the profile of Humanism, both through the adverts and through the publicity surrounding the adverts. If greatly raising the profile of Humanism helps a Humanist organization achieve its goal - a goal which it believes is a worthy one - then isn't it money well spent? If they think people adopting their beliefs will be beneficial to humanity then making others simply aware of Humanism surely must be one of the initial goals?

Reply 308

Calumcalum

I'm technically agnostic

Huh? Did I miss something?!

Reply 309

Kolya

It is not just about making people smile though, it is also about raising the profile of Humanism, both through the adverts and through the publicity surrounding the adverts. If greatly raising the profile of Humanism helps a Humanist organization achieve its goal - a goal which it believes is a worthy one - then isn't it money well spent? If they think people adopting their beliefs will be beneficial to humanity then making others simply aware of Humanism surely must be one of the initial goals?

What exactly is the goal?

"Ours is a fun and light-hearted message but it does have a serious point to it: that atheists want a secular country, we want a secular school and a secular government."

is a quote I found, would you agree with that? And what do you mean by humanism?

Reply 310

Kolya

Huh? Did I miss something?!

Depends what you mean by agnostic, I suppose.

Reply 311

Calumcalum

What exactly is the goal?

"Ours is a fun and light-hearted message but it does have a serious point to it: that atheists want a secular country, we want a secular school and a secular government."

is a quote I found, would you agree with that? And what do you mean by humanism?

Yes, I think the goal is both to be light-hearted and "alternative" compared to the strong Christian adverts that are on buses, but also to raise the profile of the organization - the British Humanist Association. The BHA campaigns for all those things that the quote has listed. In other words, just to let people know that it exists (and that Humanism exists!).

Here is a brief explanation of their beliefs: http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentChapterView.asp?chapter=309

Calumcalum

Depends what you mean by agnostic, I suppose.

By agnostic, I mean undecided (either temporarily or permanently) about whether any sort of higher being exists. I would include those who simply sceptical of claims - especially those sceptical of a god as portrayed in major religions - or those who are still thinking the question over, and those who think that the existence of god is a meaningless/stupid question. (The latter are sometimes known as ignostics.) They aren't saying that god does not exist; they are saying that the current arguments for god, the ones they are aware of, are not convincing enough for them at the present moment, and so they suspend affirmation of "god exists".

Reply 312

Psyk

16

Calumcalum

Depends what you mean by agnostic, I suppose.

The most general definition of agnostic is the belief that it is impossible to know whether or not god exists. Going by that definition it's not mutually exclusive with theism or atheism. An agnostic theist believes in god even though they don't think it's possible to actually know for sure. Is that what you're getting at?

Calumcalum

What exactly is the goal?

"Ours is a fun and light-hearted message but it does have a serious point to it: that atheists want a secular country, we want a secular school and a secular government."

is a quote I found, would you agree with that? And what do you mean by humanism?

I think that's a pretty good goal. But I don't think it's a very good way of going about it.

Reply 313

Kolya

Yes, I think the goal is both to be light-hearted and "alternative" compared to the strong Christian adverts that are on buses, but also to raise the profile of the organization - the British Humanist Association. The BHA campaigns for all those things that the quote has listed. In other words, just to let people know that it exists (and that Humanism exists!).

Here is a brief explanation of their beliefs: http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentChapterView.asp?chapter=309

Depends what you mean by secular, I suppose. If you took it to completely ignore any religion or anything, I think that'd be ignoring half the country which I don't think is really acceptable... it's effectively wanting an atheist country. I'm not implying atheism and secularism are synonymous, but I don't think secularism can apply to government.

By agnostic, I mean undecided (either temporarily or permanently) about whether any sort of higher being exists. I would include those who simply sceptical of claims - especially those sceptical of a god as portrayed in major religions - or those who are still thinking the question over, and those who think that the existence of god is a meaningless/stupid question. (The latter are sometimes known as ignostics.) They aren't saying that god does not exist; they are saying that the current arguments for god, the ones they are aware of, are not convincing enough for them at the present moment, and so they suspend affirmation of "god exists".

Yeah, I'd say I'm an agnostic Christian. I suppose it's in the same way that a few Christians wouldn't say they KNOW they're right, although I suppose I'm less sure of it. In terms of probability, I'd say we're too far away from the probability to be able to either quantify or qualify it. I think Christianity and Atheism are equally consistent with what we know, but I follow Christianity. :smile:

Although I wouldn't say that the arguments for God aren't convincing enough for me to follow them, because I do. I'd say they're not convincing enough to BELIEVE them (if you define belief as the psychological state of holding something to be 100% true).

Reply 314

Psyk

The most general definition of agnostic is the belief that it is impossible to know whether or not god exists. Going by that definition it's not mutually exclusive with theism or atheism. An agnostic theist believes in god even though they don't think it's possible to actually know for sure. Is that what you're getting at?

Kindof. Although then it depends on what you mean by belief! I mean, if belief means the psychological state of thinking something is 100% true, then I suppose they WOULD think it's possible to know if God exists?

I think that's a pretty good goal. But I don't think it's a very good way of going about it.

I think it's neither a good goal nor a good way to go about it. :biggrin:

Reply 315

Paxdax

11

Meus

I don't understand why people are so fiercely against religion anyway

It's totally lame?

Reply 316