The BBC has an article and video clip about a Southampton bus driver who was so "shocked and horrified" by the atheist adverts being displayed on 800 buses around the UK, that he refused to drive one. Since there were no buses available with advertisements he found acceptable, he went home for the day. "I think it was the starkness of this advert which implied there was no God," he told the BBC. Talk about Political Correctness run wild! But though the company "said it would do everything in its power to ensure Mr Heather does not have to drive the buses", on Monday he "agreed to go back to work with the promise he would only have to drive the buses if there were no others available."Incidentally, I learn from the article that the advertisements are backed by "prominent atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins." I'd have thought "There's Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying And Enjoy Your Life" would be too lackluster for him, but given Dawkins's generally middlebrow cultural sensibilities, I shouldn't have been surprised.
I wonder if an atheist bus driver could refuse to drive a bus with a Christian (or Muslim, or Jewish) display ad, because of the starkness of the advert which implied that there is a God. If so, cool (though I'd want to give such a milquetoast atheist a resounding dope slap). According to the BBC article,
Pressure group Christian Voice has questioned the campaign's effectiveness but the Methodist Church said it would be a "good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life" and suggested it showed there was a "continued interest in God".I question the campaign's effectiveness, too; I don't know what it means that the only story the BBC could find involved one hysterical bus driver. But look at the headline which refers to the "No God" buses, as though the advertisements had taken over the buses' souls and were running over hapless Christians like something out of an early Stephen King novel. I'd really be interested to know what most people think about these ads. Do large numbers of Britons feel reassured because their Shadowy Humanist Overlords say that there's probably not a God? Are they laughing themselves silly over the meekness of the ads? There's probably not a Santa Claus, so go ahead and pout and cry as much as you like; you'll have to buy your own Christmas presents, though. There's probably not a Cthulhu, so no dark subterranean god will eat your heart for breakfast. Probably. Have a nice day!