The Atheist Insult

Adverts are by their very nature offensive. Whether they are printed, pop up on computer screens or play out on radio or TV, they are irritating invasions on private space that seek to bully and bombard people with pernicious consumerist messages.

They’re not all bad though, and if they fail to permeate my cynicism filter by being either exceptionally comical or creative, then I and the rest of the targeted populace can usually shrug off such attempts to sell stuff with ease. But what if the ideology urged by the advert really, really offends you? What if it challenges the core beliefs that fundamentally form the way you live?

The adverts spread across the side of buses usually try and encourage you to go and see some ropey rom-com movie, so it was quite surprising to hear of a very different kind of commercial decoration that appeared on British public transport a few months ago. With their marketing scheme, the Atheist Bus Campaign sought not to sell a product, but a particular point of view, as their message claimed: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”.

That’s a pretty bold statement to make. Though it stops short of saying “God does not exist,” the idea put forward is that there is no cosmic entity overseeing the universe. But how can you know? And why must God be viewed as something that causes worry and woe for humble human beings? I’m anxious for a lot of reasons, but it isn’t God who’s the source of my unease but rather such stuff as the bare state of my bank account, the constant barrage of academic deadlines and – beyond such myopic self-concern – world problems of poverty, war and climate catastrophe.

Maybe a divine being does have a role in such issues, and that comes down to your own personal beliefs and how you think the universe works. Personally, I very much believe that there are “paranormal” beings beyond our mundane human order out there and I reckon that there are spiritual energies and forces at work around us. As such, as someone who believes that godly beings exist, I’m definitely affronted by the Atheist Bus Campaign. I take comfort from my subjective experience of spirituality, so to have such convictions slapped down so assuredly by a non-human notice is not pleasant.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the advert isn’t nice at all and is, in fact, a pretty damn nasty bit of text. For the non-religious, it initially appears quite reassuring as it urges you to relax and be happy. Ponder it a little further though and not only is it perplexing, but potentially very upsetting. The average commuter could be plunged into an existential crisis and find themselves contemplating life much more than they intended to on their Monday morning journey to work. For those that believe in God or, indeed gods, the advert is even more of a kick to the psyche. It sticks out as a personal insult to those who pay reverence to a deity and dutifully follow a spiritual schema by basically saying: “You are wrong”.
Far from being a good-natured message intended to guide the masses to get along, it’s actually a noxious sermon that seeks to stigmatise a significant section of society. The campaign is preaching prejudice rather than peace of mind. There’s a hell of a lot of arrogance in this marketing scheme, bu, hey, that’s a basic tenet of advertising and belief in your brand. What’s most disconcerting about the Atheist Bus Campaign though, is its characteristic closed-mindedness. At a gut level, religion is once again represented as a bloody great bugbear that brings hatred and malice; the preserve of superstitious simpletons, delusional traditionalists and fundamentalist loonies.

Religion can do remarkable things – and has done so repeatedly. To simplistically state that “Religion is evil” is like saying “Fire gives people third-degree burns.” It’s taking a totally negative, narrow focus and neglecting the numerous positives that spirituality offers on both a personal and communal scale. Most of the world’s faiths have a creed of compassion, charity, love and commitment at the core, but yet the clichés of divisiveness, dogmatic fervour and extremist evil are all too often pushed to the forefront of popular perception.

I don’t wish to condemn the advert’s right to existence and as a believer in freedom of speech I wouldn’t want to ban atheist literature or prevent people from questioning the existence of God. If there’s anything for which we can applaud this kind of endeavour, it’s the subsequent debates that are generated; indeed, it’s essential that religion be publicly discussed instead of shut away as a taboo topic. The slogan striking out from tagged buses though doesn’t indicate a desire to have a considered conversation, but instead nonchalantly dismisses those who do believe in God and narrow-mindedly discerns religion as erroneous. End of discourse.

Such conceited soap-boxing showcases a lack of intellectual development that would make Charles Darwin cringe, and the gross generalisation of spiritual belief in society is, on an ideological level, villainy on a par with the fundamentalist fringes they seek to vilify. You can believe what you want to believe and I’m thankful that – for the most part – the modern world is one of tolerance and the generally cordial co-existence of thousands of different cultural traditions, religions and ways of configuring and living life. The biggest threat to peaceful progress on the planet is not religion: it’s inhumane lack of empathy, self-righteous bigotry and a lack of willingness to communicate and consider the experiences of others. The Atheist Bus Campaign’s plan mainly serves to perpetuate such negativity.

james@student-direct.co.uk