London News

"Militant atheists are often great adverts for Christianity": The battle of the London buses

Monday, 27th October 2008

Written by Francesca Cookney

Red London Bus London buses will soon be displaying posters asserting that "there's probably no God".

The atheist campaign, set up by comedy writer Ariane Sherine, has managed to raise some Â£80,000, well over their target of Â£5,500. The idea came to Sherine after seeing Christian and Muslim groups using the advertising space to promote religion.

"I thought it would be a really positive thing to counter that by putting forward a much happier and more upbeat advert," she said. But so far the response hasn't been quite what she expected. The ad reads, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Oxford professor and bestselling author of The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins donated Â£5000 to the campaign but admitted he "wasn't wild" about the 'probably'. Others, however, have greeted the message with delight. Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain said that "it will get people thinking, so in that sense it can only be good," while religious think tank Theos even went as far as to donate money to the campaign.

"It tells people to 'stop worrying,' which is hardly going to be a great comfort for those who are concerned about losing jobs or homes in the recession," said Theos director Paul Woolley. "Stunts like this demonstrate how militant atheists are often great adverts for Christianity."

The ads will be running for four weeks starting in January 2009 with further plans to launch in other UK cities such as Manchester and Edinburgh.