Atheist Ad Campaign

A group of atheists backed by famous atheist writer Richard Dawkins are trying to raise money to put ads on London buses, according to an article in the Guardian. The ads will use the slogan, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

I happen to agree with this statement, but there's a problem. They're saying there's probably no God, which means they admit the possibility, however slim, that there is a God. That makes them agnostics, not atheists. I've come across this confusion before among atheists, and I have to say it baffles me.

The campaign is in response to ads by a Christian group whose website says we're all going to burn in a lake of fire if we don't accept Jesus. In support of the atheist ads, Dawkins said, "This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think--and thinking is anathema to religion."

Silly boy, thinking is anathema to fundamentalisms of all sorts, whether fundamentalist Christianity, fundamentalist Communism, or fundamentalist atheism. Intelligent, thinking people come to all sorts of different answers to life's questions, and fighting intolerance with intolerance isn't going to get us anywhere.

How about this for a slogan: "Consider agnosticism, because it's OK to say 'I don't know.'"