"Why Believe In God?" Ads
Friday, November 14, 2008 Labels: atheist, God, sin 1 commentsThe American Humanist Association has started an ad campaign to try and reach other atheists. They plan to plaster over 200 buses in Washington D.C. with ads bearing its "godless holiday" message. The move by the American humanists comes one month after the British Humanist Association said it will run ads declaring, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life," on London buses in January. They also said they "seek to connect with "non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."
Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on the outside and inside of DC Metro buses starting next Tuesday and will run throughout December. Newspaper versions of the ads ran in The New York Times and The Washington Post this week.
It seems the issue at hand is sin.
"Humanists have always understood that you don't need a god to be good," said AHA executive director Roy Speckhardt. "So that's the point we're making with this advertising campaign. Morality doesn't come from religion. It's a set of values embraced by individuals and society based on empathy, fairness, and experience."
On a brighter note, a recent poll published by NBC that found 86 percent of Americans in favor of keeping "In God We Trust" as the nation's motto and the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Questions:
- Will this ad campaign be effeictive or backfire?
- Is all dialog about God good dialog?
- Do you think the NBC poll is accurate?
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Humanists have also failed to note that their morality has rarely been convincing in countries where it was widespread. That "morality" is the reason that a lot of men in uniform in the Soviet Union and other places had no inherent memetic or spiritual barrier to following terrible orders against their fellow man.