10 Membranes

» The Atheist Bus

The Atheist Bus! Ere long you shall see buses emblazoned with the legend “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”.

Personally I don’t really know what to think. I agree with the sentiment, but still can’t quite kick the dread Catholic guilt. Which in some way makes me want to donate money for more ads, which only…sigh. My favourite thing about these ads is that they quite blantantly maintain a note of uncertainty, acknowledging that we can never truly understand such matters, as so many fanatics might claim, but also introducing an element of rationality into the search (probability). The tone of the ads thus matches a philosophical humility to warm, friendly advice that most people, at some level, would like to follow.

My one question would be this: do we really need them in the UK? Yes I know there are issues around creationism in schools, yes extreme forms of religion flourish daintily on the wilder fringes of the spiritual spectrum, but actually this country has historically low levels of church attendance and historically high levels of religious apathy. It’s almost a cliche to say that Big Brother, Kate Moss and the shopping mall are our religions today.

With that, and the recession, in mind, I would have written: “There’s probably no point to [insert annoyance]. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

Yeah, probably won’t catch on.