I know, I know, this is really old news. Still, speaking as a fairly devout Catholic, I’m confused as to the point of the signs on English buses saying, “There’s Probably No God: Stop Worrying and Enjoy Life.”
Is the suggestion here that Christians are miserable people working themselves into ulcers, worrying about sin and damnation? That we believers would be much, much HAPPIER if we’d only abandon our most cherished beliefs? Okay, I guess that makes sense. Except, I always thought we Christians were moronic, grinning, overly perky, too-damn-happy dolts. I mean, Ned Flanders is the happiest man in Springfield, and he’s roundly mocked for it. Please, atheists, make up your minds: is the problem that our silly creeds make us unhappy, or that our silly creeds make us TOO happy to suit you?
Seriously, does the truth or falsity of any religion have ANYTHING to do with how happy or unhappy it makes the believer? What evidence do you have that believers would “enjoy life” more if they weren’t believers?
Just what things do you imagine we’d enjoy, if we weren’t bound by our quaint beliefs? You think there are all kinds of pleasurable sins we’re just dying to try out? Okay… but atheists get awfully touchy when anyone suggests their lack of belief in God must make them utterly immoral. Shouldn’t atheists be equally offended at the suggestion that religion is the only thing keeping Christians from becoming selfish hedonists?
Is the message on the buses aimed at believers at all? Or is this just a way for non-believers to get a little attention?
IMHO, I think it’s basically saying that no one is going to answer the question and people need to stop fighting about it and get on with their lives. And it’s stated from the agnostic or atheist point of view, obviously. I didn’t ever think that it’s implying that those with faith don’t have any fun.
Seems to me it’s aimed at the fence-sitters, not the joyously devout.
Though in some cases the only discernable “joy” experienced by the latter is in contemplating the hellish damnation of the unsaved.
Also - the message about being happy and not worrying about the Heavy Hand Of The Lord suggests lightening up a bit, not necessarily encouraging group sex with barnyard animals.
If it’s aimed at any group in particular, it’s probably those many people who keep up a facade of religion without strongly holding any beliefs that affect their lives in a meaningful way. I’m sure we all know some people like that–people who are nominally religious but don’t attend services or follow any inconvenient tenets of their belief system. Those people are probably not deriving a lot of happiness from their religious stance.
I don’t see the campaign as encouraging anyone to go forth and sin, but instead to raise awareness that being religious isn’t a necessary condition for being satisfied and being a productive member of society. And in that sense, it is about non-believers, though the people who are running the campaign are clearly not just non-believers but members of that particular subset of non-believers who still think “is there/is there not a [Judeo-Christian] God?” is an interesting philosophical question when posed in terms of traditional religious beliefs.
I think it is expressing a point of view which - IMO - gets insufficient mention.
And I have personally known a number of Roman Catholics who considered this life to be a chore to get through before they got to paradise. Not saying it is a majority or anything, but there certainly are some.
I can see it speaking to people who have been raised religiously, realized they’re atheists and feel really guilty about it. Religion and hell were a big deal, leaving their religion and coming out to family was a big deal, and now they have trouble believing that simple lack of belief can be just that – simple. I have a friend a bit like this, who was raised as a super devout Christian, became a religion-obsessed atheist, and is now a great, well-rounded person who does a lot of charity work and just happens not to believe in a god.
It’s supposed to be a humorous counterpoint to religious ads on buses. Taking it literally is not advisable.
This is really silly. There is no single atheist council, let alone a committee that sits around stereotyping religious people. The British Humanist Association paid for the ads. Ask them. In real life I’ve met few atheists who subscribe to either of these stereotypes.
Personal experience? Although I am sure there are people who have personal experiences going the other way.
I think the real message is “There are non-believers in our society, too, and we’re just fine the way we are. You may keep your bus ads to yourself.”
It’s aimed at people engaged in Pascal’s wager - people who are following some religion or doing what some religion says they should only because they fear the consequences in the afterlife.
IMHO using the word ‘Probably’ introduces doubt in the mind of the reader and would do more harm to the atheistic cause by sabotaging their message. It’s almost like someones saying to you probably the boss isn’t looking.
It cracks me up when I am struggling to put together a thought; brow furrowed, eyes squinted, furiously self editing, trying to express what I’m trying to say as clearly as possible, then some other poster strolls through and causually posts a single line that just nails it. Makes me feel like a real dummy.
From the press at the time, the word “probably” was introduced by the Advertising Standards Authority which ruled (without the requisite philosophical authority, IMO) that there was no definite negative proof, so the original statement could not be used. The original statement was:
Who’s it supposed to appeal to? Probably someone like me. I grew up thoroughly Christianized but eventually found my way to my present atheist state.
I struggled for years with unbelief. Worked myself into spiritual anguish over my growing doubts. Despised myself for some imagined flaw that made me one of those “stiff necked” people who lost the faith. Wept due to deep feelings of loss and abandonment when I couldn’t sense God listening to me.
I wish some kind person had come to me and said, “You know, rivulus, there’s probably no God. Stop degrading yourself into a depressed mass of guilt, and enjoy the life you have. Life’s too short for this shit.” Who knows? Maybe a sign like that would have resonated with me and saved me a bunch of grief.
In real life I’ve met few atheists who subscribe to either of these stereotypes.