Years ago, I think after hearing me ask, “Hey, was resurrected Jesus, zombie Jesus?” one of the religious types at work left on my desk a note pad with that on the bottom of every page. I cut out the strip containing the middle of of the phrase and used it to leave notes for people.
Yes, but there is a scientifically verifiable object called E.coli which people should naturally be concerned about, as it could affect their health. You can’t quite say the same thing about God, can you?
You’re not getting it, ivan. We are not debating whether there is a god, we are debating the perception created by a slogan. Your comment is a total non sequitur.
I actually think that the ‘probably’ strengthens the message. As an atheist (or whatever I am), clearly, there are two possibilities - either I’m right and I can just enjoy my life, or I’m wrong, and I spend eternity in hell. The ‘probably’ is a response to Pascal’s wager, because if Jesus really is God, then I’m going to hell anyway, even if I follow perfectly the religion I was brought up in, and keep every single rule in it. Is that what my destiny is? Probably not. Is it worth worrying about? No.
http://www.random-abstract.com/archives-gm2/00000279.html
This is just some notes on the story, but maybe it’s enough if you want to dig a little deeper. Looks like the homeowner did win the right to display his statue. I could have sworn it was removed later but perhaps the owner moved.
While this may be true for some, this is not how it works with the servants of the Lord Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit prompting them in what they do for the Lord. The Lord is using them to accomplish what He wants, which in this case could be placing a sign in the exact spot where someone searching may be asking ‘does anyone love me’, just to look up at that moment and see the sign ‘Jesus Loves You’.
People in themselves can not do the work of the Lord, it is the Holy Spirit that must do it.
What your restaurant sign should say if you want the same comparison for people’s perceptions is “There is probably no Hobbit meat in our dishes, enjoy your food!”
Would that discourage as many people from eating at that restaurant as a sign replacing “Hobbit meat” with “E.coli”? I doubt it.
People don’t believe hobbits exist. What’s your point?
Damn. And I thought Lord of the Rings was an historical novel. Or was that Lord of the Flies?
I think the latter was a biography concerning the inventor of the zip fastening, but I could be wrong.
Are we just joking around here, or did your post have a point?
Many atheists, including me, have been subject to so many inept, wrong-headed attempts at conversion that the idea of converting someone is offputting. I don’t know the people who put this up, but conversion isn’t necessarily a priority with atheists.
For the OP, reverse the situation. Redo your post with a religious ad aimed at non-religious people. Do you view proselytizing for your religion the same way you view this ad? How do you think non-religious people view proselytizing? Does the experience of being on the other side give you a new perspective about your own actions?
Honestly, I think that this does a good job of showing the inanity of religious ads in general. Also, that a sense of humor is very important. And decaf. Decaf is very important, too.
You were fine, right up to this point. There is no “decaf”-Thou Shalt Not Mock Coffee.
Oh my god, you sound like my grandmother.
I say, anything that sparks conversation on the topic has gotta be good.
Sometimes Christianity is treated as a sacred topic that can’t be discussed except in hushed, respectful tones. If the billboards open up discussion by deflating some of that sacred vibe, I’m all for it.
I remember following this story from the start and it always seemed to me that there was no real target for the ads as such. Really they were just a reaction or protest against a similar campaign promoting a very fire-and-brimstone brand of Christianity. I was never really sure how serious the author was in the original article calling for atheist ads, but it just turned into one of those things that the internet community picked up and ran with, and eventually it happened for real.
Personally, it all seems a bit silly and childish to me. I’m not a believer myself, and I find most organised religion distasteful but that’s mainly because of the preaching and moral snobbery than any difference in beliefs. The whole militant atheist thing is the same old “us vs them” in a different guise, and just as annoying. In fact I’ve discussed on the board before about how the national religion in the UK is more or less Apatheism. I would think that the response of the vast majority of people seeing either type of ad would be a mixture of indifference, and bemusement as to why anyone would bother.
Verily, it is the Holy Spirit moving those atheists to put up the signs on buses.
The Lord obviously wants us to chill out.
I don’t know which part of that story made more bile rise in my throat: the horribly-named “United Coalition of Reason” or this, from the Christian opposition:
Reason is getting beaten up all over the place.
As I mentioned the last time this came up, I do know someone (I don’t remember whether it was my girlfriend or a member of her family) who took that as the intention:
I think the real reason for the signs is that some atheists (though not all) have found the idea of there being no God to be enormously liberating, and they want to share the “good news,” not unlike Christians who find their Christianity to be enormously liberating and want to share their “good news.”
Oh I can believe that. Dawkins has a paragraph in The Greatest Show On Earth about requesting tax-exempt status for the Dawkins Foundation, where he’s asked to elaborate to - whatever institution that makes those decisions - how an institute dedicated to promoting scientific understanding is for the greater good of society. Yet churches are pretty much automatically tax exempt.
As for the slogan, it reminds me of these WWII posters.
Are you saying that a sign with “There’s no E. coli in our burgers: stop worrying and enjoy your lunch” would reassure you more?