Tuesday 21 October 2008

Atheists, 1 - English language, Nil

I don't know if there is a god, but if there is, I think we can safely say he has a pretty dry sense of humour.

I draw your attention to The Atheist Bus. The British Humanist Society - having decided that, if you can't beat them, you should join them - has hired out the side of a bus and put and advert up to remind us that some people don't believe in god. Thanks for the update.

Now personally, I find it just as annoying when complete strangers feel the need to tell me about Dawkins and The Blind Watchmaker as when they decide to inform me about Jesus, Krishna or the colony of Thetans apparently lodged in my colon - but I've learned to deal with it.

There's also a little bit of irony in the fact that the justgiving site connected with the project shows how much has been collected as a big red thermometer in the style favoured by Parish Church Roof Funds across England. I understand that next week Evan Harris is going to be selling little cakes off of paper plates on a card table just outside the vestry.

But my main gripe with The Atheist Bus is that it isn't really atheist at all. The message on the side reads "There's probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy life".

Probably?
Probably?

What kind of atheist says there probably isn't a god? Atheists believe in the non-existence of god with the same conviction and obnoxious fervour that Sarah Palin believes that he does exist (and is probably visible from her front porch). What you have there, my friend, is The Agnostic Bus. The bus that doesn't like to commit one way or another. A bus that knows there's no evidence in one direction but equally nothing reliable in the other.

Say what you want about the religious but at least they usually know what they actually believe. And don't they love to share.