Probability
As atheist ads hit London's buses on Tuesday, one faith-based think tank says they will only get people thinking more about God.
The ads by the British Humanist Association carry the slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." They are to appear on 30 of London's bendy buses.
The keyword here is "probably" which makes this rather a weak argument. If a theist tells an atheist there is probably a God this certainly would be rather an unconvincing argument. Atheists often pride themselves on relying only on reason and so I am a bit surprised they picked suck a weak slogan.
If you were told there is "probably" a bridge over the canyon you might not exactly stop worrying. If you were told there is "probably" no poison in your soup by the waitress it would certainly give you pause. If you have an eternal soul and can face eternal judgment, "probably" just does not cut it. Though there is no certainty for either atheists or theists.
...both the believer and the unbeliever share, each in his own way, doubt and belief, if they do not hide from themselves and from the truth of their being. Neither can quite escape either doubt or belief; for the one, faith is present against doubt; for the other, through doubt and in the form of doubt. It is the basic pattern of man's destiny only to be allowed to find the finality of his existence in this unceasing rivalry between doubt and belief, temptation and certainty. Perhaps in precisely this way doubt, which saves both sides from being shut up in their own worlds, could become the avenue of communication. It prevents both sides from enjoying complete self-satisfaction; it opens up the believer to the doubter and the doubter to the believer; for one, it is this share in the fate of the unbeliever; for the other, the form in which belief remains nevertheless a challenge to him. - then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger "Introduction to Christianity"
The other aspect of the slogan I found interesting was "stop worrying and enjoy your life." I suspect many atheists think that Christians and others spend a lot of time worrying about judgment and that it cripples them in some way, especially in regards to judgment. This is kind of the Stephen King view of religious followers where religion always distorts them in some neurotic way like the mother in Carrie. There are certainly those who suffer from scrupulosity and worry too much about judgment. If anything too many Christians live their life without thinking about the last things enough.
What the atheists can not understand or explain is the saints who give themselves totally to God and are the most joyful of us. Though they would explain the saints away as deluded. It is joy not fear that marks the true believer.
Atheists like the secularists (which include many believers that often act like atheism is true) often want to cure the symptoms and not the deeper problems. They would eliminate worrying and guilt if they could and forget that the person who has successfully done so is amoral and often a monster. The message on the bus is really about not worrying, but about not feeling guilty. Their focus is not those who worry about the economy and such, but those who feel guilt for what they do and think about judgment. To stop feeling guilt is to perform a consciencectomy. But it flows out of the atheist naturally since if there is no God, there is no sin and certainly no judgment. They can also not tell Stalin why to not act as he did. With no eternal consequences for actions what Stalin did worked for him.
It is not though that atheists can't be good people, very often they are. Ironically it is despite their atheism when they are good and because of the light they are given by God and the natural virtues. There have been plenty of attempts by atheists to construct a morality without God that mostly amounts to getting along and prudent ways to go about it. It was Friedrich Nietzsche who truly followed the path of atheism and saw such an attempt as folly. But I guess "Beyond good and evil" just does not work as a bus slogan.
Known as 
That "probably" sounds more like an agnostic stance.
Reminds me of the dyslexic agnostic who didn't know if there was a "Dog".
(That typo "suck" is fitting here!)
What do you mean? "Beyond Good and Evil" would make one heck of a bus slogan! Although...it sounds more like a movie advertisement or an ad for a new nightclub.
Waitaminute...
No God? In England?
Then WHO saves the Queen?
'consciencectomy'. I like it. I think I'll add it to my dictionary.
Fr. Jay, I'll bet the Queen believes in God!
Ironic. Belief in God is what makes me stop worring and allows me to enjoy life. He's God, so I don't have to be... what a freedom!
smk, I couldn't agree with you more.
What a lazy way to preach, and a total waste of money. Why don't they climb those buses and preach their cause like a true missionary? But, there's probably no bus
I would not be surprised if the immediate response actually turned a lot of people to God. To use your own example, if I saw a sign that said, "There is probably no poison in your food. Now stop worrying and enjoy your lunch," I'd think long and hard about from where my food came, and just why this sign is so (probably) certain. Then I'd run the heck out of the restaurant and eat at home.
I would not be surprised if the immediate response actually turned a lot of people to God. To use your own example, if I saw a sign that said, "There is probably no poison in your food. Now stop worrying and enjoy your lunch," I'd think long and hard about from where my food came, and just why this sign is so (probably) certain. Then I'd run the heck out of the restaurant and eat at home.
We should thank the atheists...this keeps the debate alive and prompts Christians to respond. They've done us a favor...too bad the Anglican and Catholic churches in the UK are ruled by wet agnostics. Maybe the evangelicals will take up the challenge?
Fr. Philip, P
Knowing what hell is, and what it contains for all who choose to separate themselves from God, I'm not willing to gamble all of eternity on "probably."
While I agree with most of the points TheCurtJester makes regarding the slogan initiative, except for the suggestion people who doubt God don't have ethics and therefor can't feel guilt or take responsibility.
Flawed as it is the bus slogan appears to serve function when I read comments like this:
"Knowing what hell is, and what it contains for all who choose to separate themselves from God, I'm not willing to gamble all of eternity on "probably."
It's a choice based on fear, a slave morality. The rejection of a fear based choice is suggested to be an irresponsible "gamble" for eternal hell. Nietzsche was very irresponsible gambler in this regard. Fortunately people can also make a positive choice for God, even though a sizable chunk does not (fear, habit, not thinking for oneself).
Contrary to what is suggested Nietzsche's work can be used (and is used) as a humanist basis for a morality without God and his God given laws going way beyond just "getting along". Perhaps even as far as knocking an the gates of heaven. The bus quote unfortunately doesn't go that far - a missed opportunity.
I read on another blog that in the UK it is required to advertise claims of superiority (ie, our beer is better) or anything about religion in non-absolutes, hence "probably." The comment I read also stated that in the past there was a beer company that ran a successful campaign along the lines, "our beer is probably the best," so the formatting of this might be aimed to capitalize off that previous campaign wording as well act within the advertising laws.
There are two reasons for the "probably" that I know of. One was, I've heard, to comply with advertising laws.
The other was just for the sake of intellectual honesty - we can't prove there's no god. That said they probably should have put a stronger statement like "almost certainly no God" instead, maybe they ran out of space. :p
re: the "stop worrying" bit, the impression I get is that the new atheists are largely targetting fence-sitters, doubters, etc. So the message is "it's ok to let go, don't worry".
I think I could rather easily tell Stalin why not to do what he did. Concepts like suffering are rather universal without needing to invoke anything supernatural.
stoo,
But why should Stalin care about suffering. He was top dog and could do as he wanted as far as he was concerned. The thing about other people's suffering is that it is other people's suffering and not your own. Stalin was aware of suffering in the world and not doubt new that he caused suffering, yet it didn't moderate his behavior. So try to again to explain to an atheist dictator why he should not act as they do if they get away with it?
Didn't Pascal demonstrate on the premise that there was "Probably no God" that the wise action would be to embrace theism? Wasn't a common atheist response to "the Wager" to assert there was "definitely" no God?