There probably is no God, but I am still worrying.

“There is probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

This is the slogan that will read along the side of 30 London buses in the New Year, and even though I agree, I can’t help but feel that this will help nothing. The idea of changing people’s views through simple slogans is as idiotic as the views of the people they are trying to change.

A trip to the Darwin exhibition at the natural history museum may help, but even then a fundamentalist will barely batter an eyelid to qualify any statement in order to glorify their intangible watchmaker.

The campaign for the slogans was an idea by the British Humanist Association. The idea was to raise £5,500 but almost immediately Prof. Richard Dawkins matched the bid and after enthusiastic support from the public the organisation has now raised more than £36,000.








That's a good amount of public support, almost too good. Could it be that London doesn't need converting? How religious is our country these days? On the 8th of July this year the blasphemy laws had been abolished and church going has been in decline since the 1950’s, although this has slowed down by people from ethnic minorities.

However, the argument from the British Humanist Association is that it is to counter religious advertising like The Alpha Group who will also be advertising on buses. If you attend The Alpha course you will be told that a failure to believe in Jesus will condemn you to hell.

I don’t have a problem with any of these advertisements, except maybe the so-called moral religious campaign striking fear into the hearts of people instead of the relaxing message from the atheist camp. No, what I have a problem with is that everyone is wasting their time.

If a non-religious person went to The Alpha course, would anything really change? Would someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ be scared of a place that they believe to have been made up? Simple logic tells us no, right?

And it works both ways. Richard Dawkins is quoted on the Atheist Campaign website as saying these advertisements “will make people think”. That is a credible source, but is it true?

When asking my friend who had just been to church if she was religious, she replied she was not extreme, but did believe in a God. I then asked her how she felt about the posters, to which she simply said: “I’m not really bothered. I disagree but I mean everyone can have their own opinion.”

So like John Wisdom’s friend who believed in the invisible gardener, so too will the religious public about their improbable God.

Also, just because it stems from science does not mean it is any more probable to be true, because in the words of Thomas Edison:
“We don’t know one millionth of one percent about anything!”


Video courtesy of YouTube:Have I got News For You Atheist Bus
Picture courtesy of Open Parachute