It was reported this morning by globeandmail.com that the proposed atheist bus ads for Toronto are being deemed “attack ads.” Dr. Charles McVety, president of the Canada Christian College and president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, says that the although he is for free speech the ads are “attack ads.”
Although the ads were approved by Transit Toronto Commission yesterday, they have not yet found their way to buses. The ads, modeled after the original ads in London, will say, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” McVety says he has not yet decided if he will file a formal complaint once the ads roll out.
He said that the atheist ads are bigoted and that they do not “[say] what the atheists believe, they… [attack] what other people believe.”
Katie Kish of the Freethought Association, who was partly responsible for organizing the Toronto campaign, denies that the ads are an attack on anyone. She has said many times that they are meant to inspire conversation (which they obviously are doing – and they aren’t even up yet).
The Toronto atheist bus ad campaign raised more money than it had hoped and therefore organizers plan to run ads in Calgary and Halifax as well as Toronto. Their target was to raise $6,000, though they have raised in excess of $26,000. Those funds will go a long way in getting the message out.
According to the article, the Web site for the campaign has received hate mail as well as death threats. And, as can be expected, several “well-wishers” have been kind enough to let the group know that they were on their way to Hell.
Comments
LOL, too funny dude, too funny!
RT
www.anoweb.alturl.com
I can't see how that is an attack ad. It's a simple statement of what atheists believe. Dr McVety might want to look a little closer to home for outright bigotry, a brief look at CFAC's website reveals that. Good luck to the Atheist Bus campaign, here's to hoping it gets people talking, and maybe even a few questioning their indoctrination and superstition.
Freethinkers being accused of attack ads because they simply question the belief in a supernatural being. Canadians will laugh off such silly reactions from the fundamentalist.
I have to disagree that the ads are not a statement of what athiests believe. It is exactly that. Athiests do indeed believe that there is no god, and as such do not worry.
It seems these adds are doing the same thing everywhere, which is to bring out the nastiest of the fundie loones and show them up for the liars, bigots and hypocrits that they are. It also shows how terrified they are of anyone who doesn't think like them.
Who Cares?
Are religious ads attack ads against atheism then?
Rev. Charles McVety is alarmed because the atheists are trying to muscle in on his market share.
The ads don't say what atheist believe, because the only thing that separates atheists from believers is what they *don't* believe. The clue is in the name: a-theist.
Some of these comments are extremely uninformed...I am not a fundamentalist Christian but I do find these ads offensive. Yes, they are attack ads; and yes, they are meant to be offensive and attention-seeking. Why can't people just mind their own business, religion-wise?
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