CityNews has an article about the upcoming Atheist Bus campaign in Toronto that I thought was interesting. (side note: I read about this weeks ago in the Globe and Mail, but guess what? Their site requires you pay for their articles so I can’t even quote it if I wanted to, which is too bad because they had a good quote from a Muslim leader in the community.)
For the most part, I’m happy not just with the campaign, but with the reaction of the various religious leaders in the city.
Neil MacCarthy, Archdiocese of Toronto, believes they may serve a purpose.
“If it evokes a discussion around religion and discussions around issues of faith, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it’s done respectfully.”
This guy gets it, he understands that people have different views and he can respect them. While MacCarthy didn’t state whether he was offended or not, another leader certainly stated they were offended but again, more respect:
“[There's] freedom of speech and people can advertise whatever they want. There is always a certain point where it crosses what is appropriate for advertising in general, but there’s freedom of speech and people can do what they like” [Rabbi Reuven Tradburks] explains.
“I think on another level, personally, to see an ad that promotes or encourages people to adopt a view which rejects God in their life and therefore you can do whatever you want that’s personally offending to me. I don’t like to see that, and it bothers me to see it.”
Well Rabbi Tradburks, here’s a big hello and welcome to my world! I have a feeling I am exposed to more religious messages than Tradburks is exposed to atheistic messages and its refreshing to see respect coming from across the aisle even if it makes them a bit uncomfortable. I don’t like a lot of religious ads and while I am not offended by them I do not like to see them but I tolerate them. I do take offense however at his implication that atheists are some sort of hedonistic heathens. Just because we do not believe in retribution from a higher power in the afterlife does not mean we do not observe and adhere to the Golden Rule – to do unto others as you would have them do unto you – just as Tradburks did by respecting our free speech. That atheist are just like any other people is so self-evident that its not even worth expounding on. We are all atheists, I just believe in one less god than you do and when you understand why you dismiss all the other gods you will understand why I dismiss yours. (<– a combination of a couple of quotes)
As for the campaign itself, I am not enthralled by them, but like I said, I am happy with them. I think its good to remind everyone that atheist exist and that we deserve our rights just as much as any other. Atheists are very under represented in society and are subjected to subtle prejudices and discrimination like any other minority group; but Canadians are a polite respectful people so there isin’t much for an atheist to complain about and I am thankful for it.
On the matter of taking offense, this is certainly prickly. The City News phone poll found that “4020 respondents said ‘Yes’ they were offended by the ads, while 2543 respondents said ‘No’ they weren’t.” This surprised me because I had higher expectations for Torontonians, the subtle hypocrisy is plain when one reverses the roles. I’d love to see the results of the opposite question was asked if whether one finds it offensive to see a religious message, I am willing to be most atheist would not find them offensive barring any obvious hateful campaign. Indeed, the atheist bus campaign is not hateful, it is simply opinionated.
To end this post I’ll quote Bill Maher (who probably got it from some one else)
One must remember that offense cannot be given, but rather it can only be taken.
So live and let live; and ignore the trolls. Obvious trolls are obvious.