Atheist Bus Ads Draw Fire from UK Christians

Coalition to launch godless monthlong campaign

(NEWSER) - Eight atheist organizations are the creators of a unique month-long ad campaign beginning next week in Manhattan subways that will challenge the belief in God. "A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?" the ads will ask on posters featuring blue sky and clouds. Because the city's subways host 5 million riders a day, the Big Apple Coalition of Reason decided the underground ads would return the "best bang" for the $25,000 campaign, said spokesman Michael De Dora Jr. More»

(NEWSER) - Christian groups in London have decided not to turn the other cheek: In response to a much-publicized ad campaign by atheists on city buses, the groups plan to take out ads of their own in the next two weeks, the Guardian reports. Their theological retort, delivered via mass transportation, will argue: "There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life." More»

Ricky Gervais: So few Christians follow Jesus's teachings

(NEWSER) - Ricky Gervais may be an atheist, but he still believes he's a "good Christian." No, he doesn't believe "Jesus was half man, half God," but he still manages to best many actual Christians when it comes to behavior, he explains in the Wall Street Journal . "Jesus was a man," he writes. "His message was usually one of forgiveness and kindness. These are wonderful virtues but I have seen them discarded by many so-called God-fearers when it suits them." Sure, Jesus's teachings would "make this a better world if they were followed. It’s just that they are rarely followed." More»

Global Atheist Convention thought to be largest meeting of godless ever

(NEWSER) - If ever there was a group unafraid of a vengeful lightning bolt, it's the 2,500 atheists converging on Melbourne—likely the largest concentration of godless thinkers ever. The Global Atheist Convention says it doesn't intend to proselytize, and in fact discourages any “missionary zeal." Still, the convention plans to draft a statement on the ill effects of religion on the world, the BBC reports, and there’s also talk of a film about government subsidies for religion. More»

Ad campaign for nonbelievers reaches coast to coast

(NEWSER) - Got God? You're not alone if you don't, and a new California ad campaign wants you to know that's OK. The agnostic/atheist organization United Coalition of Reason 's ads reassure nonbelievers that millions share their position, and has now officially reached more than a dozen cities coast-to-coast from Manhattan and Baltimore to Sacramento and San Diego. More»