Why not, Ottawa? OC Transpo stalls atheist bus ads
The nation’s capital is locked in a battle over Canada’s eternal souls. OC Transpo rejected the Freethought Association of Canada’s “stop worrying” bus campaign last week, though brave and fabulous “transit committee chairman Alex Cullen had attempted to overturn the decision and pledged to bring it to city council in early March as a separate motion.”
Ottawa’s dedicated humanists will keep fighting the decision.
Fears are the ads will spark community debate. Of course, that’s what they’re intended to do. The real problem is that religious folks can only hold on to their power if no one thinks about god’s existence.
To be clear, the ’stop worrying’ ads are intended to console and inspire nonbelievers who feel intimidated andoppressed by their workplace, family, friends or society into keeping quiet about their atheism. That camaraderie is the point of the ad: “stop worrying and enjoy your life” is intended for atheists who are struggling with social isolation.
Suggestions that this is ‘hate’ are kind of ridiculous, kind of not. No, the public statement that there is no god isn’t terribly tolerant, but it’s not ‘hating’ \ on the religious; it merely points out that they’re unlikely to be right in their worldview, so don’t worry about it. Acknowledging an error in reason or information is not hate, it’s knowledge.
Donations are accepted through AtheistBus.ca, and you can talk about the situation on their forum.
Image TIM WIECLAWSKI/METRO OTTAWA
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