Unholy moly! Atheist buses are rolling

Atheist outreach is having its say via ads on 800 United Kingdom buses.

They answer Jesus Said ads which ran on London buses in June. The "Jesus Said" ads pointed to a Web site which warns that failure to accept Christ will invoke God's wrath:

God's wrath includes the prospect of eternal punishment -- it is appointed to men to die once and then comes the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). You will rise from the dead and will face the Judge and know that you rejected His kind and merciful answer. You will be condemned to everlasting separation from God and then you spend all eternity in torment in hell. Jesus spoke about this as a lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and all his angels (demonic spirits) (Matthew 25: 41).

Comedy wrinter Adriane Sherine found that offensive and, supported by the British Humanist Association and Professor Richard Dawkins, led the campaign to raise £135,000.

This iteration of the campaigin was launched on Oct. 21, and is the successor to a failed campaign which was launched and closed in midsummer after Sherine wrote a blog post, Atheists -- gimme five, in resonse to the Jesus Said ads on the sides of London buses.

The atheists' ads say (as in the picture above):

There's probably no God.

Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

Inspired by the British, the American Humanist Association bought ads during the Christmas season in and on 200 Washington, D.C., buses. The ads said:

Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake.

The Pennsylvania Friends of Christ responded in D.C. with ads which said:

Believe in God. Christ is Christmas for goodness' sake.

Another group, started by a stay-at-home Catholic housewife with lobbying experience who partnered with the Catholic nonprofit Center for Family Development in Bethesda, MD., quickly raised the money to run D.C. bus ads which said:

Why believe? I created you and I love you, for goodness’ sake. – God.

We don't know about the British, but in overview, U.S. atheists are more confused than evangelistic. The Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape survey found that 21% of U.S. atheists professed a belief in God.

Mayhap they're mostly backsliders who, despite the bus ads, may readily be persuaded to return to church. Or if unbaptised, to begin their walk.