I went to Toronto last weekend with one of my brothers and my partner in search of the much anticipated, much covered and strangely controversial atheist ads.
We knew from the official Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign website that, beginning February 23rd, 2009, atheist ads would be running in the subway system. We did not know, however, that they would appear only inside subway cars, not on subway station walls. Nor did we know how few ads there would be.
We spent a fair bit of time in the subway system looking into numerous cars and, though we rode only in three cars, we saw only one ad in one of those cars. Many commercial ads appear two, three, or more times in a single car, but this may well be budget-related. However, given how much opposition there has been to these ads -- Halifax, NS, Ottawa and London, ON, Kelowna, Vancouver, and Victoria, BC refused to run them -- it should perhaps not be surprising that their presence, where not blocked entirely, would be minimal.
What I like about the ad is that it initiates a much overdue conversation and acknowledges, as publicly as the many religious ads plastered around our public places, that the diversity of our cities and our country includes not only adherents to the various world religions, but also those who do not adhere to any religion at all. A sign (or gesture) of open-mindedness in our society is the inclusion of people from other cultural and religious backgrounds in private and public debates and discussions. Atheists are rarely thus included. It seems we have to interject somehow to make ourselves heard. We have to step boldly and uninvited onto the stage.
What I don't like so much about the ad is the last half of the second sentence -- its meaning is simply not clear enough and hence easily misunderstood. But back to that in a bit. 'There's probably no God' is, to my mind, a very mild statement. I would gladly have supported a more strongly worded statement to the effect that the existence of God is highly improbable. Having grown up in a fundamentalist Christian household, the first half of the second sentence, 'now stop worrying', makes complete sense. I worried almost constantly as a child, internally praying on and off throughout my days asking for forgiveness in case I had unknowingly done or thought something sinful. And the world could end any second, so I had to be ready at all times. I had terrible nightmares of devils with glowing red eyes converging on my crib because I had forgotten to say my bedtime prayer. But back to the last half of the second sentence, 'and enjoy your life'. Without any elaboration or explanation, it sounds hedonistic. It can easily be misinterpreted to mean that we need not be concerned about leading decent lives, about being good human beings, and that without God we may do whatever we wish and be absolved of responsibility.
I don't think the framers of the atheist ad advocate or meant to recommend a life of pure pleasure-seeking devoid of responsibility, but it is too open to just that misinterpretation. The ad, pictured at left, which my partner and I happily discovered at the Queen's Park subway station, is much more to the point. The contention of many, perhaps most, theists is that human goodness derives from, is supported by, and can only manifest in the light of faith in god. This ad, posted by Humanist Canada, responds to that contention simply and without equivocation or ambiguity: "YOU CAN BE GOOD WITHOUT GOD".
While both ads represent a positive step onto the public stage for atheists, secular humanists and freethinkers, I simply cannot find any fault with the latter ad. The message is so clear, concise, non-confrontational and non-provocative. We can indeed be good without god. It means we have to think a great deal more, question our assumptions, come together to study, analyze, discuss and debate human behaviour and our place in the world and universe. It also requires openness and hard work, as life is colourful and complex and we cannot rely on any tradition, book, or institution to decide for us how to be good. But the rewards of letting go of faith and simple answers to embrace independent thought and engage the complexity of life are great and many. I think it's time we grew up as a species and learned to stand on our own feet, so to speak, to make good use of that wonderful tool in our heads and learn to be good because we want to be, not because we fear punishment in an imagined hell or desire the rewards of an imagined paradise.
