Friday, January 16, 2009

As atheists roll out London ads, believers unruffled

"The Atheist Bus Campaign organizer, a young comedienne named Ariane Sherine, took exception last June to several London buses swathed with biblical quotes, placed by Christian fundamentalists.

Her idea to fund a few challenge ads took off; donors sent in $200,000 in two days. Ms. Sherine was joined by Oxford zoologist Richard Dawkins, a leading British atheist and author of "The God Delusion."

He predicted anger from believers. "They have to take offense, it is the only weapons they've got," Mr. Dawkins said as the first bus rolled through the streets of London. "They've got no arguments."

But the response by most faith leaders isn't quite what was expected."

That response was a collective, "Eh."

The line from Richard Dawkins made me chuckle. Sounds like he was making a hypothesis based on a given that turned out to have been derived from his personal world view (i.e. "Anyone who is religious is stoopid."). Kinda irrational for an objective scientist, don't you think?

My reaction is the same as the believers in the article. Our faith has gone through thousands of years of persecutions, critics, revolutions, and revivals, and they expect a couple billboard signs to bring us crumbling to our knees?

As for Dawkins, maybe seeing one assumption proven wrong will cause him to reevaluate the rest of his beliefs?

Probably not, but hey, I am a person of faith.

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