The billboard company in Halifax that’s responsible for bus ads refuses to run an atheist ad there.
Humanist Canada wanted to place ads on Metro Transit buses with the slogan, “You can be good without God.”
But officials with the transit authority deemed that too controversial.
“We’re a public transit system first, and then we sell advertising,” Lori Patterson, spokewoman for Metro Transit, told CBC News on Monday.
“So, if anytime we feel there’s a message that could be controversial and upsetting to people, we don’t necessarily sell the ads.”
That decision is upsetting to Pat O’Brien, president of the non-profit group dedicated to the separation of church and state.
“It would be interesting to see what vegans think about the KFC ads. I mean, at what point do you stop offending people?” he said.
The group hopes to buy ads in Toronto and Vancouver.
“Our ad has been shown to be acceptable to everyone else in the country,” said O’Brien. “Some people like it, some don’t. That’s fine. It’s all about getting the message out and getting the conversation going.”
You can be good without God. That’s it. That’s offensive? It’s a statement that a lot of faithful can’t seem to wrap their heads around, mind you, but that doesn’t make it false.
Patterson said the transit authority would reconsider its position if Humanist Canada toned down its message.
But O’Brien said that won’t happen.
Well, too bad it won’t happen, but so be it. Maybe they’ll have better luck elsewhere.
February 6, 2009 at 11:03 am
Yes, “You can be good without god” is controversial, but “God knew my soul before I was born” and “God is pro-life” and “come to our church, because you are a terrible person in need of redemption” are all dandy slogans.
February 8, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Yes, I don’t see how the message could possibly be any less controversial than “you can be good without God”.
If that company runs religious slogans, someone should keep a record of it, and then sue them.
February 9, 2009 at 2:40 pm
These ads are not saying what the atheists believe, they are attacking what other people believe. Bravo Vancouver et al.