'No God' Ads, Soon To Appear On TTC Vehicles, Spark Heated Debate
many of the anti-religion supporters here may enjoy this one:
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'No God' Ads, Soon To Appear On TTC Vehicles, Spark Heated Debate
Thursday January 29, 2009
CityNews.ca Staff
"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
It's certainly not everyone's opinion, and it may or may not be yours - but if you're a transit user in this city you'll soon be seeing that message frequently.
It's part of a controversial ad campaign by the Toronto-based Freethought Association of Canada that has been approved by the TTC to appear on buses and inside subway cars.
The spots are already sparking heated debate. Charles McVety, president of the Canada Christian College in Toronto, calls them out-and-out attack ads in a published report. The evangelical leader said he hasn't decided whether the group he heads up, the Canada Family Action Coalition, will formally complain about them once they start appearing on the transit vehicles.
The ads were used in a similar campaign in Britain recently.
The Freethought Association, for its part, says the atheist messages aren't meant to attack people's religious beliefs but to promote dialogue. And they've certainly done that - Torontonians asked what they thought of the soon-to-appear spots had a lot to say.
"We are living in a multicultural country. That's their right to express their belief," said Willy Rablora. "But for me, whatever I see, I just read it, that's it."
And George Van Luven noted, "Personally, it doesn't affect me - I'm sure a lot of people would be upset."
The TTC says the ads don't violate any of the transit commission's rules, however the decision to approve them could be reviewed if there are complaints.
The Freethought Association now plans to use the tens of thousands of dollars in donations it raised through a site called www.atheistbus.ca to post similar ads in Calgary and Halifax.
Do you find the atheist ads offensive? Send your thoughts to [email protected].
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source:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_31470.aspx
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