Dawkins' Atheist Bus

nomadthethird

more issues than Time mag
Those websites have to be a joke, right? I mean, I realize that according to Poe's Law it's often almost impossible not to mistake poes for real fundamentalists, but what are those pictures of Hitler and Ted Bundy (with a beard no less) doing on the sidebar?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Also, one of the adverts says "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" or words to that effect - this completely fails to do the work they think it does, that is, it doesn't mean that someone who says (or writes on a bus) "there is no God" is a fool.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Got a reply to my complaint by post yesterday:

Dear IdleRich,

Your complaint about The Christian Party

Thank you for your recent complaint.

It turns out that The Christian Party is a political party so I'm sorry to tell you that we're unable to deal with the specific issues you raise: we're unable to investigate complaints about advertising which aims to influence voters in elections or referendums. To do so would interfere with the democratic process. (The relevant clauses in our Code are 12.1 and 12.2 and you can find the code at www.cap.org.uk).

The ASA Council has seen the add and confirmed that because its primary purpose is to promote the Christian Party, it is electioneering material and therefore exempt from our code.

You may be aware that there were similar bus ads appearing for the Trinitarian Bible Society (which stated "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 53.1") and the Russian Orthodox Church (which stated "There IS a God, believe. Don't worry and enjoy your life."). The ASA Council assessed thes ads but concluded that both were likely to be seen as simply reflecting the opinions of the advertisers and were unlikely to mislead readers.

Although we will not be pursuing your complaint, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Yours sincerely
Seems a bit odd to me. I would have thought that "electioneering" (when's the election?) material was exactly the sort of thing where it was important that it wasn't a blatant lie. I could understand if they said it was outside their remit but that there was some other body to which I should make my complaint but there is nothing like that in the letter. As far as I can tell then, by forming a political party and advertising its promotion you can get away with absolutely anything you choose in those adverts. Think I might send another email to that effect.
Interesting the bit at the end where it says "unlikely to mislead readers"...
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Got a reply to my complaint by post yesterday:


Seems a bit odd to me. I would have thought that "electioneering" (when's the election?) material was exactly the sort of thing where it was important that it wasn't a blatant lie. I could understand if they said it was outside their remit but that there was some other body to which I should make my complaint but there is nothing like that in the letter. As far as I can tell then, by forming a political party and advertising its promotion you can get away with absolutely anything you choose in those adverts. Think I might send another email to that effect.
Interesting the bit at the end where it says "unlikely to mislead readers"...

Might be worth taking it up with the Electoral Commission?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
"Might be worth taking it up with the Electoral Commission?"
Well, I'm going to email the ASA first and clarify their reply. I find it impossible to believe that political adverts aren't moderated at all so I want to know why they didn't tell me who oversees them.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I did send another complaint to the ASA - or not really a complaint, I just asked them who oversaw electioneering adds and why they didn't direct me to the correct boy, unfortunately the reply was just a form letter saying that they were sorry I was unhappy with their response, obviously no-one had read my actual question. Anyway, I'm pleased to see it's the fourth most complained about advert of all time

"The advertising watchdog has decided not to launch a formal investigation into a controversial advertisement from the Christian party proclaiming that "there is definitely a God", even though it has become one of the four most criticised adverts of all time."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/11/god-advert-christian-complaints
 

scottdisco

rip this joint please
just thinking aloud

one thing that interested me about that Seymour piece on Dunbar is Lenin's little struck out conspiracy theorist grading of Fourest, and subsequent according her feminist status in quotation marks.

i would be happy to be informed on the matter but - realise this almost sounds like a conspiracy theory in itself :D - is there a bit of SWP manouevring there? perhaps a bit of a dig toward Fourest for her critical book about Tariq Ramadan, and so on (also she's a MANIFESTO signatory, apparently)?

this of course has nothing to do with what sounds like a silly and wrong quote from Fourest which Lenny notes in his post.

or Rich's struggles re the Christian Party.

keep up the good work Rich, BTW!!
 

vimothy

yurp
OT, but I thought that the essay quoted a few posts later, "Why the Islamic Republic Has Survived," was even more hilarious. (It's because it has a European-style welfare state, in case you didn't know).
 

scottdisco

rip this joint please
he means Comrade Seymour, Rich.

you rogue Craner!

don't forget the right-wing Hariri cult, must not forget them at the party.
 

poetix

we murder to dissect
The British Humanist Association is currently running a campaign against religious faith. It has bought advertising space on our city buses, which now patrol the streets declaring that "There probably is no God; so stop worrying and enjoy life." My parents would have been appalled at such a declaration. From a true premise, they would have said, it derives a false and pernicious conclusion. Had they wished to announce their beliefs—and it was part of their humanism to think that you don't announce your beliefs but live them—they would have expressed them thus: "There probably is no God; so start worrying, and remember that self-discipline is up to you." The British Humanist Association sees nothing wrong with the reference to enjoyment; it seems to have no consciousness of what is clearly announced between the lines of the text, namely that there are no ideals higher than pleasure. Its publications imply that there is only one thing that stands between man and his happiness, and that is the belief in God. Take that belief away, and we can run out into the garden of permissions, picking the fruit that we wrongly thought to have been forbidden. The humanists I knew as a young man would have reacted with disgust at this hedonistic message, and at a philosophy that aims to dispense with God without also aiming to replace Him.

Roger Scruton wants you to have less fun.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
busx.jpg
 
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