Charles Robert Darwin FRS (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist who realised and demonstrated that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and much of the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, providing logical explanation for the diversity of life. (Wikipedia)

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Feb. 10, 2009) – Freethought Association of Canada announces it will move its “Atheist Bus” campaign into more cities, including Ottawa, after surpassing $40,000.

The ads, which have been approved in Toronto and Calgary, declare “There’s probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

“Ottawa is a logical choice,” said FAC President Justin Trottier. “As the political centre of our country we hope to send a message that secularism and non-believers be considered equally in political discussion.”

The Freethought Association continues to pressure Metro Transit in Halifax to run ads. They have refused, claiming the ads are too “controversial”.

“We want to discuss this, but they won’t meet,” said Derek Rodgers, Halifax spokesperson.

The Freethought Association feels that Metro Transit’s actions violate their Charter right to free speech.

“We exist to encourage healthy debate,” said Trottier. Several religious organizations have already joined the discussion.

FAC is a registered charity promoting education of secular worldviews.

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If you’re in the GTA and near a television tonight, turn on Rogers TV (Ch 11 in Toronto, 63 in Scarborough).  I’ll be on Goldhawk tonight.  The show airs LIVE at 7 PM. The topic is:

Should atheist advertisements be allowed on the TTC? Join the discussion on Goldhawk Live tonight at 7:00 pm. Acclaimed journalist Dale Goldhawk takes calls and debates the issue with guest experts.

More info on the show here.  There will be a web poll on their homepage www.rogerstv.com asking for viewer thoughts and it is a call in show so please try to get through with your support for the campaign!

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Discuss this poll on our forums at http://atheistbus.ca/forum

Moderator of the United Church of Canada the Right Reverend David Giuliano

It’s been getting really exciting recently with the bus campaign.  There’s been an interesting new development since the United Church of Canada got in on the fun.  We are actually succeeding in the primary aim we keep going on about, namely the formation of dialogue.  Over the last two days I’ve engaged in back to back panel discussion, live on air, with the Right Reverend David Giuliano, the highest officer in the United Church of Canada.

Firstly, last night Chris Hammond and I engaged with the Reverend for an hour on CP24 television and jointly fielded half a dozen callers.  The conversation was very level except after one caller gave her point of view that since Canada was a Christian country (talk of begging the question) we had no business impugning that fact, and that a person’s religion was too holy for offending it to be acceptable.  I had to say about three times – over her voice – that Canada has no such thing as a human right to not be offended (not yet anyway).  Luckily, the host of the show is a free speech attorney who worked to defend Ezra Levant, the former editor of the Western Standard who was hauled before the Human Rights commission in Alberta for printing the Mohamed Cartoons.  So Chris and I were in very good company.

This morning I was woken up to a phone-in discussion on a Waterloo, Ontario based radio show for a conversation with the same Reverend Giuliano.  Knowing each other a little better, we now had the opportunity to explore issues of faith and divinity in more depth, and the host prompted us with leading questions like whether atheists were just out for themselves (to which I responded by describing that as a fairly archaic characterization) and whether god was a necessary additive if everyone agreed non-believers could lead moral and deeply satisfying lives.

When the Reverend described how God to him was a transcendental entity which subsumed concepts like beauty, love and ethics, I agreed that such a transcendental belief assisted some, while explaining that many people are able to appreciate the majesty of the universe and lead lives of commitment to deep ethical principles without having to label these values with the imprimateur of God.  Also consider individuals like Gretta Vosper, head of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity and United Church minister in Scarborough, whose book With or Without God, calls Christians to move towards the use of symbols in place of doctrine and belief.  It was an interesting conversation because without caller interruptions we were able to engage in more of a good natured critique of the other’s viewpoint, always staying positive and converging in some places along the complicated spectrum that joins our worldviews, and in fact concluding with the host expressing his belief that we would make great friends, to which we both readily agreed.

I’m very pleased that precedents such as these are moving atheism into the mainstream.  To respond to criticisms that what we are doing is trivial and pointless, I would point to such examples.  That’s what this campaign is all about.

Now for something more amusing – but equally mainstream – editorial cartoons!  Since this site is well read (as opposed to my personal blog) I won’t dare reprint it, so visit here, so visit the Montreal Gazette Aislin cartoon for Feb 2, 2009.  Enjoy!

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Discuss this on our forums at http://atheistbus.ca/forum

Cross posted to Equalism Activism

The Halifax advertising authority has declared atheism ads in “poor taste”, or possibly merely objectionable to certain “moral standards”.  In so doing they have joined the Vatican as the only two organizations in the western world still in the dark ages when it comes to allowing non-believers the right to free speech in public spaces.  That’s quite an accomplishment!  Here’s the full official response we received from the General Manager of Pattison Maritimes, the company that produces and sells transit advertising in Halifax).

Thank you for your inquiry.  We are aware of your message due to the existing media coverage you are experiencing.  We are not able to accept your message as it currently reads.

If you would like to submit an alternative message, we will submit that for approval.

If any potential ad message is deemed to be possibly controversial, we must advise the transit system.  They rarely refuse creative content, however have advised us that in this particular case, your message has already stirred up enough media exposure across the country to be deemed controversal.

All advertisements must meet acceptable community standards of good taste, quality and appearance . Furthermore, the ads will not be considered discriminatory, or objectionable to any race creed or moral standard.

In unofficial correspondence they have stated that this policy would apply to any groups with an advertisement referring to god or religion, although the reference to the possibility of our ads infringing on moral standards is curious.  That phrase does not appear as stated anywhere in their policy document.

The CBC, in an article called Halifax is Keeping God Off Its Buses reports:

A ‘Without God’ ad has proven too controversial for Halifax transit.

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.

Aren’t ads supposed to catch your attention and make you think?  That’s what characterizes really good advertisements.  Should our organizations be penalized for our successes?  Besides, if we removed every offensive ad, we’d be taking half of them down.  I imagine a Hummer ad isn’t exactly impressing an environmentalist nor, to borrow an example from Pat O’Brien, President of the Humanist Association of Canada, would a vegan be happy with an ad for sirloin stake.  And it goes without saying that political ads are offensive to everyone who doesn’t belong to the political party being promoted.  Here’s another example where religion receives a special blanket of protection.  If you want to contact Pattison with your response to their actions (that’s what free speech is all about) their contact is at the bottom of Chris’ post below.

In statements prepared by the Freethought Association of Canada, we shot back:

Metro Transit needs to understand the seriousness of the message they’re sending by rejecting an ad as benign as ours on the grounds that it doesn’t conform to their standards of “good taste, quality, and appearance.” Metro Transit has a history of running ads that are potentially objectionable, from Vagina Monologue ads that include the slogan “The Vaginas are coming” to ads for an anti-choice organization known as “Birthright.”

We’re very concerned about our right to free speech — I think a lot of Haligonians are expressing similar concerns, so we’re really eager to sit down and discuss this face to face with Metro Transit.

Now it should be admitted that Pattison hasn’t refused to consider any ad from our organizations.

The transit authority would reconsider its position if Humanist Canada toned down its message.

Toned down its message?  Humanist Canada’s message – distinct from that of the Freethought Association of Canada – was the very outrageous

You can be good without God

Wow.  That’s so toned down it’s practically apologizing for itself.  It’s hard to imagine a more innocuous statement of the secular humanist worldview in a more respectful and conciliatory phrasing.  How could anyone possibly ask that this be toned down, unless they think atheists and humanists have no right to any public existence.  This is a clear example of just how certain individuals and organizations see any assertiveness on the part of non-believers as a sign of arrogance and bigotry.  But I believe this example betrays the real bigots.

According to some research, a lawsuit against the Vancouver Transit Authority for an old decision not to run potentially “offensive” political ads (which was ruled unconstitutional by the B.C. Court of Appeals) was appealed by the Transit Authority to the Supreme Court of Canada last year and in fact we are awaiting a decision on that in the coming weeks.  Here’s the appeal decision by the B.C. Court of Appeals.  As I’ve said before on this blog, censorship and free speech is becoming THE issue in Canada.

And Pattison has a history of deciding the wrong way on these issues, considering their refusal to display AIDS ads: Pattison company rejects AIDS ads for Gay Men.  Maybe AIDS is objectionable to “moral standards” or maybe it’s just gay men.

But seriously, these cases raise critical questions:

-are transit authorities bound by the Charter?
-if so, does the Charter guarantee access to advertising on buses?
-if so, can the transit authority impose limits, and on what basis?
-if limits can be imposed, is an informal policy enough, or would it have to be some sort of bylaw?

Send your thoughts quickly.  Chris and I are appearing on CP24 tonight (Feb 4) from 9-10pm to address these and other issues in the ongoing bus campaign.

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Discuss this issue on our forums! http://atheistbus.ca/forum

Yesterday we official received word from Sherry Kirwin, General Manager of Pattison Maritimes, that our banner is too “controversial” for Halifax Metro Transit.

“We are aware of your message due to the existing media coverage you are experiencing.  We are not able to accept your message as it currently reads.

If you would like to submit an alternative message, we will submit that for approval.

If any potential ad message is deemed to be possibly controversial, we must advise the transit system.  They rarely refuse creative content, however have advised us that in this particular case, your message has already stirred up enough media exposure across the country to be deemed controversial.

All advertisements must meet acceptable community standards of good taste , quality and appearance . Furthermore, the ads will not be considered discriminatory, or objectionable to any race creed or moral standard“, explained Ms. Kirwin.

Metro Transit needs to understand the seriousness of the message they’re sending by rejecting an ad as benign as ours on the grounds that it doesn’t conform to their standards of “good taste, quality, and appearance.” Metro Transit has a history of running ads that are potentially objectionable, from Vagina Monologue ads that include the slogan “The Vaginas are coming” to ads for an anti-choice organization known as “Birthright.”

We’re very concerned about our right to free speech — I think a lot of Haligonians are expressing similar concerns, so we’re really eager to sit down and discuss this face to face with Metro Transit.

*Update* Today during an interview, Lori Patterson of Halifax Transit Public Affairs mentioned “[...]this groups ads were known to be or were already viewed to be inflammatory or controversial before they reached this market.” When asked why it would be viewed as “inflammatory” and mentioning that the ads and atheism certainly represents a significant part of the population, she replied stating “it could be viewed as inflammatory to a certain group in population and that is certainly what we’re hearing. We have to recognize that this is an older area of the country and people still have, you know, traditional views. [...] All the calls we’ve been getting have been against us running them.”[1]

“Anything considered to be objectionable to any race, creed, or moral standard, you know, we have the right to.. or we can refuse. And I’ve not heard of.. You know, we haven’t been approached by religious groups to my knowledge before.”[2]

I encourage everyone that supports this campaign to call Ms. Patterson and Halifax Metro Transit and let them know what you think.  Ask her if she thinks that the people of Halifax are not capable of making their own decisions and coming to their own conclusions about advertisements.  Ask her if she has forgotten about our national anthem and charter of rights. Not only are we supposed to be the “true north, strong and free“, but our Canadian Charter of Rights under section 2) guarantee’s “b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; “.[3] Canada is known around the world to be a country of religious (or in this case non-religious) freedoms. Does Halifax really want to be labeled as the city that doesn’t allow alternative views?

[1], [2] CBC Radio One – Halifax

[3] Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/

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To discuss this please sign up for our forums and have your say. There’s already a thread started on this topic here.

Join the Halifax Atheist Bus Campaign group. This group is an extension of the Official Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign.

Hey everyone,

Today we will be opening the official discussion board of the Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign. With this forum you can discuss, debate, and talk about atheism, religion, and a wide range of other related topics. I encourage everyone to sign up and start posting.

To access the forum please visit http://atheistbus.ca/forum.
Thanks!