Brave atheists tackle the peril of... Canadian Christianity

It always cracks me up to see the latest definition of "transgressive" art or social commentary -- because it's always so banal. Example: the contest on the TV show Kenny vs. Spenny, when two “edgy” comedians

Yawn. What’s the worst that could happen to him – a few letters of dissent and a church bakesale in protest? Fly a banner saying “Mohammed sucks” or “Allah sucks” and I’ll give you points for being edgy – and you’ll spend the rest of your life under police protection. Theo van Gogh was murdered for less.

The latest in this endless parade of fake chutzpah is the "atheist bus" advertising campaign that’s been running in London, is coming to Toronto, and perhaps soon to Calgary. It's basically bus ads questioning the existence of God. Here's a story about it in the

There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

Of course, my favourite part of that ad is the word “probably”. It never hurts to hedge your bets, I guess, though there’s probably less downside risk to being a doubting believer than a doubting non-believer.

The ads are clearly a PETA-style media stunt, designed to get maximum “earned” news coverage with minimal paid advertising. Unlike PETA, however, there are no scantily clad women purring over baby seals. The atheist spokesman I saw on CTV looked like the second vice president of a college Dungeons and Dragons Club – not that there’s anything wrong with that. He hardly seemed the role model of a devil-may-care lifestyle.

As a media stunt, it’s working – people are talking about atheism, at least for a moment. But that’s hardly transgressive. It might have been “bad” a hundred years ago, or even forty years ago in Quebec. But today, that’s pretty bland stuff. Most Canadians are not atheist, but they’re certainly not very religious, not enough to get their knickers in a knot about some pretty bland ads.

But the ads’ message isn’t really atheist as much as it is hedonist. Atheism simply means denying God. It doesn’t mean renouncing a code of moral living, even a very strict or ascetic code. It doesn’t mean renouncing shame or embarrassment or self-control or personal responsibility. Those can exist without belief in God. In fact, that’s one of the central arguments atheists make: that they have their own rationale for behaving well, based on reason, not on faith. These ads really aren’t a plug for renouncing God. They’re a plug for renouncing self-control. Blurring the line between the two ideas probably isn’t in the philosophical interests of atheists.

Needless to say, freedom of speech and freedom of religion protects this mildly provocative stunt. I mean, seriously, in the wake of The DaVinci Code and Piss Christ, it takes a lot to be scandalous.

And that’s the point. These ads seem to be designed to prick at Christians. But it is not Christianity that is behind the theocratic movements in the world today. And, frankly, the religion most anathematic  to hedonism, particularly liberal sex, gay sex, alcohol, etc. is that of radical Islam.

You want transgressive? Try running a bus ad that says “Allah doesn’t exist” or “Mohammed doesn’t exist”.  The ad agency would reject it. The city council would reject it. The human rights commissions would get involved. There would probably be street protests, similar to the pro-Hamas hate marches we’ve seen in recent weeks, with masked hoodlums waving Hezbollah flags (literally, party of God).  Graffiti on the ads would be a certainty, and vandalism and other property damage would surely follow. There might even be the odd fatwa issued.

That’s the thing with the secular humanist liberal feminist left these days (and I include the bulk of the mainstream media in that). They’re very brave when it comes to taking on Christianity, or Scientology. But try doing a DaVinci Code denying the Koranic version of Mohammed’s life. Trying doing a music video like Madonna’s Like a Prayer, with a sexualized Mohammed, instead of a sexualized Jesus. Et cetera, ad nauseam.

Or – more importantly – try standing up to honour killings like Aqsa Parvez’s, or misogynistic polygamous marriages – in Toronto, I mean, not just in Bountiful, B.C. where there are far fewer.

Henry Morgentaler's humanist group, Judy Rebick's feminist crew, most of the gay rights lobby -- they're very brave when it comes to tackling meek Christians. When it comes to the true threat of a theocracy -- radical Islam -- they're cowering under their desks.

We could actually use a few good atheists these days, just to keep things in balance. But these ones are so proud of the Maginot Line they’ve built, they don’t even realize that they’re attacking a make-believe threat, while ignoring a perilous one. It’s not the liberal West that needs secular Enlightenment, it’s the Islamofascist East.

Toronto and London don’t need these ads – Teheran and Gaza do.