You have to love this atheist slogan, which is
due to adorn buses on London streets:
THERE’S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING
AND ENJOY LIFE.
The advert is the brainchild of Ariane Sherine, someone I would enjoy chatting with any old day. I like how the words make you think.
“Probably no God” is the existential premise
we are offered. Suppose for a moment that there probably is no God – gotta love
that probably - and that we probably are at the beginning of a worldwide
recession. Does it follow that we can stop worrying and enjoy life?
Probably not.
The wonderful law of unintended consequences means
that the advert is easily understood as an invitation to theism rather than atheism.
Now suppose that there is a God, and that we are
at the beginning of a worldwide recession. It then does follow that we nevertheless
can stop worrying and enjoy life.
It is just what I’m doing, theist that I am, this
day and every day.
I like this atheist brainchild. Will Richard
Dawkins match US contributions to run it in the USA, as he has done in Great
Britain? It sounds like a great use of his money.
There is no reason to fear atheism of the
intellectual kind. It’s trivial in the end. I fear the atheism of a Hitler, a
Stalin, or a Mao, but not of a Dawkins.
No reason to fear the atheism of an Ivan
Karamazov either. The atheism of a truly intelligent person like Ivan
Karamazov, that is, of a person with moral intelligence, not just raw brain
power, is a tonic to faith.
Dostoevsky knew this. What a great novel, The
Brothers Karamazov. Written by a tormented Christian, the unalloyed atheism
found within its pages, not of one kind but many, still cuts to the quick more
than the milquetoast variety of Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris.
HT: Doug Chaplin and Dave Walker
As you point out, how could you stop worrying when the initial fact that is supposed to engender non-worrying is only "probably" true. Saying "THERE’S PROBABLY NO GOD" is different to saying "THERE’S NO GOD".
Posted by: Guest | October 22, 2008 at 06:06 PM
It seems more of an agnostic slogan. And an agnostic generally accepts that they don't know or don't have proof, think there probably isn't, they don't generally 'worry' about it, and get on with life. The ones who worry might be the atheists who have to prove there is no God, not probably no God.
Posted by: steph | October 23, 2008 at 05:37 AM
I note that you left one word out of your transcription. The bus doesn't advise to "ENJOY LIFE" but to "ENJOY *YOUR* LIFE". Adding that word back in makes the unintended irony even more delicious, no?
Posted by: Eli Evans | October 23, 2008 at 01:11 PM
Good eye, Eli.
Posted by: JohnFH | October 23, 2008 at 02:14 PM
The 'probably' is obviously to appease the Advertising Standards Agency. It's also a nod to one of the most famous advertising campaigns in the UK over the last ten years. Carling advertise their beer as 'The best lager in the world. Probably.' So, although it is funny, it does have a slightly different resonance in the UK where everyone will read it and know they mean 'Definitely', though they're not allowed to say so.
Posted by: Ros | October 24, 2008 at 06:53 AM
That's very interesting background. In that case, I would have chosen:
Atheism. The best worldview in the world. Probably.
Posted by: JohnFH | October 24, 2008 at 08:42 AM
Curious. I'm a theist, and I don't particularly live a life of worry.
Posted by: Christopher Heard | November 01, 2008 at 12:30 AM
I'm a happy-go-lucky theist, too. Didn't Augustine say, "Love God, and do whatever you please"? I can't think of any more beautiful task than that of glorifying God and enjoying him forever.
Posted by: JohnFH | November 01, 2008 at 01:11 AM