Christ meet Bigfoot: Irreverent Atheist Ads

Don't forget to pray as multi-billionaires race toward the eye of the needle on camels.

(Gothamist) Atheists have been trying to get out their message, from city bus ads to the recent billboard displayed at the Lincoln Tunnel, which prompted a counter-billboard from the Catholic League.

The latest pitch: Co-opting rich billionaires into the act. Recently, the Illini Secular Student Alliance (ISSA) [coincidentally, "Issa" is Jesus' name in Arabic, Islam, Buddhism, and India], at the University of Illinois, launched a bus ad campaign to set the record straight when it comes to the charitable atheists of our world.

ISSA explains, "A consequence of the centuries-spanning PR campaign conflating theism (and especially Christianity) with the impulse to charity has largely duped Americans into believing that Christians are the major givers and that non-believers are selfish, angry loners unconcerned with the struggles of the less fortunate... Not only is the stereotype untrue, it is perversely untrue." The bus campaign ads feature high profile philanthropists including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who are "Good without god." More>>

Canadian Atheists Join the Campaign

(Vancouver Sun) The group of atheists behind the controversial ads that suggest God "probably doesn't exist" will be splashing a new set of posters on buses across Canada -- like last year's ads suggesting "there's probably no God."

The provocative new set of posters are being rolled out aross the country, placing Allah beside Bigfoot and Christ beside psychics.

The new posters bear the slogan: "Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence" with "Allah, Bigfoot, UFOs, Homeopathy, Zeus, Psychics, Christ" listed below. Pending approval they will hit Toronto streetcars in January, followed by plans to post the ads on buses in Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Saskatoon, and Montreal.

"Why is belief in Bigfoot dismissed as delusional while belief in Allah and Christ is respected and revered? All of these claims are equally extraordinary and demand critical examination," says the campaign's website, extraordinary-claims.com. More>>