A £140,000 atheist campaign on British buses and London Underground stating “There’s Probably No God” is not in breach of the advertising code in spite of more than 300 complaints, a watchdog ruled.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it had concluded that the campaign did not contravene the code and it would therefore not launch an investigation – the case is now closed, it said.

But in Italy http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090119/twl-atheist-bus-ads-blocked-in-italy-3fd0ae9.html

The slogan intended for the side of buses in Genoa read: “The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that we do not need him.”Organisers had planned to begin the campaign early next month.A billboard agency in northern Italy refused the commission for the atheist drive that has already made waves in Britain and Spain.”It is more than probable that political and religious authorities exerted pressure,” Raffaele Carcano, national secretary of the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics.”In no other part of Europe is the Church’s influence as strong on politics and citizens’ lives as in Italy,” he added.The campaign has been condemned by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Genoa, whose Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco is president of the influential Italian Bishops Conference.

This is a typical reaction to fear of the truth — suppress it. Even the idea that gods don’t exist, even if they deliver as benign a message as “just enjoy life and stop worrying”, motivates 300 or so people into claiming the ads are offensive. They care little about their own billboards which promise hell for sinners or accuse atheists of “hating America”. They want to continue to pretend we don’t exist, and we don’t have rights.This just tells me the ads are working. People are talking, and with the exception of Italy (which has a large percentage of atheists), the ads are staying up. The waves are at our back now, and the theocrats are getting nervous.

A Dutch court has ordered prosecutors to put a right-wing politician on trial for making anti-Islamic statements.Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.”In a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to… draw a clear line,” the court in Amsterdam said.Mr Wilders said the judgement was an “attack on the freedom of expression”.”Participation in the public debate has become a dangerous activity. If you give your opinion, you risk being prosecuted,” he said.Not only he, but all Dutch citizens opposed to the “Islamisation” of their country would be on trial, Mr Wilders warned.”Who will stand up for our culture if I am silenced?” he added.

This is what we have to fear — terrorism masquerading as political correctness. If you say bad things about Islam, such as “Muhammad was a pedophile” or “The Koran Clearly Sponsors Terrorism” (Both of which are true), you get thrown in jail for inciting violence. It is not the purveyors of violence that get penalized, but the people who call the purveyors of violence “purveyors of violence” that get blamed.To be sure, the Christian, Jewish, and Hindu texts can and have been used to support terrorism and violence, but SAYING this doesn’t get you in trouble. It’s only when you say bad things about the Moslems that people get worried. Watch the video (warning: explicit), and then tell me if the same video created out of any other religious text would have gotten anyone thrown in jail.[video:youtube:37w-aXGk8M0]

Official Inauguration ThreadThis is your time and space to speak up — what would you like to say to our new President?Also, what do/did yo think of the inauguration itself?

Happy MLK day. Not too many preachers make such a positive impact as to be praised by unbeleivers decades after his death. Here’s to an activist and patriot. We in the atheist movement have learned a lot from him.

This weekend I am at my first science fiction convention of the year. As some may remember, my wife owns a sci-fi magazine (www.spaceandtimemagazine.com) and as a result we go to these conventions a lot. Most attendees come in costume. My costume? Atheist anything. I wear shirts, pins, and sweatshirts that makes my opinion very clear. Why? Because there are huge amounts of atheists at these conventions, and I am a walking and talking billboard to a very enthusiastic and receptive audience. This year, there was an official FSM event, which I think illustrates my point. So here’s my question- is sci fi interesting to you? Would a sci fi author/writer/actor be a draw for you to come to an AA event?