While NYC’s Coalition of Reason campaign launched only last month, UK non-believers have been disseminating their message since at least January. A consortium of Atheist groups across the Atlantic has launched the final phase of its “Atheist Bus” effort–a billboard campaign that coincides with the UN’s Universal Children’s Day.
“Atheist Bus” kicked off early this year with the typically polite, slightly agnostic “There’s Probably No God” campaign that was seen on several UK buses. Meanwhile, the billboards, which are found in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, complement a fundraising effort to lobby for the phasing out of state-funded “faith schools”.
The campaign message? Kids should have the freedom to grow up and decide for themselves what they believe in. Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and co-sponsor of the campaign, tells Brand Republic: “Nobody would seriously describe a tiny child as a ‘Marxist child’ or an ‘Anarchist child’ or a ‘Post-modernist child’. Yet children are routinely labeled with the religion of their parents. We need to encourage people to think carefully before labeling any child too young to know their own opinions and our adverts will help to do that.”
More: “Atheist Ads Spark Conversation”