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rfmcdonaldAtheist bus ads are finally making it to Toronto.
I've seen evangelical churches' advertisements on buses, quoting the Bible and promising salvation conditional on this belief. If the TTC's buses carry this sort of ads, they may as well carry all the ads of this sort if the money's in it.
The Toronto-based Freethought Association of Canada won approval yesterday from the Toronto Transit Commission to place ads on buses and inside subway cars that read: "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
Charles McVety, president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, which fought against the legalization of same-sex marriages, said his group has not decided whether it will formally complain about the ads once they appear.
"On the surface, I'm all for free speech. ... However, though, these are attack ads," Dr. McVety, president of Canada Christian College in Toronto, said in an interview yesterday.
[. . .]
The ads coming to the Toronto transit system are identical to those used in a recent campaign in Britain. After raising more than $26,500 in donations in just a week using a website called atheistbus.ca, the Freethought Association now plans to use the funds to place the ads on buses in Calgary and Halifax.
Katie Kish, the Freethought Association's vice-president, denied the ads are an attack on religion. She argued that they are meant to inspire dialogue.
"It's not meant to be any sort of rude or inflammatory thing toward people," said Ms. Kish, a York University student with a radio program heard on campus stations. "It's meant to grab attention, and then, from that attention, comes discussion. And that's what we want out of it."
[. . .]
Brad Ross, a spokesman for the Toronto Transit Commission, confirmed yesterday that staff have decided the ads do not violate any of the TTC's rules. But that decision could be reviewed if complaints arise.
"Disallowing the ad may be a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code and potentially a violation of the Charter ... so we have to look at it from a legal basis," Mr. Ross said. "We don't feel that there's any grounds to disallow the ad."
I've seen evangelical churches' advertisements on buses, quoting the Bible and promising salvation conditional on this belief. If the TTC's buses carry this sort of ads, they may as well carry all the ads of this sort if the money's in it.
