City
Desecrating the Atheist Bus Ad
Does atheism need be considered sacred, for defacing of an atheist ad to be considered desecration? I noticed this on my way home on the subway last night, and am actually surprised it's the first I've seen (considering the Athiest Bus ad campaign has been around since the middle of February).
Clearly atheism ads on pubic transit are a contentious issue.
This one had a black marker taken to it:
There's probably no god.
The posted paper reads:
"The most important thing in life is to do everything you do with the most love for others. It is not how much you do, but rather how much love you put into it that really counts."
Has anybody seen any other incidents of sign modification?
I think it's kind of cute. I didn't have my camera with me, so I took the pic using my Macbook. If you see any other vandalism, snap a pic and add it to the Flickr pool.
Discussion
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IMHO, hooray for both signs!
I could be mistaken about the different colour markers though....
Nice sentiment on the posted item. Simple. Unsophisticated. But good.
From what I can see in the picture, they weren't written with the same pen/marker at all.
On an unrelated note, I went from reading this posting to this on FAILblog:
http://failblog.org/2009/03/06/fail-owned-disease-fail/
It made me giggle a bit more since I read them in order.
You don't have to be religious to be a dick.
Another point, is graffitti considered free speech? And if so, would free speech be more important than breaking a law?
Same thing.
No-one is saying that since you can't prove leprechauns don't exist that it is therefore reasonable to believe they do.
The entire premise of atheism is that God doesn't exist. There's absolutely no way to promote atheism without demoting all religions. Of course, the same goes for almost all religious positions. For example, "Jesus Loves You" should almost always be taken to imply, among other things, "Buddha doesn't love you (because he either never existed or is currently dead)".
Relevant info:
"2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: ... (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication"
"The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society."
Breaking a law to make your voice heard would likely be affected by that last one. I can see exceptions being made however when breaking the law is your only option to make your voice heard (And this person who left the message is no Rosa Parks). Even if your right to free speech/expression is upheld, that doesn't mean you're exempt from the law you broke.
I love how you term this "sign modification" and "cute".
Do you think either would apply if I hacked your site, in a "cute" way of course, and "modified" your site to delete your posts and place mine up instead?
I have a feeling that the way you framed the vandalism minimizes what it is, because you disagree with the statement.
You sir are an idiot.
interesting fodder for my apathetic beliefs :)
Let's be thankful for the tolerance of our love-filled petty vandalism :)
In San Francisco, there's an Islamic bus campaign - "Submission to God." While highly offensive, I have yet to see anyone take a marker to those signs.