Donors respond to atheist ad campaign

2,500 help fund London posters

LONDON - British atheists announced yesterday a high-profile advertising campaign to put posters on London buses that say: "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Within hours, more than 2,500 donors had given about $60,000 on a website set up to take contributions to fund the ads. The money arrived along with messages that ranged from witty to nasty, summed up by one from a donor who gave 25 pounds ($42): "Hoorah for the nonbelievers!"

"We wanted it to be a positive message," said Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, which plans to advertise on buses starting in January. "It's about telling people that it's OK if you don't believe in God. If it raises a smile, too, good."

While the vast majority of Britons identify themselves as Christians, only a small percentage attend services regularly. Atheism is far more popular, and socially and politically accepted, in Britain than in the United States. Many people who do not believe in God call themselves humanists or secularists. The British Parliament has an active group of legislators who describe themselves as humanists.

One of the world's most outspoken and provocative advocates of atheism, Oxford University professor Richard Dawkins, best-selling author of "The God Delusion," is a member of the humanist association and pledged to personally match donations up to 5,500 pounds [about $9,300], Stinson said.

"This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think - and thinking is anathema to religion," Dawkins is quoted as saying on the website.

The Church of England issued a statement defending the humanists' right to express views but disagreeing with their message: "Christian belief is not about worrying or not enjoying life. Quite the opposite: our faith liberates us to put this life into a proper perspective. Seven in ten people in this country describe themselves as Christian and know the joy that faith can bring."

Stinson said the goal was to raise 5,500 pounds, enough to put ads on the sides of 30 of London's extra-long "bendy buses" for four weeks. But the website was swamped with donors.