By JAY RICHARDSON - THE SCOTSMAN
Added: Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 UTC

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Interview-Ariane-Sherine--Godless.5873791.jp

WHEN Ariane Sherine, the founder of the Atheist Bus Campaign, conceived the slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" she had little inkling it would end up so consuming her own. From a proposed 30 buses spreading the message around London, the project attracted enough donations for a fleet of 800 to roll out across the UK, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, and inspiring similar campaigns in 14 other countries.

A response to a poster prophesying "all eternity in torment in hell" for non-Christians, Sherine's adverts provoked fierce debate across the globe and prompted the Christian Party to decorate their own buses with "There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life". No means of transport has undergone such sustained theological scrutiny since a little donkey set off for Bethlehem.

Of course, Christmas still unites Christian, Muslim, Jew, Sikh, Hindu and atheist in wonder – principally at the fact that decorations appear on supermarket shelves in October. For Sherine, though, preparations for this festive season began in the summer, as she set about persuading 42 philosophers, comedians, journalists and scientists to write The Atheist's Guide To Christmas, the very first atheist charity book, with all royalties going to the HIV and sexual health organisation, the Terrence Higgins Trust.

Featuring a PG Wodehouse pastiche from Richard Dawkins, Charlie Brooker ruminating on God's sense of humour and Simon Le Bon revealing a love of church music, the book advocates that Christmas retains its rituals of goodwill, love and feverish present unwrapping regardless of any theological underpinning. AC Grayling, Derren Brown, Claire Rayner, David Baddiel, Josie Long and Jenny Colgan and Professor Brian Cox, former keyboard player for D:Ream and now a scientist working on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland are just some of the contributors.

There are tips on making your own decorations, tuning a radio to hear echoes of the Big Bang, and a chapter revealing how to turn your home into "something so bright it can be seen from space". Religion is chiefly left to abide by itself and, notwithstanding some sobering scientific analysis on the implications of misinformed medical ideas, tongues remain firmly lodged in cheeks.
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Also in the news
http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=2074

THT launch atheist Ebay auction

To mark World AIDS Day, an eBay auction will begin for a signed, original bus side banner from the atheist bus campaign 'There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life'.

To mark World AIDS Day, an eBay auction will begin for a signed, original bus side banner from the atheist bus campaign 'There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life'.

The auction will raise money for HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust.

The banner is signed by contributors to the book 'The Atheist's Guide to Christmas'. Signatures include Richard Dawkins, Derren Brown, Simon Le Bon, Charlie Brooker, Simon Singh, David Baddiel, A C Grayling, Zoe Margolis, Josie Long, Ben Goldacre, Mitch Benn and Natalie Haynes.
...
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http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=2074

TAGGED: ATHEISM, CAMPAIGNS, INTERVIEWS

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