There Is Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying And Enjoy Yourself.

London transport – buses, trains – is often awash, busy really, with images and words of advertisement. Now you might be a poetry-reader to notice Poems on the Underground, and a poem-lover to bother perusing the few, often catchy, lines. But you don’t need to be a student of semiotics - signs - to notice the murals bedecking the red London buses. Often promotional adverts of newly released films, West End musicals, pictures captioned with blurbs, taglines and dates of release. The London buses were pressed into service when ‘Africa came to London’ with a menagerie of contortionists, fire-eaters, dancers, drummers and sundry performers in wildlife costume.
As a subscriber to the New Humanist and a member of the British Humanist Society, I could not but notice the words picked out in tricolour against the side of the red bus, There is probably no God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Yourself. I was pleased to glimpse this legen...Read the full article.

Iyke · Jan 29, 2009 , 10:28 AM

by making such suggestion for Nigeria, i will probably say that you are courting a fatwa from our brothers in the north. the Jos palaver is still much fresh. therefore, let Londoners and their advert remain in london.

bharlow · Jan 29, 2009 , 10:57 AM

Don't mind all of them. Well, whosoever believe there is God is a theologian, for he has the knowledge of God and whosoever believes that there is no God is also a Theologians because he has a slight knowledge that there is a someone called God. No problem.

ikoyiesho1 · Jan 29, 2009 , 11:05 AM

Nice write up.....We super do God infact.....As a religious person myself, i still admit that we religious people have really mixed a great deal of delision with the being and originality God....

Its time we practice with openmindedness and conk originality

Law Mefor · Jan 29, 2009 , 12:24 PM

A good piece indeed, I must confess. But a humble advice: it is better to believe and behave as if God exists. Why? You have nothing to lose really if He does not exist. Believing in a supreme force being there for you, releases our inherent energy to even believe in ourselves and makes prayers possible.

But if you carry on as though He does not exist and it turns out He does, woe betide you!

Why should anybody be an atheist? To accept atheism is to say we are but animals, just that we walk on 2 legs. But this is not true. Man is a spiritual being.

Atheism is one of the campaigns of the perverts to whom the world owes her worst records. Think of gay marriage and gay priesthood; that have been justified?

Anybody who believes the universe created itself is sick. Something must be responsible for the beginning of creation and that is God!

The Big Bang? In my novel, ‘Dream Abuja’, I tried to answer that question. What caused the Bang? When the lion roars what do you understand him to say? If God commanded, ‘Let there be…’ and we see it as a bang, what difference does t make?

I think the problem has been that we all think of God as one old man sitting up there and looking down at us and saying in deep, gruffly voice , ‘it is well, my children!’ If we picture God as the conscious, Uncaused Cause’ behind the beginning and development and growth and the end of everything, we will probably have a better grip on Him.

In fact, God has no choice but to exist. Without God, there will be no love. Without God what will exist is anomie and nihilism – a run in the jungle, where human value will count for naught. I watch NatGeo Wild a lot and Discovery Channel. What the animals do to one another amaze me. Survival of the fittest! If we apply it for one day, there will be a sudden return to the Hobbesean era – life would have been brutish, nasty and short, and each and every one us living in constant fear of violent death.

Atheists are seeking a return to the jungle because they will to annihilate their own kind, as animals do.

And I know not of any atheist to whom the world owe anything meaningful discovery; does it surprise you? Why haven’t they? Because they spend the time they should use to key into the Lord of creativity to run away from Him.

Yet, each time they face life-threatening danger, they scream, ‘Oh my God!” Which God? The one you long denounced? In fact, there is no true atheist if you ask me!

ELAWALO · Jan 29, 2009 , 02:21 PM

This might help to clarify things ...
http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/tro...th_atheism.php

Palamedes · Jan 29, 2009 , 05:58 PM

I have wondered whether such an advert campaign could be launched in our beloved country

Hello commuter and ex-Londoner! I am sure such advert would have been possible in Nigeria of the 70s and 80s with little or no controversy--before the current Nigerian religious plague.

On the subject of god, if he/she/it exist, I wish people would leave him/her/it alone.

I once watched Professor Richard Dawkins, on the telly, grab a handful of dirts and tell the viewer that in that one handful, there are billions of bacteria. Further, during President Obama inauguration, CNN showed its audiences the ant-size human attendants from satellite. Furthermore, our earth is like a grain of sand when compared to Arcturus, and Arcturus, in turn, is like a grain of sand when compared to Betelgeuse or the even larger Antares. The point is that, if there is a god , there are far bigger issues to worry about than the human race. We would probably command less concern than the concern we humans feel for bacteria and ants on our pavements or walk paths. We wouldn't even know when we step on them—as millions of us do daily.

What I cannot get round my head is the idea of the Christian/Muslim god and its implication or claim god created itself and created everything else. The “big question” is: How is this possible? Even if “ something” were to metamorphosize into a god, what is the origin of that “something?”

I think, the “concept god” is more understandable, that is to say, that our universe is just one of the many steps to [?] (A hierarchy, if you prefer). And that, which ever is the higher step, immediate to us, is inhabited by a much superior intelligence, (and that in comparison to them, we would be what “artificial intelligence” is in relation to the human brains). This superior intelligence fits the concept god. But I doubt if even this superior intelligence, could explain the origin of the Christian/Muslim god.

The follow up from the concept god is the conjecture that our universe and everything in it is a laboratory and that humans are part of an experiment. Further, that we are an improvement over the dinosaur (The dinosaur was a mistake; the earth couldn't have sustained them in the long term, as they were gargantuan consumers and not producers—much like whales--, and therefore had to be replaced with one that is smaller and can produce it's own food).

The human race is an improvement in one importance sense, that is that, we are the only species that cultivates natural resources. And while we can claim that we are superior to all other species, we have the worst deal out of this arrangements—indeed, we are the only species (and maybe the ants) that slave away daily. Like every experiment, the human race will be discarded at some point—just like the dinosaur--or replaced with something more advanced than us (or we might evolve into this something) .

Sometimes I wonder what the other species [cat, dog, bird, fish, amoeba, bacteria etc] think of us--our 9-to-5 jobs, farming, fishing, shopping, mortgage, taxes, misery, alienation etc, whereas they don't have to do any of these things. Now who should be praying and thanking god if not them? The believer should be most displeased with his god for getting a raw deal.

Truebeliever · Jan 29, 2009 , 06:23 PM

Allah is well aware of the Atheists, when He talk about them in the holy Qur,an sura 82.
In the Name of Allah,the Compasionate,the Mercilful.

1.When the sky is cleft asunder,When the Stars are scattered, and the Oceans are rolled together When the graves are overturned; each Soul shall know what it has done and what it has faild to do.
5. O man! what evil has enticed you away from your gracious Lord who created you, gave you an upright form,and well-proportioned you? In whatever shape He willed He could have surely moulded you.
9.No, you deny the last Judgement. Yet there are guadians watching over you, noble recorders who know of all what you do.
The righteous surely shall dwell in bliss.But the wicked surely shall burn in Hell; they shall enter it on the Day of Judgement. They shall not escape it. Would that you knew what the Day of Judgement is! Oh, would that you knew what the Day of Judgement is! It is the Day when every Soul can do nothing for another and Allah will then reign supreme.

aguabata · Jan 29, 2009 , 07:51 PM

so all this pain and suffering in nigeria and the world is just an accident? what folly

Ispy · Jan 29, 2009 , 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Law Mefor

A good piece indeed, I must confess. But a humble advice: it is better to believe and behave as if God exists. Why? You have nothing to lose really if He does not exist. Believing in a supreme force being there for you, releases our inherent energy to even believe in ourselves and makes prayers possible.

But if you carry on as though He does not exist and it turns out He does, woe betide you!

Why should anybody be an atheist? To accept atheism is to say we are but animals, just that we walk on 2 legs. But this is not true. Man is a spiritual being.

Atheism is one of the campaigns of the perverts to whom the world owes her worst records. Think of gay marriage and gay priesthood; that have been justified?

Anybody who believes the universe created itself is sick. Something must be responsible for the beginning of creation and that is God!

The Big Bang? In my novel, ‘Dream Abuja’, I tried to answer that question. What caused the Bang? When the lion roars what do you understand him to say? If God commanded, ‘Let there be…’ and we see it as a bang, what difference does t make?

I think the problem has been that we all think of God as one old man sitting up there and looking down at us and saying in deep, gruffly voice , ‘it is well, my children!’ If we picture God as the conscious, Uncaused Cause’ behind the beginning and development and growth and the end of everything, we will probably have a better grip on Him.

In fact, God has no choice but to exist. Without God, there will be no love. Without God what will exist is anomie and nihilism – a run in the jungle, where human value will count for naught. I watch NatGeo Wild a lot and Discovery Channel. What the animals do to one another amaze me. Survival of the fittest! If we apply it for one day, there will be a sudden return to the Hobbesean era – life would have been brutish, nasty and short, and each and every one us living in constant fear of violent death.

Atheists are seeking a return to the jungle because they will to annihilate their own kind, as animals do.

And I know not of any atheist to whom the world owe anything meaningful discovery; does it surprise you? Why haven’t they? Because they spend the time they should use to key into the Lord of creativity to run away from Him.

Yet, each time they face life-threatening danger, they scream, ‘Oh my God!” Which God? The one you long denounced? In fact, there is no true atheist if you ask me!

I have chosen to use this respondents response to the article as a basis for mine. The article/author i must say considering it is being posted on a Nigerian Forum must be very brave in deed but a good article all the same(though i'm sure most Nigerians will definitely not see it that way!!)

I personally believe that impression of God as depicted by most of the major religions is one i must confess i have always had a problem with and may also responsible for the numerous arguments against Gods existence. My feelings on the nature of God as presented in most religious texts is captured accuratly by a saying from the legendary TV nature documentary presenter Sir David Attenborough on his own perception of God as depicted in holy books.

"My response is that when Creationists talk about God creating every individual species as a separate act, they always instance hummingbirds, or orchids, sunflowers, basically beautiful things. But I tend to think instead of a parasitic worm that is boring through the eye of a boy sitting on the bank of a river in West Africa, [a worm causing river blindness] that's going to make him blind. And [I ask them], 'Are you telling me that the God you believe in, who you also say is an all-merciful God, who cares for each one of us individually, are you saying that same God created this worm that can live in no other way than in an innocent child's eyeball? Because that doesn't seem to me to coincide with a God who's full of mercy"

Having said this, i however do believe there seems to be a defined order to life that would suggest there just has to be a force behind the existence of life and of course in its creation, be it through the big bang as some believe or some other way but for me probably not in the exact or literary way or impression given by most religious texts.Some people in defense of religious texts however argue that these texts should actually not be taken literally as most people tend to do but rather figuratively. This i find a more plausible possibility.The seven days of creation may just not be seven days as we know it, it could just be seven billion years with one day being equivalent to a billion years in the eyes of God??, or could it be the time taken for the so called process of the big bang to occur or maybe it is the time taken for evolution to occur up to when man finally evolved e.t.c

On the respondents advise that one is better to assume there is God just incase it happens to be true i must say i do not agree with. Basically if God is the all knowng all seeing God as we are told dont you think he would know u've decided to play a game of chance with him?? or try your luck??? This is certainly not the way we are told we should believe in God and even if he does exist you just may have ended up wasting your time by playing 'kalokalo' with his existence. The way i think those who choose to believe in God should carry on is aptly described by a saying i once came across from a muslim woman called Rabia al Basri (717-801), it goes thus;

"O Allah! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell,

and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise.

But if I worship You for Your Own sake,

grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.”

The attitude of 'maybe', 'maybe not', i believe describes the attitude of most Nigerians to the issue of God as majority of Nigerians and indeed Africans remain Animistic by nature, believing more in African traditional beliefs than they are ready to accept. Most fear the Ifa priest or jujuman more than the God they profess to worship. Tie a funny looking object on anything in Nigeria and you can be sure nobody would steal it!!! This brought up the idea of having our leaders swear their oath of office in front of an ifa priest etc rather than the bible or qu'ran as they do which doesn't seem to stop them enriching themselves to the detriment of their countrymen.Gradually many Nigerians are also beginning to question a lot of things concerning religion and the way it is practiced, the recent cases of so called killing of witch children instigated by churches in Nigeria, the Imams that basically practice traditional religion in the name of Islam, the now almost daily news stories such as Imam caught defiling 9 yr old girl, or pastor impregnates members wife stories, Pastors being found to have buried fetish objects right under the pulpit, the open display of affluence by Pastors when the bulk of their congregation live in poverty. Or is it the now widespread killing of innocent souls by terrorists all in the name of God?? All these and more has led mostly in developed countries to question the existence of God as we have been made to believe he is.

On the recent advert by atheists in the UK, i will say i was very disappointing in it, however not for the same reasons religious people were.
The statement "There is probably no God" depicts a group of people who were still not themselves sure if God exists or not and this is not what atheists would have us believe so why not come out straight and say it as you believe it ie That there is no God, or are they also playing the 'what if' game or scared of someone or something???. I also do not agree they should have ended the statement by saying people should therefore go out and enjoy themselves as this could be misconstrued by many to mean go out and do as you please whether it offends or harms your fellowman or not and mind you, you dont have to break the law to offend or 'harm' your fellowman.So it was a rather loose and careless statement.

Finally I believe the argument should more rather be towards our understanding God as he truly is as against the way major religions portray him to be i.e. as a manlike form with great white beard that looks after each and every single individual and ensures no harm or misfortune comes their way, with everyone having a special place waiting for them when they die and so on which honestly is hard to reconcile with everyday happenings around the world, rather than whether God exists or not.

Palamedes · Jan 29, 2009 , 11:52 PM

Ispy#10

On the recent advert by atheists in the UK, i will say i was very disappointing in it...
The statement "There is probably no God" depicts a group of people who were still not themselves sure if God exists or not

My understanding is that the British Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) forced their hands to add the “probably”--call it, typical British compromise--in other to get the ASA stamp of approval.

Ispy · Jan 30, 2009 , 01:43 AM

Originally Posted by ELAWALO

This might help to clarify things ...
http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/tro...th_atheism.php

Thank you for this link, the documentary provided a well balanced and informative argument on the subject matter and is recommended to anyone interested in this debate.

To Palamedes#11

Thanks for the clarification on the why the word 'Probably' was used in the advert.

I would like to add that i noticed the caption 'Nigerians in Diaspora (NiDs) should STOP taking personal frustration [of their own design] on Nigeria and Nigerians' at the end of your post and would just like to say i have also noticed the consistent bashing of Nigeria and Nigerians on this forum by many Nigerians in the Diaspora and also find it despicable and very sad indeed. Though Nigeria has many obvious problems i refuse, though also a Nigerian in the Diaspora, to join all those that would rather create an impression of total hopelessness(most likely because they feel they have 'escaped' from what one called 'hell') whilst making Nigeria out to be a case of some sort of a never before seen or heard absurdity and depicting Nigerians as a special breed of people created for the sole purpose of being uniquely bad and irredeemable. All these without offering any useful solution or idea either thought of or learnt from the 'perfect' society they now reside in.
Thanks

ade123 · Jan 30, 2009 , 02:12 AM

DeepThought · Jan 30, 2009 , 02:39 AM

I pity this writer and all his ilk.
Doesn't he know that God, our merciful father has decreed that all unbelievers must burn in hellfire for all eternity?

emj · Jan 30, 2009 , 03:06 AM

http://www.thewords.com/passion/mart.htm

The Day God Died
by Mart De Haan

On April 8, 1966, the cover of Time magazine asked in bold black letters, “Is God Dead?” The lead story described the work of several theologians who no longer held to traditional concepts of God. They were alike in concluding that the God of our fathers had not survived the dawn of evolution and birth control.

The debate that followed wasn’t as much about God as it was about us. We were in the middle of a turbulent decade. Our world was changing. An unpopular war in Vietnam was prompting bumper stickers that said, “Question Authority.” Science and technology were improving our lives and making us less aware of our need for a supernatural God.

Other reasons to believe God is dead. Challenges to the traditional view of God multiplied in the decades that followed. Not all were secular. Consumer fraud in religious broadcasting subjected the God of the Bible to public ridicule. Promises of “blessings for dollars” associated the name of Christ with “get rich quick” or “get thin fast” scams. Most recently, evidence of clergy abuse surfaced in the public media. With these reports came stories of victims, who, because of their abuse, no longer considered the God of the church a live option.

Those enlightened by science or disillusioned by religious leaders, however, are not the only ones talking about the death of God.

The Bible also talks about the death of God. The God of the Bible was so deeply moved by the harm people do to one another that He actually died because of it. At a moment in time, the eternal God closed His eyes and stopped breathing. Under the weight of wrongs that had hurt those who were dear to Him, His body fell limp and lifeless. At that moment God was dead—not just in the perception of others, but in real time and in an actual place.

In making this claim, the Bible goes far beyond the cover and pages of Time magazine. Instead of asking, “Is God Dead?” the theology of the Bible leaves us with a mystery that is beyond human comprehension (1 Timothy 3:16). The Second Person of a three-in-one God became a real man to die a real death for us (Philippians 2:5-11; John 1:1-3,14).

As this unparalleled drama unfolds, physical death was not our God’s greatest sacrifice. Even before breathing His final breath on a Roman cross, He endured the hellish darkness of spiritual separation from His Father in heaven. As the skies darkened in the middle of the day, His anguished cry echoed through the halls of heaven and history: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

According to the Bible, our Creator endured such an agonizing death to show us that He is alive and that He loves us.

What the death of God tells us about ourselves. Those of us who are inclined to think of ourselves as victims, rather than offenders, might conclude that Christ’s death probably says more about the evil of others than about ourselves. We can always point to someone we think gave us an excuse to respond in an unloving way.

We get a different picture, however, when we look more closely into the suffering of Christ. If the Bible is right, He didn’t die just for someone else’s sins. He died for us (Romans 5:8; John 3:16). The pain He endured says volumes about the extreme nature of our own need (Romans 3:10-20).

Anyone who wants to be included in Christ’s death must admit that in God’s eyes our own wrongs rise to the level of those who violate federal law with capital offenses. The extent of His sacrifice says that without His intervention we would still be condemned lawbreakers, without hope, and waiting on “death row” for what the Bible calls “the second death” (Revelation 20:14; Romans 6:23).

How the death of God can help us find a new life. The Scriptures offer no hope to those who refuse to believe Christ suffered for them. The Bible offers a whole new life, however, to those who believe that Christ lived and died as their substitute. Like persons who enter a witness protection program, those who find refuge in Christ take on a new identity. Their troubled past is hidden in Him (Colossians 3:3). They assume His name. They receive His Spirit and become temples of the living God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).

Those who allow the Spirit of Christ to be seen in them are an antidote to the opinion that “God Is Dead.” Their happiness and tears become a quiet showcase for the love, and joy, and peace of a God who is alive and reaching out to others through His people. No one does this perfectly. But few things are needed more than imperfect, troubled, grateful people who are growing in their willingness to let Christ live His life through them (Romans 8:11).

How can we come to that surrender? We can begin by watching Jesus our Lord move through the Garden of Gethsemane to the center page of human history. On the way He groans, “Nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done.” Then in the middle of a howling mob, on a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem, He willingly endured the eternal weight of our sin and death—for us.

- MART De HAAN

nijalaw · Jan 30, 2009 , 10:41 AM

Luke 22: vs 34a
JESUS said, "Father forgive these people for they do not know what they are doing".

nijalaw · Jan 30, 2009 , 10:43 AM

Luke 22: vs 34a
JESUS said, "Father forgive these people for they do not know what they are doing".

Danmeka · Jan 30, 2009 , 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Iyke

by making such suggestion for Nigeria, i will probably say that you are courting a fatwa from our brothers in the north. the Jos palaver is still much fresh. therefore, let Londoners and their advert remain in london.

Iyke,thanks for your piece, one such title for Nigeria should be"There is a God, Political profiteers,Swindlers,Ministers,Tribalists,Nepotist s,False Men and Women of God enjoy yourselves while the rest of us suffer and smile.

God dey

Eja · Jan 30, 2009 , 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by DeepThought

I pity this writer and all his ilk.
Doesn't he know that God, our merciful father has decreed that all unbelievers must burn in hellfire for all eternity?

Thank you Brother DeepThought. Amen.
And ummm.....amen.

Yes, I was going to remind the unbelievers about the nights they spent being eaten alive by mosquitoes....woken up just as they are are finally getting to sleep at 5.30am by some mosque calling for aluwala, rushing for seats in danfo through the rain, sitting in muggy traffic for two hours before getting to work...hungry like a stray cat by now...working like a dag for little money....going back home on the packed molue...sitting in traffic for 4 hours looking at people even worse off than yourself trying to sell coat hangers and woolen socks...getting home at 8pm. Soaking gari with two pieces of cheap fried fish...Slapping yourself as mosquitoes feast on your delicious suffer-head seasoned blood...Waking up with your heart pounding because armed robbers can be heard next door...no wait, its only that drunk Mr X returning home from his usual outings....can't sleep again...mosquitoes, heat and the noise of generators....5.30am...aluwala....here we go again...

Then one day you die and its off to hell. Because you were not born again. Amen.

People better repent before it is too late. Amen.

10Kobo · Jan 31, 2009 , 03:26 AM

If most Nigerians believe that God exists, it implies they "know" Him.
If they "know" him, that implies they know what He stands for.

Looking at what Nigerians have made of Nigeria and their fellow Nigerians in the last fifty years....since "oyinbo" left,
The Nigerian verdict is that "There is no God".
Even the highly placed "Men-of-God" affirm this verdict in their daily conducts.

Between "God" and "Money", l bet my Naija people will vote for Money, any-day, any-time!

All this "posturing and professing" is nothing but "showmanship".....abi na "show-womanship" sef?

Having said that, God created man in his own image....
Ye are gods....
Thus, the God we are looking for, is right inside us,...we are the God Himself.
Dont get pimped or sweet-tongued, just do unto others as you wish others to do unto you; end of story.
......and dont forget to 'enjoy' doing it!!
10Kobo