For the first time in history it seems likely that British atheists will advertise atheism on buses in the city.

Atheist comedy writer Ariane Sherine, 28, decided to call for a movement to put atheist advertisements on buses after she had traveled in some in which Christian advertisements could be read, some of them arguing that one will go to hell if one would not quickly repent and convert to Christianity.

Since Sherine is an atheist she was shocked to read the ads and decided to fight back. She put together a movement that would collect thousands of pounds in order to pay for atheist advertisements, in order to counter the Christian ones. Her initiative was supported by many prominent atheists such as Prof. Richard Dawkins.

The British Humanist Association also joined the party, resulting in Sherine collecting more than enough to run ads on London’s buses.

Transport for London, meanwhile, would not automatically dismiss the ads, saying that if the ads were approved by the board, they would run them on their network. However, at this point, the organization said, no such request from any atheist movement had been received.

“No advertisement of this kind has been submitted to TfL at this time,” a spokesman for TL said.

Christian organizations and the Church of England, meanwhile, said that although they could not possibly applaud the effort, they would defend the right of atheists to advertise their views on public transportation. After all, the Church of England said, everyone has the right to share their religious, philosophical and humanist views with the world. In Britain at least.

And this is where the Church and England and I agree with each other completely. It is, in my opinion, a bit strange to see militant atheism increasing these days, but in the end, atheists have the right to express their views just like religious people. If they want to convince believers that they believe in a myth, a fairytale and that they will be happier if they would drop their faith and, instead, embrace atheism, that is their right.

It is, as far as I know, the first time in history, at least in the West, that atheists become so vocal. You could, very ironically, call these specific atheists evangelicals (bringers of the ‘good news,’ albeit a different kind of ‘good news’ than Christanity’s evangelism). As a religious person myself, though, I cannot help but wonder what the long term effects of this movement will be on societies in the West. It is not as if Westerners are too religious as it is. As a religious person, I am of the belief that we have become too secular, with the result of losing our moral foundation, the moral values our fathers held dear, mostly for very good reason.