LIVE Discussion with Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign Co-Founder - This Saturday

This Saturday August 22nd, at 1PM Eastern Time, AtheistDiscussion.com will be hosting a discussion with Eoban Binder, one of the co-founders of the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign. Eoban has appeared on Fox & Friends, a Fox News morning show, and has been helping to maintain and promote the bus campaign. The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign has overcome significant feats, they have placed ads in Chicago, Bloomington, South Bend, and have successfully defeated Bloomginton Transit in a free speech lawsuit. The bus campaign has been covered by Time Magazine, Fox News, WRTV ABC, The Hearld Times, and many others.

We ask and welcome all forum members to join us by logging onto our forums this Saturday. If you would like to ask Eoban a question about the atheist bus campaign or a related subject, please submit it by replying to this thread. You can submit multiple questions but we do not promise all questions will be asked during the discussion.

Thanks.

Watch Eoban on Faux News... I mean Fox:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMC34quXuus&feature=player_embedded[/YOUTUBE]

Actually, what would have been the best response to the criticism that we're attacking the church by mentioning god?

..I think he should have pointed out that the ad was to challenge the idea that the absence of god means immorality. And, It's kind of hard to challenge an idea when you can't make mention of it.

Where in the U.S. does the entire atheists bus campaign plan to go within the next year or so?

I'm not sure if this is where we're supposed to post our questions but here's mine anyway. Hopefully it'll find its way to the right place at the right time (I have faith).

I really like the slogan, "Don't believe in God? You're not alone." I thought ours conveyed that message, too, but a lot of people thought it was too 'confrontational' because it wasn't obvious who it was aimed at. Your's really conveys the message so much more directly. How did you decide on that slogan? I was wondering if you could describe some of the other slogans you considered and why you rejected them.

I understand that both the UK campaign as well as our own found that fund-raising took off far better than had been anticipated. Did you find the same thing when you started your campaign? If so do you think this is an indication of the 'need' for a campaign like this?

What about the reaction from the 'faithful'? Did you get, or are you getting, more flak & outrage from the believers than you expected or is it about what you thought it would be like?

There seems to be a contingent of 'let-sleeping-dogs-lie' types who just don't like to make waves or insist that this whole idea is a silly waste of time and money; that there is no problem to be addressed. But then we read about the silly bus driver and some of the passengers who refuse to board buses bearing your signs. It's my feeling that these sort of over-the-top reactions serve to show the prior group that there is indeed a problem. Would you agree?

Do you have any plans for what comes next? I imagine your group will experience a surge of positive feedback from those who are receptive to your message. Do you have an idea of where you want to channel that momentum when it happens?

I also wonder what you see happening on a larger scale. We're seeing a movement and a backlash in North America, Britain and other parts of Europe, Australia, etc. What do you think triggered it? Do you think we are seeing the start of a revolution/new age or just a blip that, "too, shall pass"?

Thanks and Cheers.

Originally Posted by Blondin

What about the reaction from the 'faithful'? Did you get, or are you getting, more flak & outrage from the believers than you expected or is it about what you thought it would be like?

On that note, I'm also curious to know what criticism you might have received from atheists, and for that matter what support you might have received from the religious.