Atheist bus campaign gains support, funds

[Whitney]

The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign is gaining support and momentum.

The Center for Inquiry of Indiana is supporting the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign because it agrees with the message “You Can Be Good Without God.” The center donated $2,000 to the organization.

“It will help when the South Bend ads come up, and it will help fund the campaign, assuming the American Civil Liberties Union prevails in the case,” said Charlie Sitzes, spokesperson for the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign.

The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign recently signed a contract with South Bend’s public transportation system TRANSPO to display its advertisements on TRANSPO’s buses.

The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign has an advertisement on Chicago buses that states “In the beginning, man created God,” and the campaign had “absolutely no problems” getting the advertisements up and running, Sitzes said.

The Center for Inquiry became interested in the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign especially after the American Humanist Association and Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign filed a lawsuit, now pending, against Bloomington Transit with law support from the American Civil Liberties Union.

“In agreement, our organization would not have initiated this campaign,” said Reba Boyd Wooden, the executive director of the Center for Inquiry of Indiana. “Before the lawsuit I was working with our international organization to see if they would allow us to take a stand. They wanted to make sure they were viable, and the group has proven they are.”

In general, more people became interested in the campaign after the incident with Bloomington Transit.

“It kicked in interest,” Sitzes said. “More donations came in.”

The Center for Inquiry provides an “alternative to living without being religious” and promotes scientific reasoning and freedom of inquiry, Wooden said.

In the lawsuit, Bloomington Transit is accused of having too broad of a advertising policy. Its policy states that the company will reject any advertisements
that are too controversial. The federal lawsuit is a constitutional case in which Bloomington Transit has been accused of violating the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign’s First and 14th Amendment rights.

The Center for Inquiry strongly believes in the First Amendment, especially the second part, which guarantees freedom of speech, Wooden said.

Anyone has the right to post whatever he or she would like whether it be atheist or religious, Wooden said, but he said there is “more flack for the billboard of atheist nature than the ones of religious nature.”

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