Man refuses to drive 'No God' bus

Man refuses to drive 'No God' bus

news.bbc.co.uk

A Christian bus driver has refused to drive a bus with an atheist slogan proclaiming "There's probably no God".

Ron Heather, from Southampton, Hampshire, responded with "shock" and "horror" at the message and walked out of his shift on Saturday in protest.

First Bus said it would do everything in its power to ensure Mr Heather does not have to drive the buses.

Buses across Britain started displaying atheist messages in an advertising campaign launched earlier this month.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is outrageous. The man should should be fired or suspended. It is his job to drive the bus - not pass judgement on the advertisements it carries.

I can imagine what would happen if I turned up to work one day and refused to do my job based on what someone thought or said or wore!

Christians - literally - get away with murder just because of their religion.

Sickens me that nothing appears to has happened to this man.

Why can some people not even acknowledge alternate viewpoints?

Why on earth should his employers even consider going out of their way to pander to his notions of offending his imaginary friend?



Peace,

MGGG

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 16-1-2009 by machinegun_go_go]

I agree. Its not really acceptable for him to decide what should or shouldn't appear on the side of the bus. His job is just to drive it.

I wonder how many reactionaries will uphold this man as a paragon of virtue... yet if a Muslim refused to drive a bus with a Christian message on it they would slam them as being extremist, non-conformist and non-integrationist.

[edit on 16-1-2009 by 44soulslayer]

Originally posted by machinegun_go_go
Christians - literally - get away with murder just because of their religion.

Yep....and they are sure the only ones too aren't they?

It's not like people have been banned from saying Merry Christmas in public or anything to avoid offending non Christians. It's not like governments have been pushed away from religion and are being pushed to remove any mention of God from everything. It's not like you're accused of racism or anything if you say anything remotely bad about Muslims or Jews or anyone else huh?

Yeah...those evil Christians.

Damn protester!

Freedom of expression should never be tolerated. Everyone should be a mindless sheep and just do as you are told! This guy is definately a non-comformist...and non-conformists should be dealt with severely...perferrably by the government!

Precisely.

It seems as if it's one rule for Christians and one rule for everyone else. I'm almost tempted to find god myself just to see how much intolerance I can get away with!

I wonder what would have happened if it had been a cocacola advert, an anti-drugs slogan or a conservative party advert?

i hope when they say he won't be driving the bus thats because he's making the tea now.

Originally posted by machinegun_go_go

This is outrageous. The man should should be fired or suspended. It is his job to drive the bus - not pass judgement on the advertisements it carries.

I can imagine what would happen if I turned up to work one day and refused to do my job based on what someone thought or said or wore!

Christians - literally - get away with murder just because of their religion.

Sickens me that nothing appears to has happened to this man.

Why can some people not even acknowledge alternate viewpoints?

Why on earth should his employers even consider going out of their way to pander to his notions of offending his imaginary friend?

Originally posted by machinegun_go_go
Why can some people not even acknowledge alternate viewpoints?

You mean like you can't acknowledge and accept his viewpoint. I really have to chuckle at nimrods that spew the sort of rhetoric that you just did about somebody else's beliefs and then turn around and make an idiotic comment about other people lack of tolerance. I don't really expect people with the IQ of an artichoke to understand though!



[edit on 16-1-2009 by LiquidMirage]

I once quit a job in a publishing houes 20 years ago as they started helping out bookbinding a monthly weapons publication. Not weapons like guns or rifles. Weapons such as missiles and defence shields, etc. I think they even advertised submarine torpedos. Did I change anything by my actions? No. But I can live with myself. It's the bus drivers choice to not drive the bus and probably came to terms to get sacked over it. There are plenty more busses and publishing houses. Good on him.



[edit on 16-1-2009 by Benarius]

Liquid Mirage,

I do acknowledge his viewpoint. I just think it's wrong for him to not work because of the slogan.

It's wrong.

And thanks for the personal attack about my IQ. Much appreciated.

What is an artichoke, anyway?

:-)

Its not a viewpoint if the person contradicts themselves regarding other religions.

What about a Christian man refusing to drive a bus with an advert for a Mosque on it?

What about a Buddhist refusing to drive a bus with an advert for a Church on it?

What about an atheist refusing to drive a bus with God written on it?


Either you feel :

a) They are all wrong to refuse to do their duty

or

b) They are all able to freely express their wishes and refuse to drive the bus


Simple as that in my mind.

Trouble is these days, and whether you agree with this guy or not, is that people are looking for ANY reason to either stop work or 'express their opinions' in the papers of course.

Reading the internet web on the BBC website, the driver doesn't look particularly 'shocked' or 'horrified'. If anything he looks smug now that he's got his picture in the paper and his 15 minutes of fame.

As for the buses here in the UK the driver only looks at the outside of the bus as he's getting into it , after that he should only be concentrating on the road ahead of him, not contemplating 'Is there a God and will I offend him if I drive a vehicle expressing another belief?"

People need to get a grip and get on living today, not worrying about the end and is there a God, think that way and your more likely to get killed while being distracted.

I don't think his passengers would've appreciated it , if this sanctimonious , self serving , unrighteous bigot have had an accident whilst worrying about God instead of just driving the fooking bus.

I would say that all the above cases are wrong and the person doing it should not be allowed to continue in their job.

But strange things go on when it comes to religion.

My point is that this person is using their religion as an excuse not to do their job!

Edit to add: DataWraith - you are spot on my friend. He really should not be at all concerned with what's on the side of his bus!

[edit on 16-1-2009 by machinegun_go_go]

Yes, how dare that bus driver ioce his opinion, stand up for what he believes in, or keeps his faith.

Hey I ave a great idea, let's round up all th Christians and kill them, then we can have peace, by killing those who don't believe as you do.

Why don't you think about what you'r saying, what if it were a "Have sex with children" advertisement, or something else that went strongly agianst your beliefs would you protest? You see the thing is, these athiest hate Christians, yes they "claim: that they hate all religions, but that's not true, they have been singling out christianity for forever, they hate us, not because of anything other than for the fact that they just hate theidea that what they do here on earth could effect them for eternity, they don't like that idea of resposibility.

The bus driver had every right to protest, the sign was offensive to him, the company should think twice about putting signs on the side of there bus that may be highly offensive to the majority of people.

Atheists are full of hate, i dont see how they can sleep at night and thispitiful forum here on ATS is there little payground, the mods don't care about these constant attacks on Christian, but boy they sure do show up and say something when it comes to any other religions.

LISTEN YOU MODS, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ONE SIDED HATE OR LEAVE!

-Lahara

reply to post by machinegun_go_go


i understand your thinking behind this...i do. But i think you are being to tough on the guy as well. I mean you have to remember: this man's RELIGION, his "Holy word of God" tells him that if he denies God on Earth, then he will be denied his God in Heaven. You can't blame him for the stand he took here. What would it be saying about his character if he was a Christian and he DID drive this bus? That his soul could be bought for a weak paycheck? I'm sorry but the man should not be expected to drive that bus.
And it IS a little different for an athiest.
Look at it logicly:
If an athiest drives a bus that says "Merry Christmas" on the side of it, he is merely driving a bus with some silly bogus religion crap on the side; in his opinion this is bad taste, but it does not endanger his soul, for he has none to speak of, in his own right. It may get on his nerves, but it is not condemning him to Hell. I do not follow the bible, and i would still drive a bus that said "God is love" or anything similar, because to me, this is just a difference of opinion.
But to be fair, to a Christian or Muslum the outcome changes dramaticly. They have a belief in a way that tells them they must not, at any cost, jeopardize this belief, i do not blame this man one bit. I get angry at non religious types like myself who take it too far. I'll go ahead and say it here: Religious and non religious will be the "new racism". People will no longer consider who is black and white, it will in the years to come simply be "believer" and "non believer". Us that do not follow the bible are only at a minor inconvenience to our beliefs to drive a bus for a Christian slogan, but that man would be damning himself in his own eyes to drive it and it's not fair to ask him to do so.
so this IS different for both sides, sometimes what can be said of one side just cannot be applied to the other. Inconvenient, yes. Damning to my immortal soul: NO.

Originally posted by 44soulslayer

What about a Christian man refusing to drive a bus with an advert for a Mosque on it?

What about a Buddhist refusing to drive a bus with an advert for a Church on it?

What about an atheist refusing to drive a bus with God written on it?

I for one agree with the bus driver. Similarly, I would agree with the bus driver in any of your above scenarios.

Pro & Anti God messages, and controversial moral matters shouldn't be advertised in the case where someone who doesn't necessarily believe it will be seen as a representative.

If a client came to me and wanted me to design a Scientology website, I would say no, because my company's name would appear at the bottom (designed by), and I don't want anyone to think I ascribe to their beliefs. Same story.

Hey, it was his decision to drive bus or not. He is free man.There is no oath for bus drivers, he is not a doctor or a military. I think that company has every right to fire him, but he has every right to make his own choice.It probably makes him lousy as a professional bus driver but complete as a person. It does not matter if Christian or not.
We are not slaves. We are responsible for our actions and we should be prepared to pay for our actions.
I respect people like him. Lacking the same spine myself. I really hope that if i will have to do something completely against my moral values or belief i will also be able to say no.

Originally posted by TheRandom1
Yes, how dare that bus driver ioce his opinion, stand up for what he believes in, or keeps his faith.

Hey I ave a great idea, let's round up all th Christians and kill them, then we can have peace, by killing those who don't believe as you do.

Why don't you think about what you'r saying, what if it were a "Have sex with children" advertisement, or something else that went strongly agianst your beliefs would you protest? You see the thing is, these athiest hate Christians, yes they "claim: that they hate all religions, but that's not true, they have been singling out christianity for forever, they hate us, not because of anything other than for the fact that they just hate theidea that what they do here on earth could effect them for eternity, they don't like that idea of resposibility.

The bus driver had every right to protest, the sign was offensive to him, the company should think twice about putting signs on the side of there bus that may be highly offensive to the majority of people.

Atheists are full of hate, i dont see how they can sleep at night and thispitiful forum here on ATS is there little payground, the mods don't care about these constant attacks on Christian, but boy they sure do show up and say something when it comes to any other religions.

LISTEN YOU MODS, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ONE SIDED HATE OR LEAVE!

-Lahara

Spoken like a true Believer in God..
Oh by the way Athiests don't always hate, they just don't believe in a God.
Hate is a personal thng.
This isn't about religeous faith being tested, its about a workshy man looking for ANY reason to down tools in this fooked up society of compensation culture, money grabbing , greed driven people and get a bit of airtime voicing his 'opinion' . most people wouldn't care what they were driving and what was written on the side, If this blokes not careful they'll fire him and hire someone who'll be grateful for the job.
Theres too much pussyfooting around politically corrct nonsense these days. Get over yourselves.

I'm a Pagan , my good friend, I see adverts on the buses all the time for 'Christian' get togethers, Mosque gatherings. and other religeous belief's.
I also see adds for credit cards (to get people in debt), adverts for drugs (for junkies and dietry laziness), adverts for penile and breast 'enhancement' (soft porn), Bingo adverts ( encouraging people to gamble and get into debt )
but do I complain?
NO, I just let them get on with it, and continue on my way, my statement is for everyone else to do the same.
On the other hand there are thing I wouldn't want on the side of a bus ( like the have sex with minor's and such like)

Where is the tolerance that 'other' religeons are supposed to preach?
This driver obviously has none for other religeons or beliefs has he?



[edit on 16/1/09 by DataWraith]

reply to post by the siren


I agree. I have no issue with anyone of any religion who refuses to work in a situation such as this. I can understand why he would not want to be associated with that message, as it could potentially be seen as his endorsement of it if he did. I know that I wouldn't drive that bus, either.

If I were the guy, I'd just quit. I can't really blame the bus company if they fire him, either, but they should have expected it to offend someone, because it is highly offensive to those with Christian beliefs. I'm sure they've probably lost business because of it as well.

Yeah...that man should be fired, so that his wife and kids can learn to not respect him. Who is this person to have an opinion or strong beliefs?

It just happens to be his job to promote the Atheist agenda of Godlessness. How dare he. What nerve. What if other people see this and revolt. Our plots will severely weakened.

The above was a mild attempt at sarcasm, to ridicule Atheism and promote rebellion against their agenda.