Charles McVety: bonkers!
CHARLES McVety, the pompous evangelical prick who heads the Canada Family Action Coalition, is best-known for his opposition to same-sex marriage. But this week he found a new target for his mindless blathering – the atheist bus campaign which is about launch in Toronto.
Grizzled McVety, president of Canada Christian College in Toronto:
On the surface, I’m all for free speech. … However, though, these are attack ads.
The Toronto-based Freethought Association of Canada has won approval from the Toronto Transit Commission to place ads on buses and inside subway cars that mirror the British campaign: There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.
According to this report, after raising more than $26,500 in donations in just a week using a website called atheistbus.ca, the Freethought Association now plans to use the funds to place the ads on buses in Calgary and Halifax. Today the total stands at $31,500.
The fundie muppet trumpeted:
These ads are not saying what the atheists believe, they are attacking what other people believe. And if you look at the dictionary definition for … bigot, that’s exactly what it is, to be intolerant of someone else’s belief system.
And what does that make you, Mr McVety?
Katie Kish, the Freethought Association’s vice-president and York University student with a radio programme heard on campus stations, denied the ads are an attack on religion. She said they were merely meant to inspire dialogue.
It’s not meant to be any sort of rude or inflammatory thing toward people. It’s meant to grab attention, and then, from that attention, comes discussion. And that’s what we want out of it.
She also said the website, which raised much more than the campaign’s original $6,000 target – more than $5,000 rolled in on one day alone – has also generated its share of hate mail, including two death threats and several warnings that the group is hell bound.
Of course it would – for all their talk of “love”, generating hatred is what the fundies do best.
Brad Ross, a spokesman for the Toronto Transit Commission, confirmed that the ads do not violate any of the TTC’s rules. But that decision could be reviewed if complaints arise.
Disallowing the ad may be a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code and potentially a violation of the Charter … so we have to look at it from a legal basis. We don’t feel that there’s any grounds to disallow the ad.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
January 30th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Evangelists: Follow me or get my hatred. For ‘follow’ read ‘pay’. For ‘me’ read ‘me and my loony, drooling cronies’.
January 30th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
It seems, on a global level, the campaign is having a better effect than anyone could have guessed.
January 30th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
So, following that logic, any mention of god or divine intervention is an attack on atheists?
Hell, that works for me. Is there any atheist layers that we could employ to help us correct decades of abuse?
January 30th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
You appear to be surprised by another fundie just not having a clue. Perhaps you should take a look at FSTDT if you need a refresher.
January 31st, 2009 at 12:45 am
Following their logic any ad they put up is an attack on the religious beliefs of non-Christians and of non-believers. T’is a pity their belief is so weak that when anybody else is given a platform to speak their mind it must be considered an attack or persecution.
January 31st, 2009 at 4:21 pm
If the free speech/thought defence of these ads ever fails (not that it ever should)maybe it’s worth ‘rebranding’ them as mental health adverts.
My argument – schizophrenia is a WHO listed illness with devastating effects on individuals and families. One of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia is religious delusions (years ago I actually spent a Xmas working on a ward in a mental hospital where TWO patients thought they were the second coming of Christ, which was hilarious!).
So telling folk not to worry is not an ‘attack’ on religion but a public service…..
…and come to think of it, if we took that line maybe we could get a government grant or two. Why not? The godbotherers swindle them often enough for ‘social services’ which are actually taken away from anyone some simplistic bigot takes a dislike to.
January 31st, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I don’t think atheists should deny it when they are accused of “attacking” religion. What is wrong with it if it actually IS an “attack” on religion? The point is that, in terms of freedom of speech and enquiry, one is allowed to “attack” anything one considers offensive/undesirable/wrong/etc., i.e. argue against anything one wishes to argue against. How often haven’t religionists “attacked” atheists over the millennia?
January 31st, 2009 at 8:11 pm
The more people like Charles McVety speak out against the campaign, the more media coverage we get. Awesome. Keep it up!
January 31st, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I defend the right of people to free expression, including that of Atheists to mount an advertising campaign. After all, if I as a Christian want the right to give out Gospel leaflets on the street I cannot deny atheists the right to decalre their atheism.
February 1st, 2009 at 12:37 am
What the “probably no God” bus ads may achieve, as no strategy has done before, is force the media to acknowledge that nontheists constitute a far larger percentage of the population than the tiny figure the theistic media promote in the belief that a Big Lie, repeated often enough, becomes truth. In the Caucasian world, there is not a single nation where nontheists number less than 36 percent, with the exception of Poland and possibly Ireland. In North America and the UK, there are more nontheists than Catholics or any single Protestant denomination. In Western Europe, nontheists are the majority, ranging from 50+ percent in France to 90+ percent in Scandinavia. Worldwide, there are more nontheists (2.2 billion) than Christians (1.1 billion) and Muslims (1 billion) combined.
Equal rights for gays took a huge jump after the oppressors were made to realize that gays make up 10 percent of the population, not the 2 percent that homophobes tried to maintain. Equal rights for nontheists will likewise only be achieved after their true numbers become an accepted reality.
February 1st, 2009 at 2:04 am
Yeah Bob, I agree. Just keep your dirty little paws off my cornflakes.
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Why dont we follow this up with T-shirts saying the same thing?- There probably is no God etc.
Can you get them in this country (Canada) or maybe I can make my own with an iron-on transfer. It should start some more discussions.
February 5th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Here’s a piece on the campaign that I wrote for The Huffington Post – nonbelievers just use words. Scripture however, condemns nonbelievers to eternal damnation and often, sentences us to death on earth (Leviticus 24:16).
Who should really be offended?
Please read, and GET THE WORD OUT! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....62844.html
February 6th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
It does amaze me that any doubt that the Fundies and what-not are absolutely correct is seen as an attack, yet the messages on churches and Sunday morning telly are an expression of faith and not an attack on everyone not sitting in their church.
I always love an argument that goes, “I’m all for freedom of speech, but…”
Hypocrisy from toes to nose on that guy.
March 1st, 2009 at 5:16 pm
It’s interesting to note that “Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law†is the first sentence of the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms. As Canadians we are fortunate to enjoy the right of free speech, but there is a time and a place for everything. Our public schools and other government funded facilities are secular; similarly our public transit should not have advertisements that are pro or anti God.
To those that do not want to support transit systems catering to atheist ads, simply don’t use their services if you can. I want access to a transit system that respects boundaries when they vote on their advertising dollars. My Ecological Footprint is of importance to me; I will soon relocate to a different city due to TTC’s recent approval of atheist advertisements.