'God Exists' group buys own bus ads in Calgary

A group calling itself "God Exists" has purchased its own bus ads to counter the message of an atheist campaign currently running on Calgary buses.

The ads will be running on eight buses and two C-Trains for a month, starting Monday. They will carry the message: "God cares for everyone even for those who say He doesn't exist!"

The campaign is a response to the Freethought Association of Canada's ads, currently running on Calgary Transit, that say:"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Imam Syed Soharwardy, a spokesperson for God Exists, said he put the campaign on his credit card and Calgarians of various faiths, especially Christians, are donating to pay off the $12,000 bill.

'Believing in God brings strength'

The atheist bus ads send a negative message, Soharwardy said Friday.

"The message they are saying is that believing in God creates worries, that it takes away joy from people's life, which is wrong. It is not true," he said. "Believing in God brings strength, especially in this economic crisis when millions of people face losing their jobs."

Soharwardy, who supports the Freethought's Association's right to express itsopinion, said he doesn't think bus ads are the most appropriate way to discuss the topic, but was"forced to do a counter-campaign."

'Answering our call for dialogue'

Cliff Erasmus, a spokesperson for the Calgary atheistads, said he welcomed the "God Exists" campaign.

"They are practising their rights for freedom of speech and freedom of expression and that's exactly what we did," he said. "They are answering our call for dialogue."

Erasmus said they chose Calgary as the secondCanadian city for the campaign because of the influx of donations from Calgarians. Those ads started running on March 9 on eight buses and will run for four weeks.

The atheist ads have already run in Toronto. Transit providers in Halifax refused to carry them, while city council in Ottawa has given the approval for the ads to appear on buses in that city.

Similar campaigns have been launched in London, Madrid and Washington, D.C.