I agree. They are treating atheist messages differently. But public response is a thing they have to deal with. Just like the advertising company has to cater to the person who owns the property his sign is on, the bus system relies on the passengers that would get on the bus. If they can prove that putting the atheist message with that word on it would affect their bottom line (and I don't think it would be hard to do so) then they shouldn't be compelled to accept the advertising contract.
But this is still a positive outcome. Now religious institutions cannot use government property to do their advertising.
Now, knowing what I know about Vacula, this likely wasn't a "Don't believe in God? Neither do we! Join the NEPA Freethought Society!" (Notice how easily I came up with an advertising campaign that didn't include the word "atheist?"). They weren't denying the group outright, they were just not allowing the word "atheist" to protect their bottom line, which I do think would be affected by that word.
But this is still a positive outcome. Now religious institutions cannot use government property to do their advertising.
Now, knowing what I know about Vacula, this likely wasn't a "Don't believe in God? Neither do we! Join the NEPA Freethought Society!" (Notice how easily I came up with an advertising campaign that didn't include the word "atheist?"). They weren't denying the group outright, they were just not allowing the word "atheist" to protect their bottom line, which I do think would be affected by that word.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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