In January, Ron Heather, a 62-year-old bus driver in Southampton refused to take to the road because his designated vehicle had an advert promoting atheism on it. The campaign slogan read: ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life’.

I confess to being a little despondent by Heather’s action, but I should declare an interest. In October 2008, after its re-launch, I gave the atheist bus campaign £50. In PR terms, it was the best £50 we’ve ever spent at Theos. It generated a huge amount of publicity and media opportunities to talk about God. The slogan was a great conversation starter. In the words of my colleague, Nick Spencer, “It was a bit like telling someone that their flight to Paris ‘probably’ won’t crash. If I heard that, I’d think about taking the train.”

I admire Heather’s courage but I believe he made the wrong call. Certainly the action generated headlines. ‘I won’t drive atheist bus’ reported The Sun. ‘Atheists will need martyrs if they are to compete with Christians’, exclaimed The Telegraph. The country looked on bemused.

To begin with, it looked as if we’re not really willing to debate the biggest question confronting us as human beings. Secondly, the action appeared disproportionate. The majority of adverts we see- whether on buses or elsewhere- are pretty dubious since they objectify people and promise fulfilment through products or services, be it dietary supplements or on-line gambling. Christians don’t walk out over those. Striking reinforced the idea that what really gets us going is defending our own turf- as if God’s not big enough to take it.

It is possible to imagine a scenario where an advert was so damaging that striking was the right course of action, but the atheist bus was not one of them.

This article first appeared in Christianity Magazine in March 2009.