We have been overwhelmed with the incredible response from New Zealand, and have sailed past our original target of $10,000 in less than 48 hours. More importantly, we have started the discussion around the web, and hopefully at dining tables and in living rooms all over our beautiful country.

Of course we now doubled our target, so we need your help to continue spreading the message. Post on Facebook, tweet about it, get involved in the huge number of discussions going on around the web, and talk to your friends and family about it. Remember this campaign is about positivity, and we need to respect peoples alternative points of view, just as we hope they will respect ours. It is easy to get caught up in what can understandably be a very personal and emotional issue for some people.

Simon will be appearing on Close Up tonight, TV1 at 7pm to discuss the campaign. It should also be posted up on the TVNZ website later tonight.

Thanks to everyone who has sent us positive messages, and offered their support. We are trying really hard to answer all your questions, hopefully we will have more time over the weekend to do that!

Due to the amazing response so far, we have decided to double our initial target to $20,000 NZD and also place a cap on this new target. We intend to raise $20,000 or very near to this amount, and we will close off donations once we have reached this target.

This will of course double the original number of ads on buses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch! This works out to approximately 12 buses in Auckland, 8 in Wellington and 4 in Christchurch. The ads will stay on the buses for 4 weeks.

We decided this was the best way of dealing with an excess of donations, as opposed to using them for some other purpose. You all have donated to put atheist ads on buses, and that is what we will use the money for. As before, literally all donation money will be used for advertising – there are no administrative overheads. The Humanist Society of NZ has kindly offered to administrate and oversee the donation collection to ensure it conforms to financial standards.

I see at this point we are well over quarter of the way to the new target, and rapidly growing! Thank you again to all the donations. They will make a significant impact in promoting atheism, humanism and rational enquiry in NZ.

First off, thank you everyone for your generous donations and the emails of support. We appreciate them very much – you guys rock.

Here’s a list of some of the recent media reports about the campaign:

• TV3 Sunrise show, with video
• Radio NZ – Morning Report show [direct link to audio]
• Stuff.co.nz article
• There is a discussion going on on the RadioLive website
• TVNZ.co.nz article
• StopPress article
• Others? let me know in the comments please…

I’ll be talking on RadioLive at sometime just after 12:30pm today. Also, I’ll be on TVNZ Close Up tonight talking about the campaign.

Thanks again for all the support!

I’d like to thank everyone today for their donations. It’s been a steady stream of donations rolling in all day. Thanks heaps guys!

We’re over 5% of the way there, which is not bad at all for the first day. There are a number of media opportunities coming up over the next week or so that should spread the campaign to a wider audience. I’ll be sure to outline them here or on Twitter as and when they occur.

Our target is $10,000 for the initial ad run. That works out at approximately $900 per ad-on-a-bus, so we’ve nearly got one ad sorted…let’s go!

Today we launch the New Zealand Atheist Bus Campaign!

Following the positive spirit of the UK Campaign, this NZ version stands for the same basic principles and ideas: the promotion and expression of a secular humanist world view, and the affirmation that there is no need to believe in a supernatural being to live a full and rich life.

The campaign intends to promote debate on issues such as God, religion and religion’s influence on society. Religion should not be a taboo subject that no one brings up at dinner parties – we should be discussing what we believe and why. While New Zealand has a different religious environment than say, the United States, there are still issues to discuss and be aware of. For example, we have recently seen the rise of the radical Destiny Church, the deadly side of exorcisms, and there is the on-going debate of the validity of the tax-free status of modern churches. Further issues on the world stage also require discussion, such as news of the atrocities committed to children by Catholic priests in Ireland, and influence of fundamentalist Christianity and Islam across the world.

This campaign is about challenging people to think critically about their beliefs, and especially to think critically about how much control they give over their lives to a supernatural being for which there is no evidence.

To promote this message we intend to, initially at least, use the effective advertising medium of buses in New Zealand’s largest centres: Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The message on the buses will follow the example of the UK Campaign, with “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

We need your support to reach our fundraising goal of $10,000. All donations will go to advertising costs – no administrative overheads will be taken from donated money. The donations are kindly being administered by The Humanist Society of NZ. Please donate online through the donations link on the top-right of this page, or see the Support page for further donation options.

The New Zealand Atheist Bus Campaign plans to put ads carrying atheist and humanist messages on buses in major NZ cities, encouraging Kiwis to think critically about their beliefs.

Following the success of the original UK campaign and other campaigns around the world, a positive message of atheism and humanism will soon be travelling around on NZ buses.

Buses will feature the same slogan that was used in the UK campaign “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

The campaign will be entirely funded by donations from the public, with administrative support provided by the Humanist Society of New Zealand. People are able to make donations online at http://nogod.org.nz/.

“While New Zealand is by and large a very tolerant and inclusive society, there is still stigma associated with an atheistic position. At the same time we have recently seen the growing influence of radical religious groups such Brian Tamaki’s Destiny Church. With this campaign we hope to encourage positive debate on these issues – religion should not be a taboo topic.” said campaign spokesperson Simon Fisher.

The Atheist Bus Campaign is designed to get people to think critically about their religious beliefs, and rationally about the world in general. The campaign promotes a positive humanist world view, and the affirmation that there is no need to believe in a supernatural being to live a full and rich life.

For further information about the campaign see the website at http://nogod.org.nz/.

ENDS