'For God's sake' banned from buses, 200 buses carry revised census campaign adverts

4 March 2011

From today, posters bearing the slogan 'If you're not religious, for God's sake say so' should have been appearing on buses in major cities across England and Wales. But this latest initiative in the British Humanist Association's (BHA) Census Campaign has been prevented on advice from the Advertising Standards Authority's Committee of Advertising Practice that it had the potential to cause 'widespread' and 'serious' offence.

In addition to the banners on buses in London, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham, Cardiff and Exeter, three posters planned for display at railway stations, as part of the campaign, were also refused by companies owning the advertising space, who viewed them as too likely to cause offence. [These images can be viewed at www.humanism.org.uk/census-adverts]

Andrew Copson, chief executive of the BHA, is astonished that an everyday phrase should be deemed too contentious for public display. 'It is a little tongue-in-cheek,' he commented, 'but in the same way that saying "bless you" has no religious implication for many, "for God's sake" is used to express urgency and not to invoke a deity. This censorship of a legitimate advert is frustrating and ridiculous. The blasphemy laws in England have been abolished but we are seeing the same principle being enforced nonetheless.'

The BHA is now circulating its prohibited railway posters online and has revised its bus posters to read 'Not religious? In this year's census, say so'. These will be displayed from today on more than 200 buses as part of a campaign that also includes the distribution of 65,000 leaflets, local campaigning, and extensive online activity.

The Census Campaign is encouraging non-religious people who did not tick the non-religious box in the 2001 census to tick 'No Religion' in this month's census. It aims to raise awareness of the severe impact that misleading census data has in policy-making and resource allocation. The campaign website (www.census-campaign.org.uk) and Facebook page have seen encouraging support and there has been growing media interest in the run up to the census.

Many people chose not to answer the question in 2001 and research has also demonstrated that many who ticked 'Christian' in 2001 did so for cultural rather than religious reasons and had no belief in God or habit of attendance at places of worship. Other, more specific, surveys before and since 2001 have demonstrated that the real figure for active believers is less than half of that produced in that year's census. These census figures have been misused to justify a variety of local and national initiatives that include increasing the number of state-funded faith schools, increasing public funding for religious organisations, and the entrenchment of religious influence and individuals on government and in Parliament.

If the 2011 census creates a similarly inaccurate figure, the BHA fears it may lead to further exclusion and discrimination against non-religious people and greater imbalance of privilege for religious groups and individuals.

Mr Copson reiterated that the purpose of the campaign is not to offend, 'The Census Campaign is not intended to dissuade those who hold strong religious beliefs. We are asking people to be honest and if they are not religious, to say so. Ticking "No religion" means that their voices will be heard and we will have a more truthful picture of what people really believe today.'

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