Newsgroup: it.cultura.religioni
Titolo: Bus atei come possibilità per il rinnovamento cristiano

L'apertura mentale non è né credente né atea. E' apertura mentale e
basta. Gli inglesi scrivono che i bus atei sono una sfida al
rinnovamento cristiano, quindi come una cosa positiva!!!!
Gli inglesi avranno pure una pessima cucina e si vestiranno male, ma in
quanto a giornalismo e teologia avrebbero tantissimo da insegnarci.
Ecco l'articolo:
The 'atheist bus' ad campaign could play an important part in this
country's Christian revival. For too long, the British public has been
able to dodge the 'God choice' – is there or isn't there? – by
scribbling C of E on their hospital admission form. But now atheists
are challenging us to make that choice one way or another.
I’ve never met Richard Dawkins but I would very much like to thank him
for throwing his influence and money behind the ‘atheist bus’ ad
campaign, which is due to run in January. It should, I hope, play an
important part in this country’s Christian revival. The reason lies in
some basic principles of marketing. The biggest threat to a product is
very often not competition but the lack of it, with resultant consumer
apathy leading to market stagnation or decline. Put simply, when one
has a long-established, well-known, well-loved even, but somewhat
generic product, i.e. when the product is the market, it can be very
difficult to maintain a high degree of positive interest and engagement
among its users. But if and when competition arrives (and it usually
does), it forces a re-evaluation of attitudes and creates an
opportunity for the product to re-connect with a market suddenly forced
to a point of choice. Suddenly “consumers” are faced with the need to
make a conscious decision about whether and what to buy. In such
circumstances, growth in the overall market is not an uncommon
occurrence. The resurgence of board games in general, and Monopoly in
particular, after the market entry of Trivial Pursuit is such an
example. For too long, the British public has been able to dodge the
‘God choice’ – is there or isn’t there? – by scribbling C of E on their
hospital admission form. But now atheists are challenging us to make
that choice one way or another. And they are doing so at a most
opportune time. This country has never been more prosperous or more
satiated with material possessions, yet research shows that its
inhabitants are no happier for it and, in some ways, are significantly
unhappier. The ‘Big Questions’ – ‘Who am I?’; ‘Why am I here?’; ‘Where
am I going?’ – become ever more insistent as they are demonstrably not
answered by financial security and material possessions (and the credit
crunch and global recession now threaten even those). Other research
has shown that the majority of Christians would be happy to talk about
their faith with other people and to share their Christ-informed
perspective on the Big Questions – but only ‘if it comes up’. Natural
British reserve coupled with the traditional view that religious faith
is a taboo topic at the dinner party table, have conspired to encourage
Christians to keep their heads down and their faith private. What is
needed, what advertising can provide, and what the atheist campaign
opens the door toward, is a very public debate on the existence and
nature of God. Faith in God (or, indeed, its opposite) cannot be sold
from a billboard, but advertising can create a context in which ‘it
comes up’ more often, and in which one-to-one conversations – the virus
of faith – can flourish. Christians need to be able to respond
appropriately. That may mean developing their own on-going ad campaign,
comprising engaging, thought-provoking, biblically-sound advertising
concepts rooted in human experience. But it will also mean engaging
respectfully, constructively and appropriately to the God-conversations
when they come up. If they can do that, they may end up having a lot to
thank atheist buses for.
http://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/search-results/search-articles.aspx?ArticleID=2620

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co.uk/search-results/search-articles.aspx?ArticleID=2620