The huge success of the Atheist Bus Campaign has amazed the people who run the Just Giving website. They write:

… this page is remarkable for the sheer speed that it’s raising money – we’ve been noticing that there are new donations every time we refresh the page. Whatever you believe, it certainly shows the power of online fundraising. The campaign has not only smashed its target for the British Humanist Association but it’s gone from trebling the target to quadrupling it in the time spent writing this blog post…

The aim was to raise £5,500, which Richard Dawkins said he would match. It began yesterday (21 October). By noon today the figure was over £58,000.

A fellow blogger in London commented this morning:

Did you hear the debate on the Richard Bacon show tonight? If that wasn’t hilarious enough it was followed by an hour of homeopaths talking b******s.

You can listen again on the BBC website – go for the Tuesday night (21 October) show. Besides the BHA’s Andrew Copson, they wheeled out Stephen Green of Christian Voice, the evangelicals who created so many problems for the producers of ‘Jerry Springer the Opera’.

The Guardian’s Comment is Free post about the bus campaign by originator Ariane Sherine has attracted a record 1,200+ comments. Some have said they want posters on buses in the provinces too. It seems that atheists everywhere are starting to assert themselves, reacting to the way that religion is thrust in our faces in politics and education and whenever an ethical issue is raised.

If you’d like to donate, go to the Just Giving page.

Tags: Atheist+Bus+Campaign, Just+Giving, Comment+is+Free, Ariane+Sherine, Richard+Dawkins