The first Italian bus to boast an atheist advertisement rolled out Monday and certainly did not have God on its side.
No sooner had the bus — carrying the message, "The Good News Is There Are Millions of Atheists In Italy; The Excellent News Is They Believe In Freedom Of Expression" –- hit the streets of Genoa when it suffered battery problems and had to go straight back to the depot for repairs, UPI reported.
''By pure chance,'' UPI quotes a member of the Italian Union of Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists, ''the vehicle left the depot bright and early but had to go straight back because of a 'curious' problem with the batteries."
The group's new ads are a variation on their original campaign launched in Washington, London and Spain, which read — "The Bad News Is God Doesn't Exist. The Good News Is You Don't Need Him."
The campaign was changed after it was met with opposition from religious groups.
The Atheist campaign also used the slogan, ''There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox