'WHAT do you say?" the mother said as the toasted sandwiches were put down in front of her twin boys. The boys placed their hands together in a prayer position and said, "Thank-you, Lord." I laughed. We were in a cafe. I laughed because they thanked God but they didn't thank the woman who made the sandwiches and brought them to the table. They didn't tip either.

My second-best laugh recently was at the news that Australia's largest outdoor advertising agency, APN Outdoor, rejected an attempt by the Atheist Foundation of Australia to put slogans on buses.

British atheists have 800 buses around Ol' Blighty emblazoned with: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." So the Little Aussie Atheists decided to do their bit for the cause. The cause being freedom of speech, rational thought, intelligent discussion and consciousness-raising. In the same way religious groups try to spread the good news to help ease people's existential pain, so too are the atheists. One man's good news is another man's harmful propaganda defacing public spaces.

As a rule, we atheists don't tend to try to convert. Enlighten, suggest and argue? Sure. We're a bit, "Well if you're intelligent enough you'll work it out eventually." Blame the existence of child abuse, torture, war, hunger, poverty, pain, the inequitable distribution of wealth and the fact that God doesn't have a Facebook page. This Epicurean riddle comes in handy: "If God is willing to prevent evil but not able to, he's not omnipotent. If he's able but not willing, then he's malevolent. If he is both able and willing, whence cometh evil? If he is neither able nor willing, then why call him God?"

The Atheist Foundation of Australia approached APN with a slogan and a fistful of cash. APN, a company that has run religious and political slogans in the past, initially said: "Sounds good, no problems." So APN and AFA spent three weeks tweaking, diluting and compromising until APN abruptly pulled the plug. End of discussion.