Atheists can't get message on Italian bus

ROME, March 5 (UPI) -- Italy's atheists can ride the bus but are having trouble getting their message on them.

The Italian Union of Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists wanted to have a slogan -- "The bad news is God doesn't exist. The good news is you don't need him." -- splashed on buses across the largely Catholic nation. But public transportation advertising agencies haven't been too keen on the idea and so far only two buses in Genoa have sported a watered-down version of the atheists' message, ANSA reported Wednesday.

So the atheists say they are pondering the possibility of going to court. And in the meantime, they are starting a Web campaign to come up with a new slogan, the Italian news agency said.

''Freedom of expression is a constitutional right that is routinely swept aside whenever someone publicly says God doesn't exist,'' said Raffaele Carcano, who heads the 4,000-member group. ''We are ready to go to court over this."