(Nov. 11) – You better watch out. There is a new combatant in the Christmas wars.Ads proclaiming, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake,” will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December. The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday.In lifting lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” the Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas.”We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you,” said Fred Edwords, spokesman for the humanist group. “Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion.”To that end, the ads and posters will include a link to a Web site that will seek to connect and organize like-minded thinkers in the D.C. area, Edwords said.Edwords said the purpose isn’t to argue that God doesn’t exist or change minds about a deity, although “we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people’s minds.”The group defines humanism as “a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.”Last month, the British Humanist Association caused a ruckus announcing a similar campaign on London buses with the message: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”In Washington, the humanists’ campaign comes as conservative Christian groups gear up their efforts to keep Christ in Christmas. In the past five years, groups such as the American Family Association and the Catholic League have criticized or threatened boycotts of retailers who use generic “holiday” greetings.In mid-October, the American Family Association started selling buttons that say “It’s OK to say Merry Christmas.” The humanists’ entry into the marketplace of ideas did not impress AFA president Tim Wildmon.”It’s a stupid ad,” he said. “How do we define ‘good’ if we don’t believe in God? God in his word, the Bible, tells us what’s good and bad and right and wrong. If we are each ourselves defining what’s good, it’s going to be a crazy world.”Also on Tuesday, the Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian legal group, launched its sixth annual “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign.” Liberty Counsel has intervened in disputes over nativity scenes and government bans on Christmas decorations, among other things.”It’s the ultimate grinch to say there is no God at a time when millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of Christ,” said Mathew Staver, the group’s chairman and dean of the Liberty University School of Law. “Certainly, they have the right to believe what they want but this is insulting.”Best-selling books by authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have fueled interest in “the new atheism” ? a more in-your-face argument against God’s existence.Yet few Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic; a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll from earlier this year found 92 percent of Americans believe in God.There was no debate at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority over whether to take the ad. Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency accepts ads that aren’t obscene or pornographic.Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
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godless sodomite
Sorry to make you start to lose your lunch there, alex. But remember, I was referring to birth, not sex.
CEH
And what a magnificent holiday it will be!!!! Glory Howdeedoody!
CEH
Ramen to that!
You’re welcome, karen.
Comment from: CascadiaEventHorizon
Actually there’s already a move to make January 20th a holiday for the “messiah”…
CEH…it’s going to be fun to listen to your surprise when NObama implements many of the same policies that Bush has…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/washington/15gitmo.html?_r=1
Can you say…duped?
By the way…I hope you’re not holding your breath for the Welfare Check the “messiah” promised you…
What a bunch of maroons…hahahaha
Geez, what is it with you and Obama, phreedm?
Get a room already!
On topic, I think the bus ads are a great idea–generally, if it sets off Bill Donahue, I’m for it!
And I really don’t understand why Christian phundies like phreedm aren’t embracing it–after all, isn’t a surge of godlessness one of the signs of the “end of days,” the “second coming,” and “the apocalypse?”
Isn’t this every true believer’s dream come true?
Hi What
Hope it’s not a stupid question but what does “Ramen” mean??
ball-sucker:
Odd that your I.P address changed on that post, no?
I do realize that. I also realize you might have DID (split personality). Or you’re vying w/siblings in some wacko contest.
Yeah, I wish I could reclaim those lost minutes…boo-hoo, boo-hoo.
Seriously, I’m not as bipolar as you seem to be (or as fragmented).
I love the bus ad campaign – clever slogan!
I think that Xmas is so ingrained into our culture that people would refuse to work on that day even if it stopped being a federal holiday.
I think Xmas is a weird mix of pagan, xian, and secular. Actually, a lot of holidays in America are like that – Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc.
Oh, and Tuen – “Ramen” is a way of saying “amen” in the joke religion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
See this site for more info:
http://www.venganza.org/
Joke religion? Joke religion?!! How dare you. Captain Mosey will not be leading you to the Promised Sea. For the love of noodliness see:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster#Mosey
Joke? Ha!
Pixel
You may want to reconsider your blasphemy on this most sacred of days.
May you be smote by his noodly appendage.
What:
Remember, more pirate attacks means less global warming. Go Pirates!
thx pixel
faith protects the absurdities of all religions – The FSM concept serves us well
sorry What, if I blasphemy “His Noodliness”…haha
Why believe in a The Flying Spagetti Monster? Just be good for goodness’ sake.
What
Surely the Pirates who overtook the Saudi supertanker had His Noodliness at their sides! Ramen! Pass the Parmesan! A Pirate victory bodes well against global warming. Wenches, kiss your Mates. AAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!
Tuen
Why believe in the FSM? For the pasta -and the stripper factories and beer volcano! And because He really doesn’t care if you believe in Him or not! May your noodles be overcooked, for blaspheming the Great One!
I grovel in abject apology to our Lord and Savior, FSM. May his marinara sauce pour over me and wash away my sin and blasphemy.
Besides, pirates is sexy!!
I see my FSM as a Fettucine alfredo w/sausage meatballs.
Peas be with you.
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