(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.
Solstice: The Real Reason for the Season.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
Ah…KA…
Using some administrative opportunities to shut down some posters…
ga4ry
u are a retard. no1 pays to use this site idiot.
krystalline apost..
u are also a complete gimp. checking our ip addresses. u do realise that we may be at the same place but not the same person. dumb bum.
also u are sad for checking in first place
That’s a good one! I love that the troll misses the irony in his/her statement.
But I can sympathies… it must be difficult being 15 years old, with nothing to do but post nonsense on an atheist blog ? a poor outlet to vent one?s frustrations from a strict, religious upbringing. So “sad”.
KA
How are you checking the IP?
Anybody see the similarities between Neowolfe’s writing style and i.think.god.loses?
AA should be running similar ads. Where does the money go at AA anyhow?
When I first tried to celebrate Solstice instead of Christmas, it only frustrated me because it emphasized the fact that I was an atheist, a fact which shouldn’t be significant to my family, friends, or anyone else in my community. I only celebrate Christmas, and I feel no guilt for it because my family celebrates Christmas in a secular fashion. It’s an American holiday, and I think all Americans are allowed to celebrate it without celebrating the religious aspect of it.
I don’t belong to a local atheist group, but if I did, I would advocate “Taking Christ out of Christmas” and use my local chapter to send a “Merry Christmas” message to the whole community. It would really irk the local Conservative Christians to know that atheists were claiming Christmas as their own holiday, thereby “Taking Christ out of Christmas.”
In the secular and atheistic majority UK (54% atheist) Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year and has really lost almost all religious signifigance just as Halloween has here in the USA. I dont think atheists should hesitate to celebrate.
” Comment from: mxracer652 [Member]
No thanks fireemblem.
Let’s celebrate real achievements, not just sliding out of a vagina.”
You’ve never celebrated your birthday?
“It’s an American holiday, and I think all Americans are allowed to celebrate it without celebrating the religious aspect of it.”
What the fuck does that mean exactly?
Its no more an American holiday than New Years day.
“It’s an American holiday, and I think all Americans are allowed to celebrate it without celebrating the religious aspect of it.”
“What the fuck does that mean exactly?”
“Its no more an American holiday than New Years day. “
That’s exactly my point. Atheists can celebrate Christmas the same way everyone else does, less the Church Services. We atheists don’t have to force ourselves to say “Happy Solstice” when we greet others at Christmas time. We can put a bright green banner on our house with a great big Atheist Emblem and the words “Merry Christmas” because the holiday belongs to everyone, not just Christians. I take joy in the fact that I am indeed “Taking Christ out of Christmas!” (In spite of the popular Christian bumper sticker)
Actually, “sliding out of a vagina” at birth is no easy task, for the baby or the mother. It’s quite the accomplishment. Not one to make a national holiday out of though – or every day of the year would have to be one.
Now, delivering toys all over the world in one night- that’s a big deal. Especially when your mode of transport is a sleigh and flying reindeer.
Castlesnob
I LOLed. Thanks!
I call it an “American Holiday” because it has so much significance in our culture, in a purely secular way. It’s the Religious Right that wants to attach religious meaning to it, and demand that everybody appreciate the holiday for it’s religious meaning. When we atheists stand up and say “Merry Christmas” is pisses them off more than saying “Happy Holidays” or “Happy Solstice” because it tells them the holiday doesn’t really have religious significance, and they don’t get that stamp of approval from our society.
My apologies Fireemblem555, I didn’t realize you were offended by my statement as a non-American, I was only thinking of those getting offended at the association with Christianity.
I didn’t mean to imply that the holiday should be exclusively American. I’m merely trying to emphasize the fact that it is important holiday in our culture, and that Christians do not get to claim ownership of it.
Hell, I’d like to see American Atheists sell Christmas Cards with a great big atheist emblem on the backside. There’s a card I can hand out to all of those casual aquantances that hand out the explicitly religious cards that are only meant to proselytize and convert.
They do – or at least the cards have an explanation of what the winter solstice celebration is and how christians took it over for their holiday. CafePress.com has a lot more atheist/secular cards, too
I just threw up a little.
I get the point of putting an atheist stamp on it…but…shit….I’m trying to live in a very catholic buffalo, ny….and it just smells like stupid religion during the Christ Mass holidays….I think the idea of exchanging gifts on a particular day is dumb anyways…..cant ya just be nice every god damn day…..
I think most people here will agree that the only “Real Holiday” in the next year is on January 20th. GOODBYE GW SHRUB, YOU %$#%@^*#!!!
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/