Take God out of Christmas????

WASHINGTON -- You better watch out. There is a new combatant in the Christmas wars. Nothing says Christmas like a wreath -- or the now perennial Christmas wars. Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington 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 nontheists 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 area. Edwords said "We are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds." 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." 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 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. There was no debate at the Washington Transit Authority over whether to run the ads. Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency will be accepting them.

What do you think?????