"Why Believe in God?" Campaign Debuts for Christmas Season

The "war on Christmas" has become a popular term to use at about every holiday season now. Popularized by right wing pundits and talk radio, wars against Christmas belief and belief in God and Jesus have been presumably fought every holiday year. If the war is to be resumed this season, the first shots may have been fired by the American Humanist Society and their new billboards.

"Why believe in God? Just be good for goodness sake." is the tag line of a new billboard and ad campaign that is about to debut. The ads have already been placed in the New York Times and Washington Post, with billboards of the ad coming soon, and with the ad to be placed on buses in Washington D.C.

The American Humanist Society is launching its latest promotional campaign and efforts to draw in new non-believers right as the Christmas season starts to begin. Every year, there is a new controversy over who is not saying Merry Christmas, what stores are keeping out Christmas decorations, and where mangers are going to go.

Some believe that atheists and non Christians are trying to keep Christmas down, and the American Humanist Society's devout atheism certainly feeds into that stereotype. Literally lifting lyrics from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to promote atheism during the Christmas times will do that.

Despite only 8% of people claiming not to believe in God, atheist advertising and publicity is on the march, thanks to the likes of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, the American Humanist Society and Bill Maher.

Dawkins and Hitchens' books about atheism and their argument against God have fueled the debate to new heights. The American Humanist Society continues to be a leading group for atheists to turn to. And Maher, perhaps the most visible and comedic atheist on TV, brought a new argument against God with the fall documentary Religulous, which made over $10 million dollars- an impressive number by documentary standards.

Groups like the American Family Associated, the Catholic League, and the Liberty Council have also gotten jump starts on the holiday season, on the lookout for any mention of the word holiday.