Atheist Group Prepares for Holidays With Ad Campaign Tackling "Biblical Morality"

In previous years, their campaigns have been upbeat and simple, reminding viewers that being a good person doesn't require belief in God.

This year, responding to a wave of religious fundamentalism, the American Humanist Association is getting a little more feisty with their major holiday ad campaign.  According to the Atlantic, "The AHA campaign, in particular, highlights some of the more violent and sexist passages of the Bible and Quran and contrasts them with quotes from Albert Einstein, Katherine Hepburn and others."

Other related campaigns hitting the airwaves this season include one from rival secular group American Atheists with a nativity scene and the slogan "you know its a myth."

While religious groups are vowing to make the holiday season merry by counter-programming with their own ads, the American Humanist Association stands strong.

The effect of this more assertive atheism isn't, as some surmise, to convert true believers en masse, but rather to get on-the-fence atheists and agnostics to band together not to attack religion per se, but its undue influence in public life and its legitimization in government and other areas where it doesn't belong.

According to their statement:

"There are millions of Americans of strong moral character who don’t happen to believe in a god. Humanists have always understood that you don't need a god to be a good person, but many other Americans have not, and that’s one reason we’ve been running ad campaigns in the past. This year, we’re going further in our attempt to challenge the intolerant view that atheist and agnostic humanists can’t be good without Bible derived morality. We’re taking a hard look at what is included in religious texts."

 Read more at the Atlantic.