"No God? No Problem!:" The Controversial Advertising Campaign

Posted by BreaktheChains Friday, December 4, 2009

The American Humanist Association is back again with an even more offensive line of advertisements.

Last year, their banners read: "Why Believe in a God? Just Be Good for Goodness' Sake," and according to their website [www.americanhumanist.org] this year's ads "will be blazoned across transit systems in five cities-including Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, & San Francisco." However, this year's ads will read: "No God? No Problem! Be Good for Goodness' Sake. Humanism is the idea that you can be good without a belief in God." The exectuive director of the American Humanist Association, Roy Speckhardt, states that they are "hoping this campaign will build awarenss about the humanist movement and our [their] ethical life philosophy." The Association also "want nontheists to know there is a community of like-minded invividuals out there they can connect with." Another reason these ads are being published is to prove "millions of people are good without believing in God."

But what really is the issue? Why are they spending $40,000 to post these advertisments on over 250 Metro buses and rail cars? Speckhardt makes the argument that this "First-Ever National Godless Holiday Campaign" was not meant "to offend anyone." If this is true, why did they change last year's ad from "a God" to this year's "God?" What would be the purpose in singling out the God if their only aim is to help spread awareness of their beliefs? In addition, the American Humanist Association makes the case that many people are good, even those whom do not worship God. However, this point seems rather irrelevant...there is no question of different peoples' overall level of goodness. In fact, it is widely accepted that one does not have to be religious to do good deeds; but the difference is that religion gives those deeds meaning. Living life serving others is a beautiful thing, but what overall purpose does it serve in the end? The awesome thing about the fruit we bear as Christians, as bondservants to Christ, is that we add daily to our reward in Heaven. Even more valuable, though, is that it brings glory and honor to Him...and at the same time sows seeds in other peoples' lives.

NOW, it is time to take a stand. We should not remain subject to the insults of the ignorant--those whose eyese have yet to be opened. We must show the world that good things for Christ gives meaning and purpose and satisfaction. Ultimately, our end destination is not to prove a point or to fight back in an unChrist-like manner. Instead, we should strive to impact others for Him and fight for what is true.

It is time to take a stand.

PS. Comments welcome! Please feel free to suggest ways to lovingly combat this issue...


Sources:
1. http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/no-god-no-problem-ads-to-appear-on-metro-112309
2. http://www.americanhumanist.org/news/details/2009-11-humanists-launch-first-ever-national-godless-holiday-

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4 comments:

  Ken

December 6, 2009 at 6:00 PM

The ads are mere propaganda that answers to an argument that no one has made. The claim is not that atheists lack of morals but lack of moral premise, lack of ethos.

It is also a reprinting of their ads from last year:
http://atheismisdead.blogspot.com/2008/11/another-atheist-charity-huge-success.html

Yet again, during a time of the year when people are generally more inclined towards charity—peace on earth and good will towards non-gender specific personages—atheists are busily collecting hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars during a time of recession not in order to help anyone in real material need but in order to purchase bill boards and bus ads whereby they seek to demonstrate, to themselves, just how clever they are—need any more be said?

  Andrew Dawes

December 11, 2009 at 3:03 PM

The fact that atheists have decided to take Christ out of a Christian holiday concerns me. I know they despise our beliefs, but it appears that the new "religious tolerance" is quite intolerant. In fact, they were never required to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Why bother destroying the foundation of Christmas, just to replace it with a hollow, generic purpose of "giving and receiving gifts of all sorts"? Witnesses to this subtle persecution of Christ-Followers should ask, "Why spoil a holiday that was never meant for you? Could it perhaps be a touch of jealousy?!". Instead of reacting in disgust, we should invite our non-believing friends to join us in recognizing the true meaning of Christmas. :)

  Jimmy

December 12, 2009 at 8:09 PM

For me personally, I think that, even though Christmas is most often linked to Christian beliefs, Christmas has always been "Christmas"-regardless of any religious connotations. In fact, I don't think most people would even consider Christmas strictly a religious holiday. True, many more people do attend church on December the 25th, but the overall spirit of Christmas, to a much broader society, seems to be generosity, giving, and cheer.

Whether religion plays a role in our Christmas celebrations is, quite frankly, not the issue. The thing that upsets me the most (and maybe it's just one of my own pet-peeves) is the fact that everything has to be politically correct. Every little thing is now required to apply to EVERYONE, in order to appeal to a larger audience. However, no matter what we try to do, there will always be discrepancies; there will always be those people whom will not agree with the rest of our culture.

  Jimmy

December 12, 2009 at 8:11 PM

Mariano,

I apologize for commenting on on this post...I just realized that your original comment was directed towards the new humanist advertisements. :)

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