Every year we’ve come to count on someone arguing that the secular world is taking Christ out of Christmas – and calling on true Christians to stand up *this* year. But this year something else is happening. Atheists are actually reaching out to Humanists by targeting Christians (and Muslims) with the hope that people will turn away from aggressive religious messages and to a more mellow sort of spirituality.
From an article in the Washington Post:
“The American Humanist Association, both atheists and agnostics who think it is possible to lead a moral and ethical life without believing in a deity, rolls out its biggest ad campaign Friday night, a $200,000 splash with a TV spot during ‘Dateline,’ followed by Metro and bus ads that will brighten the morning commute Monday.
The group’s ad campaign this year is aggressive and shrill. The ads pit particularly violent or archaic passages from religious texts against more inclusive, mellow and peaceful writings of secular humanists. They target the Koran as well as the Bible.
The Bible: ‘The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open.’ God, Hosea 13:16 (New International Version).
Humanism: ‘I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own – a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty.’ Albert Einstein, column for the New York Times, Nov. 9, 1930.”
More here.
(Double points to your house if you automatically read the headline in your best “Yoda” voice. And “head’s up” I suppose…)