Maybe they think they make themselves seem bigger by belittling other people's faith, but the American Humanist Association has got it all wrong.
They just look smug, self-satisfied and more than a little self-congratulatory.
In short, exactly the kind of people you hope you never get paired with at a party. People who are proud of what they don't believe in are such bores.
Apparently, it's the association's idea of a funny joke to take this holiday season to remind people that not all Americans believe in God.
Seattle is among the cities around the country to get billboards and ads on buses saying, "Millions are good without God."
"We don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but secular people celebrate the holidays too," Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the association, told The New York Times.
"We're just trying to reach out to our people. To the degree that we are reaching out to the godly, it's just to say that you can be good without God so their atheist neighbor down the street shouldn't be vilified as though he is immoral."
Reaction whenever this or similar groups launch publicity campaigns is varied. Some is hateful. Others are more thoughtful.
"It is the ultimate Grinch to suggest there is no God during a holiday where millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ," Mathew D. Staver of the Liberty Counsel religious law firm told the Times.
"It is insensitive and mean."
Those five words pretty much can't be improved upon.
But since association officials intend another campaign next year to celebrate their lack of faith, we'd like to suggest a symbol for them.
Next year, how about a drawing of Scrooge driving a flying sleigh, pulled by eight jackasses?
Or maybe nine, if they can imagine a jackass with a bright red nose.
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