• CNN/AP , Wednesday, November 12, 2008 10:45 AM

A friend last night was trying to describe to me his daughter's Christmas-themed yarmulke, evidently a manifestation of a growing trend among young people to celebrate Chrismukkah. Raised as an Italian-American Roman Catholic, he seems bemused by the trend. On the other hand, he was thoroughly confused by the fact that the village in which he runs a business has banned playing holiday music on its main shopping street on Christmas Eve.

Now the American Humanist Association is coming along with a new ad campaign that is sure to generate a lot more attention than its $40,000 budget would normally afford it. Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December, we're told.

"There are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of nontheists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion," says Fred Edwords, a spokesman for the group.

I hear you out there. As long people of good cheer of all persuasions are actively and optimistically engaged in consumer choice modeling this Christmas -- er, holiday --- season, you'll be happy too, right?

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