Starting today, the sides of four Fort Worth city buses will bear this message: "Millions of Americans are Good Without God."

Their sponsor, the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason, says it's only coincidence that the atheist-themed ads will debut during Christmas season. They are not exactly apologizing.

"We've been trying to put these ads together for awhile and we didn't plan for them to come out now," said Terry McDonald of the Coalition of Reason. "But I'm not unhappy it's running during Christmas. Why do Christians own December? There were people that said this may cause a problem. That doesn't bother me."

The ads on buses of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, also known as the T, feature a collage of faces that make up an American flag, and the Web address of the coalition, the local chapter of a new national group called the United Coalition of Reason. According to national Director Fred Edwords, the ads' target audience is not Christians but nontheists who might feel isolated.

"December would be a good time of year to let people know that these nontheist groups exist," he said. "These are people who during the holidays might feel a little left out. The holidays might be a good time [to run the ads]. People are thinking about these things."

To some Fort Worth clergy, the timing is an insult.

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