The Atheist's Guide to Christmas
Product Description
What do you get an atheist for Christmas?If you're an atheist, you don't believe in the three wise men, so this Christmas, we bring you not three, but forty-two wise men and women, bearing gifts of comedy, science, philosophy, the arts, and knowledge. What does it feel like to be born on Christmas day? How can you most effectively use lights to make your house visible from space? And where can you listen to the echoes of the Big Bang on December 25? The Atheist's Guide to Christmas answers all these questions and more:
- Richard Dawkins tells an original Christmas story.
- Phil Plait fact-checks the Star of Bethlehem.
- Neal Pollack teaches his family a lesson on holiday spirit.
- Simon Singh offers a very special scientific experiment.
- Simon le Bon loses his faith (but keeps church music).
- AC Grayling explains how to have a truly happy Christmas.
All author advances and royalties for The Atheist's Guide to Christmas will go to Terrence Higgins Trust.
What I Can Tell You:
As someone who holds onto the belief of God with all my might and who celebrates Christmas and all that goes along with it, I found this book to be quite interesting. I have never met an Atheist but if I did would never judge them as I would hope they wouldn't judge me.
The stories range from Neil Pollack's Revenge of the Christmas Spirit where his son receives for Christmas a Sponge Bob, Square Pants Connect Four and he decides to play Santa and give the "already have" gift away to a shelter. To Nick Doody's How To Understand Christmas: A Scientific Overview. I was very interested in the scientific history of Christmasology.
Best section of the book, the How To sections which include titles like:
How to Have the Perfect Jewish Christmas
How to Have A Peaceful Pagan Christmas
How to Decorate the Outside of Your House with Lights and Not Have Your Neighbors Hate You: A guide to turning your home into a festive something that is so bright it can be seen from Space.
Favorite quote by Allison Kilkenny:
"It was no longer a holiday meant to worship the birth of a now dead Palestinian who once claimed to be the Son of God but who is now used as a marketing ploy by huge Corporations to sell more Xbox consoles."
While I understand the skepticism, appreciate the scientific evidence of evolution, wonder in the history of the earth, marvel at the educated, scientists knowledge in the book, I long for the magic Christmas brings. Fake, real, I don't care! While this Christmas didn't feel Chistmassy for me, (health problems and unable to move), it was still the best day of the year. Life is hard, days turn into other days, but for a short time, everyone loves each other, decorated trees are featured and movies on TV pull the family together as we enjoy our time with each other. Life is short! Whether there is something else or whether there is nothing, we need to appreciate our time here and get the most out of life we can.
Without God in Christmas - why bother?
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon and 2011 is "The" year for you and yours.
Love
Kelly
I've Become My Mother
I appreciate your openness to the subject, but I wanted to point out that everyone has met an athiest, it's just that you just aren't necessarily aware that the athiest you know is an athiest because they don't talk about it. Polls typically range from 5-15 percent of people in the US being athiest, so you've definitely met one. :)
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