Christmas is about shoving baby Jesus into other peope's hands.

Huckabee has a new ad out, a Christmas greeting. I guess he wants to reinforce the warm fuzzy nice guy image, as we see his record and know otherwise. Yeah, sappy sweater, fireplace lit, warm lighting, and sappy music. I mean Silent Night? That song still puts me out faster than cold medication. As a kid in church, I'd be curled up and asleep by the time that song finished.

And he wants everyone to have a good Christmas...as you worship baby Jesus...right. Cause, if you aren't...just more codewords from Huckabee.



And that is the disconcerting aspect to the devout Christian view of this time of year. Apparently, it is THEIR time of year. People have to put up nativities. They have to say Merry Christmas. And so on. If not, they are attacking and destroying their faith. They are the victims of people not embracing their faith. Now, you could say, why not just skip Christmas? What do people think when you say, "I don't do Christmas?" Unless you are supplanting it with another religious event, you...are...a...freak. So the choices, embrace Christ, be anti-Christian, or be a freakish troll.

That is a little facetious. Plenty, I'd say the majority of us, enjoy the nonreligious parts Christmas time, Christians and Everyone Else. We do. We enjoy the gifts, the gift giving, the cookies, the trees, the lights, the trimmings, spending time with family, being a little more sociable with people you meet, and the general festivity. This time of year, Jesus or not, promotes giving and thinking about others. A common idea in the coming of Winter, helping out those that will struggle in the time of cold and lean. And with all the food banks that are running low, now might be a good time to think about those in need.

So I get a bit annoyed that Christians seem to think December is somehow a proprietary month.

PZ Myers looked at just one bit on disbelief in an Atheist Christmas. And shows his healthy love for this time of year.

Albert Mohler never disappoints. If you want a peek at the smug, ignorant heart of modern American Christianity, the weekly columns of the president of the Souther Baptist Theological Seminary are good places to start. In his latest effort, he expresses surprise that atheists might enjoy the Christmas holidays. He's positively baffled that Richard Dawkins admits sharing in the traditions of his culture.

The thought of Richard Dawkins singing any carols with explicit Christian content is difficult to hold — unless the Oxford professor intends to sing of a faith he does not profess.

Stephen Jay Gould, evolutionist, atheist Jew, and Marxist sympathizer, used to join a choir to sing Handel's Messiah at Christmas time. Note to Albert: Jesus didn't write it, the music wasn't brought to earth by a covey of angels, and it doesn't require supernatural intervention to either sing it or hear it. Enjoying great music, or for that matter, eating Christmas cookies, gathering with friends and family for a meal, or giving a child a toy, does not require one speck of faith of any kind. These are human acts; the only way you can have difficulty holding the thought that an atheist might do them is if you have difficulty considering atheists as human.

Although I suppose an alternative and more charitable explanation is that Albert Mohler merely holds an extraordinarily withered imagination that is pretty much incapable of doing much of anything.

The sight of an avowed atheist joining in the Christmas chorus is a bit hard to imagine. At the same time, there is something comforting about the idea that even the world's most famous atheist will move his lips to the songs that celebrate Christ's birth. Perhaps those words will move from his lips to his head and his heart. We should pray that it might be so.

Yep. Nonexistent imagination. It's a sad sight. Learn something, Albert.

Richard Dawkins celebrates Christmas. Greg Laden celebrates Christmas. PZ Myers celebrates Christmas. We aren't celebrating the Christian faith (we actually deplore that), but we do like parties and music and good food and a seasonal tradition and having fun with our kids.

I have no problem saying "Merry Christmas!" to people, or putting on a red santa hat, or seeing houses draped with Christmas lights. I'm joining in. It's my way of subverting the tradition — it's also a secular holiday, you know, and I aim to appropriate it. I'm following another tradition there, since Christians initially stole the pagan midwinter festival for themselves, so I'm planning to take over Christmas as an atheist celebration.

[Great Picture of Richard Dawkins]

One thing, though: I won't ever be baffled by the fact that Christians have a good time on Christmas, too. They're only human, after all. They're welcome to join in our good cheer.

Many Christians may loathe to admit it, but this is a secular holiday. It is for anyone to join in, if they want, and to celebrate anyway they want.