I am regularly asked to review books - and other things - all the time on this blog and my policy has always been to say 'no'. This blog is not for profit and doesn't include advertising or anything else that can create any bias or conflict of interest. If I review something, it should be because I have something to say about it, not because I want to do a favour to get a freebie or - heaven forbid - get cash for comment. However, this one time I'm reviewing a book that I just couldn't refuse. If they hadn't sent it to me, I'd have logged straight onto Amazon and ordered it. It's The Atheist's Guide to Christmas and is a perfect read for this godless Yule fanatic.
I must have been about 9 or 10, on my annual four week visit to stay with Dad in England over Christmas when the dilemma first occurred to me. This period of my childhood was punctuated by annual Christmas holidays in the UK - December was about the creeping dread of airplanes and sick bags, only made tolerable by the promise of snow and tinsel at the other end (I really, really hated flying). I was walking home through the snow with my Dad and brother, looking at the twinkly Christmas tree lights through living room windows and enjoying the tingly Christmassy feeling, when I was struck by a thought. "Dad. If they ever prove there's no God, will we still have Christmas?"
Despite having been brought up in a church-going family and accustomed to Sunday school in dusty old halls, even at that age I could safely be called agnostic. Although I was brought up to believe, I just couldn't get the concept to sit in my logical, enquiring mind. It made no sense to me, especially the idea of an all powerful being. I can remember giving a religious studies teacher at primary school a very hard time asking questions about the scientific nature of god - was he a ball of energy and if so, how was he sentient? If he is everywhere at once, what is he made of? Yup, a bit quantum for a pre-teen mind but if I was to believe this story, I wanted to know how it fitted in the physical world I also studied. Still, the fear that I might be right - that there was no god - meant that my favourite time of the year could be suddenly made redundant. My favourite day of the year was one scientific conundrum away from obsolescence.
Dad assured me, in the way all Dad's should when faced with a question as complex and metaphysically deep as this from a child, that Christmas 'probably would' continue as people love celebrating it so much. Even without religion, there's still the tree and presents and feasting and everything else.
Of course, this is exactly the argument others keep putting forward when they say that the true meaning of Christmas has been forgotten; we are all enjoying the trappings of Christmas while ignoring the religious significance. Thankfully, the reverse is closer to the truth; the nativity was the latecomer to the Christmas tradition and the tree, presents, feasting, singing, dancing and general rampant celebration was always the centre of the midwinter festival. It turns out I am celebrating the true meaning of Christmas every year - by staying away from church and having another pudding.
These days, fence-sitting agnosticism has given way to reasoned atheism, but my love for Christmas is still as strong as it was in that ten year old boy. So it is wonderfully exciting to learn I am not alone in my Christmas-loving impiety. Edited by Ariane Sherine - Guardian journalist and organiser behind the Atheist bus campaign earlier this year - the volume collects essays from a wide range of atheists, each with their own views on the celebration (or not) of the Christmas period. Charlie Brooker, Derren Brown, Simon Le Bon, Zoe Margolis, Ed Byrne, David Baddiel, Clare Rayner and, predictably, Richard Dawkins join many others in providing humour, advice and refreshing opinion.
Also, all the contributors and the editor have donated their full share of the profits to the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Not all the entries feel like a celebration; some essays seem to dwell too much in table-slapping assertions and argument, maybe forgetting that the reader is most likely already a convert to reasoned disbelief. Atheism doesn't have to always be earnest argument and reason. We don't need to constantly justify our position. We can be happy party people as well.
Between the dry reasoning and the lively celebration, there are also a couple of entries that descend into the bizarre surrealism of too much eggnog. Nick Doody's fictional history of the science of Christmasology - complete with footnotes - becomes heavy reading even though it's one big gag without much of a point to make.
Thankfully, many of the entries are about celebration and fun at this fantastic time of year. Many of the contributors have a very similar relationship to Christmas to mine, having questioned themselves - and been questioned - on the non-existent hypocrisy. Many love exactly the same things about the holiday that I do, have researched the same facts about the true pre-Christian origins of the festival and have reached many of the same conclusions. Mitch Benn sums it up brilliantly when he points out that Christmas - despite having Christ's name smack bang in the title - is nothing more than a name.
I have no idea what day it is where you are, but I'm typing this on a Wednesday. As such, I, in common with all respecters of tradition, have dedicated today to the glory of Odin. Man, I love Wednesdays. Bit of oar-running, bit of pillage, bit of - well, we'll crack open a bottle of mead and see where the evening takes us, shall we?
Well, exactly. Recognising Christmas no more compromises my argument for atheism than recognising January compromises my disbelief in the Roman god Janus. Detaching Christmas from its sacred traditions and enjoying it for what it is and always has been - a midwinter festival of feasting, gift giving and family - is ironically living up to the true spirit of the holiday.
This time is, and should be, for everyone - not just Christians. Truly, it is about goodwill to all men (and women), regardless of whether they agree with an outdated creationist myth or not. So Merry Christmas to one and all, whatever you believe or disbelieve.
