From the blurb to NYT contributor Randy Kennedy's commentary: "Mistletoe, yes. Sleigh bells, sure. Chestnuts, why not. God, no thanks."
IF last holiday season charitably could have been described as the war-on-Christmas Christmas -- with Bill O’Reilly of Fox News declaring war on the warriors and others declaring war on him -- maybe it’s not such a stretch to think of this year’s prevalent yuletide theme as the war-on-Christ Christmas.
And not just Christ by himself, of course. Also God and Allah and every other version of an omnipotent, unseen deity who inspires annual celebrations, love, obedience and occasional fanaticism among untold millions.
At least such a theme is the message that book buyers seem to be sending. “The God Delusion,” a jeremiad against religious belief by Richard Dawkins, a British evolutionary biologist at Oxford, reached No. 4 on the New York Times best-seller list recently and sits at No. 6 today, a week before Christmas. “Letter to a Christian Nation,” another spirited defense of atheism, by its American standard-bearer, Sam Harris, reached No. 6 in October. He wrote a previous best seller, “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason.” ...
With all this high-profile atheism in mind, it might come as something of a surprise to learn what sort of tree Mr. Harris has sitting in his living room right now. Let’s just say that it is not a ficus, that it tapers to a little peak practically begging for a star and that it is currently sporting some lovely ornaments on its branches. ...
... to listen to Mr. Harris and other nonbelieving Christmas celebrators, you sometimes get the feeling that their accommodation stems from the fact that Christmas — no matter how religious it still is or is not — has become such a juggernaut that it is simply impossible to ignore entirely. So why not grin, bear it and have yourself a double eggnog?
Why not indeed?!?! :)