Thanksgiving is a holiday in which we are supposed to give thanks, but instead of thanking imaginary deities we should give thanks to actual people. The list of people who deserve thanks is nearly endless. There are people throughout history who contributed positively to our way of life and there are people within our individual lives who deserve our thanks now while they are still alive and well to appreciate the praise. Within the greater community of reason, there are also a lot of people who deserve the thanking, but for the sake of brevity I will narrow that list to five. But rest assured, there are many more people within the greater community of reason who deserve a heartfelt and sincere godless thank you.
The first atheist I would like to thank this year is Christopher Hitchens. The “Hitch” has been an inspiration to so many atheists and his wit, wisdom, and eloquence needs to be acknowledged and thanked. Hopefully Christopher Hitchens will be around awhile longer and I can have the honor of thanking him again in the years to come, but I do worry that the opportunity to give him my thanks may pass due to his illness. He is quite simply the Mark Twain of our day. Thanks you Christopher Hitchens for everything you have done and hopefully will do.
Second, I would like to thank Sam Harris for his contributions not only to the greater community of reason but to reason itself. His book, The Moral Landscape, has been a real inspiration to me and has helped me to put my thoughts into words. His short book, Lying, has challenged me in a way few other books have. Thanks you Sam, please keep writing!
Third, on my thank you list is Neil deGrasse Tyson for continually putting the facts of reality into poetic and inspirational language. If you don’t know what I am talking about, check out the Greatest Sermon Ever on YouTube. Thank you Neil, there is no better spokesperson for reality than you.
Blogger Greta Christina is the fourth atheist I would like to thank this year. She continues to write well-reasoned and inspirational blog posts not only on her freethoughtblogs but also on Alternet. For being such an outspoken advocate for both the atheist community and the LGBT community, I thank you. Keep up the great work Greta!
Last, but certainly not least is David Silverman, the president of American Atheists. Dave has been such a vocal voice for atheism this year that he simply must be thanked for it. Whether it has been his billboard campaigns or his appearances on Fox News, Dave has done an awesome job. Keep up the great work Dave and thank you.
As I said before, there are many, many, other people who deserve to be thanked. While I can’t thank them all personally, I would like to thank all my readers for your time and loyalty. I also want to thank you all in advance for sharing this article on your favorite social networks (hint, hint). ;-)
Have a great Thanksgiving!
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