Many Christians are fond of pushing this “War on Christmas” belief. They fight this imaginary war with the slogan, “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Well, with the recent death of Christopher Hitchens, atheists have created a slogan of our own, "Put the Chris in Christmas.”
Over the last few days, I have been asking atheists if they plan to honor Christopher Hitchens during their winter celebrations. While some atheists hadn’t considered doing so before I mentioned it, most did. Many told me that they did indeed have plans in place to honor our respected and much missed friend.
By far, most who plan to honor Hitchens during the Christmas season said that they are doing so with a glass of Johnnie Walker Black whiskey (a particular favorite of Hitchens). One atheist noted that he doesn’t even like whiskey, but will be drinking a glass anyway in honor of the author.
Other atheists I talked to said that they bought copies of Hitchens’s books and plan to give them out as holiday presents. One college student even told me that she is planning to give God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything to her parents who are fundamentalist Christians. She also mentioned that she is currently in the closet and will be coming out as an atheist to her parents this Christmas with the gift.
As for me, I took the idea of the Tree of Knowledge and created a virtual tree featuring many of Christopher Hitchens’s books as the ornaments (image in the sidebar). This was actually the artwork I used on my holiday cards this year too.
So this year, forget about keeping the “Christ in Christmas” and put the “Chris in Christmas” instead. ;-)
Please check out the Atheism 101 series for frequently asked topics.
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