If you’re in the US and you want to read the book The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas, then you’ll be happy to find out it’s now on Amazon in ‘murica.
Not only that, the audiobook is now available as well, with individual essays read by the authors, including Richard Dawkins, Simon Le Bon, Ben Goldacre, and of course moi.
I guess the audio version is available in case all the hardcopies get burned accidentally or something, but if you listen to it instead of reading it you can keep your eyes closed while reclining in your heathen infidelicious den of iniquity. But the hardcover does make a better stocking stuffer.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
The Atheist’s Guide to the Universe, is that a misprint? Anyway, looks like an interesting read.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
> The Atheist’s Guide to the Universe, is that a misprint?
Heh…nice slip, BA! Novella and company will be thrilled that the SGU is so ingrained.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
The title is contradictory. If you are going to say “there’s probably no god”, then you are not an atheist.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I still don’t see it on Amazon US. They have a few from other sellers, but not from Amazon directly.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Christmas, and celebrations like it fulfill deeply held, yet not rational human needs for celebration, community and ritual. While the manifestation of these non-rational traits more often then not end up intertwined with the baggage of religion, that is no reason to not get together and have a good time. These are all things which have nothing to do with rational human intellect and cannot be explained or meaningfully analyzed by epistemological methods.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
@DB “Atheism” just means “not theism”. Translated literally, the word actually encompasses agnostics and other non-religious folk as well. And I think you’ll find very few atheists who will claim 100% confidence in the nonexistence of any god.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
It’s kind of amusing that after making big show of not (generally) pimping books in your entry on Wil Wheaton, you’re now 3 for 4. Thanks for the recommendations.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
@bob
The urge for a social species to congregate, and to find excuses to congregate (i.e. hold celebrations or have special days on a calander) is not a rational one?
October 28th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
@Tiger, Sorry, don’t buy it. More likely the publisher just did not have the guts to call it, “The Atheists Guide Christmas”.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
@DB, You are aware that by saying you “don’t buy it” you are saying that Ricard Dawkins, James Randi, Sam Harris, Phil Plait, etc. aren’t atheists, correct?
October 28th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Frankly, I still don’t get the whole Jesus-Santa connection.
And on an unrelated topic, the results from the recent lunar probe are in:
http://www.gocomics.com/brewsterrockit/2009/10/26/
October 28th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I agree with TigerHunter. I call myself an atheist, but I’ve always felt it takes a lot of faith to believe that God absolutely does NOT exist.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I’m going to check this out, but…..Simon Le Bon?
October 28th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
@DB
That whole “can’t prove a negative” thing is a real bitch sometimes.
I choose live my life as if there were no god. I can explain many of the reasons given for the existence of god through natural laws, but to prove his non-existence is something else entirely.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
A small correction: The book is titled “The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas,” but your description refers to it as “The Atheist’s Guide to the Universe.”
October 28th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Here’s another long one!
#5 TigerHunter “And I think you’ll find very few atheists who will claim 100% confidence in the nonexistence of any god.”
#7 DB “did not have the guts to call it, “The Atheists Guide Christmas”.
I am an Atheist because there are no gods.
Why do you suppose that would be? I, for one, am 100% confident there are no gods! Or, a “Jesus, the Christ” born Dec 24 (recommend: “Who Wrote the New Testament–the Making of the Christian Myth” by Burton L. Mack.
Let’ not go into “you haven’t been every where in Universe, or in any other galaxy, or on any other habitable planet”. I haven’t but fictional beings don’t exist–natural or supernatural. And, no, of course I can’t prove a negative. Or “lack of evidence is not lack of existence” or vice versa.
Recommend Richard Dawkins “Climbing Mount Improbable”. Section why the JudeoChristian God (or any other god) is improbable.
Just because we humans, and the only species on Earth, can imagine gods, demons, werewolves, vampires, angels, devils, fairies, ghosts, paranormals, trolls, dragons, mystical beings, demigods, spirits, monsters in the closet, under the bed, etc. Imaginary beings created by our species are just that: imaginary.
I still can’t figure why so many “pray” to a nonexistent being!
Actually, there is a “god” which most have worshipped in the past, that exists: our star: “Sun”, “Apollo”, “El”, “Amun”, “Aten”… . Yes, so the stars are existing gods: without them, we wouldn’t exist.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
@Tiger
I’ll volunteer to be one of the few to claim 100% confidence in the nonexistence of any god. I also claim 100% confidence in the nonexistence of Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, and the Easter Bunny. All equally man-made and imaginary.
I think “Christmas” is a great winter holiday. A chance for the family to get together, exchange some gifts, eat a good meal. No praying or midnight mass required!
October 28th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
DB’s probably pulling an old stunt. Getting people to argue over a fuzzy definition. Same thing as calling the pope the antichrist on a christian forum or the bringing up the canonicity of TAS where trekkies hang out.
If not, @DB The title, and indeed, the cover design and color scheme is a direct reference to this summer’s bus ads that Ariane Sherine(she’s the one with cover credit) organized and promoted. Somebody’ll point you to the flickr page, no doubt.
October 28th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
@Danno, I can’t prove a negative and I can’t prove the tooth fairy does not exist.
@JT, Ok, they can be atheists. I am an Atheist.
October 28th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
You wrote a chapter?
My copy arrived today. Merry Christmas to me. Looking forward to the chapter on sacrificing goats.
October 28th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Do you get put on a terrorist watch list if you order this book? The previous eight years have been sort of tough on us non-fantasy adherents…
October 28th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Simon Le Bon….Is that as in Simon Le Bon, the lead singer of Duran Duran?
October 28th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Yes, it is the Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran!
October 28th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Guess I over did it.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I’m going to put this on my Christmas wish list! I hope I don’t get a lump of coal again this year.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
My Free Atheist’s Guide to Christmas
(Save $17.87)
1. Put wreaths on your front door and windows
2. Go cut a fir in the forest with your wife and kids or buy one at a market and decorate it
3. Give gifts to everyone you love
4. Wish Happy Christmas or Season’s Greetings to everyone on the street
5. Don’t worry about God
6. Be happy
7. Don’t overcharge your credit card
October 28th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Yes Keith, THAT Simon Le Bon!
October 28th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
This book is a great read – thoughtful and entertaining. By the way even Dawkins says he cannot know 100% there is no God, but there almost certainly is no God. That’s also the main reason the Atheist Bus Campaign, which was the forerunner of this book, used the “probably” slogan. It is more reasonable and less dogmatic than, eg. the Christian counter-campaign that then ran in London afterwards, that said : “There definitely is a God.”
October 28th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Also, most definitions of atheism allow for such a moderate view: one says it just means not having any beliefs in a God (which doesn’t have to mean you claim 100% certainty that none could exist, just that you find no need for such a belief), another says it is a belief, or more strongly a convinction, that there is no God – again, you can presubably believe something to be true or be convinced that the available evidence supports such a view, without claiming 100% knowledge. You do not have to be able to say “I know there is no God,” to be an atheist. Many Christians for that matter would also presumably say they believe there is a God, not that they completely know it to be the case.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:07 am
@Chet Twarog:
Your last name sounds like a DnD monster.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Ah, but is it being sold in Christian bookstores?
October 29th, 2009 at 8:47 am
@ 11. Lugosi Says:
Frankly, I still don’t get the whole Jesus-Santa connection.
Well its quite simple really.
Santa was crucified for Jesus’ sins or perhaps Mary’s (ie. being born after a secret extramarital affair. “Immaculate conception”, my ..er backside!) and then on the cross he laid chocolate eggs thus also explaining easter! I think …
October 29th, 2009 at 8:59 am
@ 23. Chet Twarog Says:
Guess I over did it.
Oh don’t worry, I always do too!
October 29th, 2009 at 9:07 am
@ 16. Chet Twarog Says:
fictional beings don’t exist–natural or supernatural.
They do in my head! Does that count?
Come on, Sherlock Holmes is better known and more real to many people than any other 19th century individual!
Ditto Robin Hood and King Arthur in their respective ages.
Reality is an artefact of the mind.
Perhaps?
Anyway,we’ve no way of knowing the world *except* through our minds so if our minds perceive something as real then *to us* it is real whether hallucination, imagination or concrete reality!
PS. Arrgh! Did I just argue for God’s existence? Or just fictional characters? Either way, yeah, I’m nuts!
October 29th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
One can believe that {any deity} or Sherlock Holmes, or Cmdr Spock or the Tooth Fairy exist, but that doesn’t mean they exist. ‘Nuff Said.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
I started from the premise that there is no God and then I tried to find evidence of his existence. After 75 years I have yet to find that evidence. Zeus is the closest so far.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
My better half doesn’t usually read my books or blogs but she picked up TAGTC and read the chapter by one Phil Plait and totally dug it. Kudos Dr Plait.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
#29 Kevin: “your last name sounds like a DnD monster.” If only! Nah, my proud family surname: Polish (Twaróg): from twaróg ‘curds’, ‘cottage cheese’, an occupational name or a nickname. I think its English derived from a Polish/Ukrainian surname I don’t have the spelling of.
#33 Asimov fan Says: “Anyway, we’ve no way of knowing the world *except* through our minds so if our minds perceive something as real then *to us* it is real whether hallucination, imagination or concrete reality!”
Good try. Not so. Your argument is an argument from fallacy, or something like that. Reality exists in spite of us, i.e., if you did not exist, I still would. If humans did not exist, Universe still would. Only reason for an imaginary god, because we can imagine one ultimate perfect unattainable being but that god is only centered on an arrogant, self-centered us. REALITY is that which exists w/o us, i.e., reality does not depend on either you or me. Really!
October 29th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Please, study history of religion. First known monotheistic religion was the Egyptian Sun god Aten worshipped under Pharoah Akhenaten and before (solar disc–also round the heads of saints and holy persons–the golden solar disc0.
Check out, literally, the Egyptian “Book of the Dead”.
Polytheistic religions predominate most of human history, not monotheism.
Christianity is a more “evolved/derived religion appealing to the masses”. However, New Testament is fiction. St Paul (Saul) is the original “Father” of Christianity, “Gentile Christians”, composing from @ 48 CE to @ 62CE (?) before executed by Rome.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
http://touregypt.net/featurestories/aten.htm for “The mythology of the Aten, the radiant disk of the sun, is not only unique in Egyptian history, but is also one of the most complex and controversial aspects of Ancient Egypt.”
First succesful monotheistic religion Sun-disc Solar Egyptian God Aten.
Christianity and Judaism derived from Egypt. Islam from Chrisianity, Judiasm, and Zorasterism.
Comparative Religion: Back to Masonic. Paganism. Zorasterism. Hinduism. Judaism. Buddhism … Within the pages collected here I will attempt, over time, … homepage.mac.com/johnhbrown/religion.html
All religions are “man-made”.
Enuf said. Research, research, research.
October 30th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Kevin Says:
October 29th, 2009 at 6:07 am
@Chet Twarog:
Your last name sounds like a DnD monster.
I thought it sounded more like a Volkswagen SUV…
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:55 am
Why try to ruin Christmas for so many? American is a Christian country and freedom of speech or not – it’s an outrage to blatantly try to ruin the holiday spirit for millions of people. These terrible people are proselytizing – isn’t that what they’re against? Look at this! http://tictacdo.com/ttd/Become-an-Atheist – step by step instructions on how to reject Jesus. What a crying shame… targeting our youth directly.
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:54 am
The people behind this and those who support it will certainly rot in hell. There time will come too.