Table of Contents
Welcome xi
Stories
It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas Ed Byrne 3
Revenge of the Christmas Spirit Neal Pollack 9
The Real Christmas Story Jenny Colgan 15
A Child Was Born on Christmas Day Emery Emery 21
110 Love Street Catie Wilkins 27
Losing My Faith Simon Le Bon 31
Hark the Herald Villagers Sing Zoe Margolis 37
The Christmas Miracle Event: A Story Evan Mandery 43
Science
The Sound of Christmas Simon Singh 57
The Great Bus Mystery Richard Dawkins 63
Starry, Starry Night Phil Plait 71
The Ironed Trouser: Why 93 Percent of Scientists Are Atheists (Depending on Whom You Ask) Adam Rutherford 79
The Large Hadron Collider: A Scientific Creation Story Brian Cox 87
How to Understand Christmas: A Scientific Overview Nick Doody 93
How To
How to Have the Perfect Jewish Christmas Matt Kirshen 103
How to Have a Peaceful Pagan Christmas Claire Rayner 107
I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas Siân Berry 115
How to Stop Worrying and Enjoy Christmas Mitch Benn 125
How to Decorate the Outside of Your House with Lights and Not Have Your Neighbors Hate You: A Guide to Turning Your Home into a Festive Something That Is So Bright It Can Be Seen from Space Jon Holmes 133
How to Escape from Christmas Andrew Mueller 139
Gifts for the Godless Jennifer McCreight 147
Philosophy
If God Existed, Would He Have a Sense of Humor" Charlie Brooker 155
Unsilent Night Hermione Eyre 159
Imagine There's a Heaven David Stubbs 165
A Happy Christmas A.C. Grayling 171
Beloved Buzzkill Allison Kilkenny 177
Stay Away from My Goddamn Presents Jamie Kilstein 185
The First Honest Christmas Round-Robin Letter Julian Baggini 191
There Are No Atheists in the White House Paul Krassner 195
Arts
An Atheist at the Movies David Baddiel Arvind Ethan David 205
A Christmas Album Simon Price 213
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree Natalie Haynes 219
God Isn't Real Robbie Fulks 225
The Godless Concerts Robin Ince 233
Events
God Trumps Christina Martin 241
Designing the Atheist Bus Campaign Graham Nunn 249
The Little Atoms Radio Show Neil Denny 257
James Randi: The Real Santa Claus Sid Rodrigues 265
A Day in the Life of a Godless Magazine Caspar Melville Paul Sims 273
Front Line in the War on Christmas Andrew Shaffer 279
Contributor Biographies 287
About the Editors 305
Secular Resources 307
