I've made no secret of my love of Christian artifacts, the tackier the better. And while I don't celebrate Christmas, the sight of this tree is almost more than I can stand. I can picture it in the corner of my main room, covered with tacky plastic Jesus ornaments. Good thing I don't have a spare $400 at the moment.



H/T to Godless Girl, and if I lose all control and put one of these on the credit card, it is all your fault.

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Speaking of myths, the mythic "war on Christmas" has been in full swing for some time. I am only now allowing myself to acknowledge how much I have missed it. Not only is it an excellent reminder of the ease with which people can be manipulated (e.g., donating money to Christian extremist groups out of fear of evil atheists), but it shows the lengths which some will go to preserve their image of being persecuted even when they are the persecutors. But most of all, I am reminded that Christian privilege is alive and well in America.

Atheism and skepticism are not synonymous. One can be an atheist and not a skeptic, and yes, one can be a skeptic without being an atheist. However, this last part requires some explanation. One can be a skeptic without being an atheist to the extent that one compartmentalizes one's skepticism.

Compartmentalization is how some excellent scientists permit themselves to be religious believers. They make the decision to restrict their application of the scientific method to matters other than religion. It works the same way with skepticism. One can decide to be skeptical in some matters and not others.