How The Atheist Christmas Album Came to Be.
Musician/composer TyLean Tuijl had “Christmas Album” on her to-do list for many years. Being an avant-garde artist, a Christmas album was something she could create that wouldn’t leave her family and friends – and in particular, her mother – at a loss for words. However, being someone who spent most of her life as a Pagan or Atheist (in alternating fashion) and anti-consumer, the subjects of most Christmas songs were wholly unpalatable.
The anti-consumer, traditional-values message of the album was the controversy, not the Atheism!
In 2016, TyLean knew that the time to make this Christmas album was running out. She knew her mother didn’t have many Christmases left. Furthermore, she had her own children whose influences were being carefully curated in the face of a dearth of acceptable cultural replacements. A de-Christened album was made with some quibble over whether to call it The Secular Christmas Album or The Atheist Christmas Album. It was released under both titles, but only The Atheist Christmas Album was pressed as CDs.
The promotional phase of The Atheist Christmas Album was a spiritual journey unto itself. TyLean expected controversy, and there was, but it was not the controversy she expected. The opposition she received was not so much for the Atheism, indeed many Christians became the album’s biggest supporters, it was from those who believed that atheism and traditional feeling carols were not compatible. It was from those who thought consumerism was a replacement for traditional family values, who thought that taking the Christ out of Christmas meant stripping Christmas of family, tradition and warm childhood memories that will last a lifetime, even though Christmas evolved from even earlier winter festivals before Christ was even born.
This album is for those who want a traditional Christmas. Warm fires, presents under the tree, children, family and a connection to all those who have gone before. Whatever your culture or creed, you can enjoy the music of the holiday without religious baggage, letting your children feel the Christmas spirit without pushing them into any spiritual belief system.
Everyone of any creed or culture is welcome to enjoy this album.
“The Atheist Christmas Album has been an eye-opening experience that challenged my own beliefs about cultural identity. There have been times I have wanted to abandon it completely, but my belief that you cannot disavow something you dislike in your culture without replacing it kept me going. The ideological drive behind this project has morphed over time to the point where I question the validity of any ideology. One thing has remained constant however: Everyone of any creed or culture is welcome to enjoy this album.” TyLean Tuijl