Sarah Palin. Photo courtesy David Shankbone via Wikimedia Commons.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… for celebrities to roll out Christmas-themed items timed to cash in on America’s obsession with eggnog and twinkling lights.

Among those competing for a spot beneath the tree this year, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin—rarely one to miss an opportunity to jump into the fray—has recently released a book called Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas.

And who exactly is she “protecting the heart of Christmas” from? Atheists are near the top of the list, apparently.

Alongside a few of her favorite recipes, Palin dedicates some of Good Tidings and Great Joy‘s word count to making untenable claims about atheists, such as this gem:

“The logical result of atheism, a result we have seen right in front of our eyes in one of the world’s oldest and proudest nations, is severe moral decay.”

Now I acknowledge that some of you may be asking: Should we care what Palin has to say about nontheists? If not yet a black hole, her star has faded in the last few years. Aren’t pieces like this just giving her the attention she needs in order to remain culturally relevant in the United States?

Perhaps so, but I consider her comments about atheists a teachable moment. Palin’s words are not as far out there as we might like to think. While some may dismiss her anti-atheist comments as extreme or out of the ordinary, they’re actually reflective of an underlying anti-atheist bias in many communities. In fact, implying that atheists are immoral is par for the course in many circles. Her words are an opportunity for all of us to recognize that anti-atheist bias exists, and that expressions of it should be met with condemnation.

But aside from seeing this as a teachable moment more broadly, I also believe that Palin herself deserves the opportunity to learn and grow. I do not interpret her comments about atheism as hateful. Rather, I consider them ignorant and uninformed. Reading them, I can’t help but wonder if Palin actually knows any atheists. (Or, at least, knows that she knows any.)

Unfamiliarity may breed, or at least sustain, widespread suspicion and distrust about atheists. But building relationships can transform people’s opinions about atheists.

If she knew more atheists, perhaps Palin wouldn’t be so comfortable making a sweeping claim that the “logical result of atheism… is severe moral decay.”

Thus, I’d like to extend an invitation to the former Alaskan governor: The next time you’re in Massachusetts, please consider yourself warmly welcome at our Humanist community center. A vibrant community of atheists, agnostics, and the nonreligious gathers there regularly to, among other things, strive to live out our Humanist values and serve our fellow human beings. For example, less than a month ago we organized an event that brought together hundreds of both religious and nonreligious people to raise $12,500 and pack 50,000 meals for food insecure children. I can promise, Gov. Palin, that you would be welcome to put down your microphone and pitch in at one of our monthly service projects if you’d like. Perhaps you could donate some of the royalties from your latest book to help us pack even more meals next time.

From someone with an accent (Minnesotan) that often elicits comments about Palin, I hope that she will accept my invitation and come get to know some of the amazing members of our nonreligious community. Perhaps then she will reconsider her illogical conclusion about atheists.