In a mall in Madison, Wisconsin, five-year-old Virginia hops up on the lap of Atheist Santa, the jolly old elf from the reality-based community.

Atheist Santa reached into his bag and handed Virginia a copy of Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion, adorned with a green and red bow and a sprig of mistletoe.

Atheist Santa: "Ho-Ho-Ho little girl. Merry Christmas! What do you want for atheist Christmas?"

Virginia: "Actually Atheist Santa, I just want an explanation. My friends told me that atheists say that everything in the world came from nothing? Is that really true?"

"Well, yes dear, of course everything came from nothing. Atheist Scientists have proved that. My elf Larry Krause even wrote a book about it." Atheist Santa rummaged through his bag, but apparently he had given the previous child the last copy of the book.

Virginia was perplexed. "If everything came from nothing, did my Christmas gifts come from nothing?"

Atheist Santa laughed a big ho-ho-ho laugh. "Well, dear, it’s not true your Christmas gifts came from nothing. Your dolly and your dollhouse and your new bicycle are beautiful and have delicate wonderful parts that work together in an amazing way. Someone obviously made them."

"Do you mean elves at Atheist Santa’s workshop at the North Pole made them?"

Virginia’s parents, whose mood darkened when they saw the Dawkins book, glared at Atheist Santa, and held their index fingers to their lips.

Atheist Santa squinted. "Perhaps dear. My elves do so many wonderful things. But there’s no doubt that your gifts were made by someone. They are very pretty gifts, made with great care. Do you want to know a secret?"

Virginia’s eyes lit. "Yes, please Atheist Santa, tell me."

"Your Christmas gifts, Virginia, were made by someone who loves you. "

Virginia smiled. "I knew that, Atheist Santa. I knew that my gifts didn’t come from nowhere. They were made by someone, out of love."

Atheist Santa hugged Virginia, and she slid off his lap: "Beautiful gifts don’t just come from nothing, Virginia. They’re always made with love, and made by someone. What’s the most beautiful Christmas gift are you expecting this year?"

"A baby brother."

Image credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District/Flickr.