Neil deGrasse Tyson Defends 'Anti-Christian' Christmas Tweet

Famed atheist Neil deGrasse Tyson is defending himself after some people argue a tweet he shared on Christmas Day was "anti-Christian."

Tyson, an astrophysicist and host of the hit science program "Cosmos," tweeted on December 25, Christmas Day: "On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642."

Some on Twitter accused Tyson as being anti-Christian through his tweet, arguing that the scientist replaced Jesus's birthday with the birthday of a well-known scientist.

Tyson then took to Twitter to defend himself, tweeting on December 26: "Imagine a world in which we are all enlightened by objective truths rather than offended by them."

The well-known astrophysicist then defended himself further in a Facebook post, writing: "Well. It's official. Far and away my most re-tweeted tweet appeared Christmas day."

"My sense in this case is that the high rate of re-tweeting, is not to share my enthusiasm of this fact, but is driven by accusations that the tweet is somehow anti-Christian. If a person actually wanted to express anti-Christian sentiment, my guess is that alerting people of Isaac Newton's birthday would appear nowhere on the list," Tyson added. 

Tyson also tweeted other controversial messages on Christmas Day, writing: "Merry Christmas to all. A Pagan holiday (BC) becomes a Religious holiday (AD). Which then becomes a Shopping holiday (USA)."

"QUESTION: This year, what do all the world's Muslims and Jews call December 25th? ANSWER: Thursday," Tyson added.