Atheists Celebrate Christmas

[astral]

Perhaps most interesting, Ecklund said, was that many atheist scientists take their children to religious services so that the kids can make up their own mind about God and spirituality.

I suppose this topic will be plucked and dumped into the religion category, but who's going to see it there?

With Christmas coming up, and this forum being pretty much dominated by the non-religious types, what are we all doing and why? I like the article pointing out that even atheists want their kids to find their own path. I have always found this season to be a depressing time of the year, as others probably do as well, so I'm not planning on even participating this year in doing anything to observe it. Maybe next by next year I'll have found a different way.

[Jello Biafra]

1. We have a christmas tree in our living room with ornaments....

as a celebration of the pagan holiday. It's great to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

[VWolf]

4. Same here.

We have 7 and 11 year-old daughters, and we intend to let them make up their own minds. In the meantime, we enjoy learning about the pagan roots of the holiday. There's a rich history, and we learn something new every year.

[Sheepshank]

10. Would that the religious zealots in the this area considered the same freedoms

for their own children.

They are all for "free agency" until it means going in a different direction to the one they prescribe.

[msanthrope]

27. We have 6. Yes. 6 trees. Each with their own theme. nt

[Burma Jones]

2. Religion is Cultural

Atheists are part of the Culture

Christmas is Secular


The older I get, the less I want to elaborate.......

[qb]

8. I agree. I used to subscribe to the idea that "Merry Christmas" is offensive to me as an atheist.

However, I have given that up. Even in the protestant household of my childhood, Christmas was celebrated as a time to decorate the house, spend time with family, and exchange gifts. Nothing more. The reference to Jesus only happened at church.

My kids (who are also atheists) love Christmas. I could take it or leave it. I celebrate it for them.

[MurrayDelph]

16. No, saying "Merry Christmas" is not offensive (to me);

INSISTING on "Merry Christmas" is offensive.

There is a billboard on the highway a few towns over that has the message "Put the Christ back in Christmas"

I keep wanting to change it to "Put the Christ back in Christians"

[ensho]

3. I more or less had to do xmas when raising my kids because I had

2 families and a husband to fight against if I didn't.
I did the whole thing nicely, even had an xmas open house every year.


once I sent the 2 of them to a church summer school to see what they thought about it. they didn't want to go back after one time.

[MineralMan]

5. I'm an atheist. I have a tree in my living room, all decorated with

secular ornaments. Christmas, as a holiday, transcends Christianity. In fact, the very concept of the Yule holiday has pagan roots. It was usurped by European Christians long, long ago. It is the archetype of a celebration of the Winter Solstice, something that is physical in nature and was noted and celebrated regardless of religious beliefs. To celebrate the end of the shortening of daylight hours in the northern hemisphere is a natural thing. The evergreen tree is a great symbol for that.

As for parents who are atheists exposing their children to the dominant religion of the society, that's also a commonplace. My parents, both atheists, did that for their three children. Only one of those three is a self-described Christian. That one is most certainly not me.

[JoePhilly]

6. Atheist / Agnostic who loves Christmas checking in!!

I include the agnostic only because I can't prove the non-existence of God. I mean, there should be NOTHING. But there's not nothing. Not sure why.

Anyway, I love Christmas. We just put up our lights yesterday ... multi-colored light. Lot of them. I don't like the single candle in the window thing. Forget that ... lots of colored lights!!

Real tree. Lights on that too ... lots of eclectic, goofy, ornaments. For instance, one is Scooby-Doo on skis. A little basketball with eyes and a santa hat. And then lots of stuff the kids made, and wide variety of balls, all colors shapes sizes (don't like a tree with only one kind of ball, boring).

We get together with friends, trade presents ... eat too much candy.

One of our best friends is Jewish. She loves Christmas too. She gets a tree, decorates it ... she even found a few menorah ornaments. She does presents with us too.

We take a break from reality for a few days.

[TBF]

23. Love that -

we started putting up our gaudy lights yesterday but got rained out. It is my revenge on my husband for wanting us to live in the suburbs while the kids are young - I go to the Big Box stores and buy inflatable crap to decorate the yard - and lots of lights. It's awesome!

[RoccoR5955]

7. Some of us celebrate...

Festivus, for the rest of us. I have a Festivus pole, and have an airing of grievances, along with feats of strength on the day, though the miracles are few, and far between.

[Lyric]

9. I'm an atheist and I love Christmas.

I love the carols and the decorations, the food and the family time. I love the lights, the music, the stockings and the cookies. You don't have to be religious to appreciate the one time of the year when strangers on the street are more likely to be kind. You don't need to believe in Jesus to admire some of the beautiful music that's been written about his birth. I also love all the other winter holidays, like Hanukkah and Yule and Kwanzaa--all of them are about home and family and the celebration of kindness, in the end.

Life is so depressing and miserable most of the time. Christmas, to me, is more like a "Show Love to Everyone for Whatever Reason" holiday. We could use more holidays like that.

[OriginalGeek]

31. Everything I wanted to say right there except

gosh, I am not depressed and miserable most of the time.

Even as an atheist, I still get goosebumps and tear up a bit when I hear Charlotte Church's version of Oh Holy Night. Girl's got some damn pipes! And she just sounds honest when she sings it - I don't know if she believes it or not but she sure sounds sincere and sincere music gets me every time.

My favorite part is that I am at a point in my life where now I can take off the entire week between christmas and New Years and enjoy being with my wife and and daughter and visiting other family around town and outward.

Until 2 years ago my mom would visit from Texas and we had a great time during my week off. She was an independent, fundamentalist baptist and a children's evangelist who put on vacation bible schools around Texas and she hated that I wasn't close to god but none of that mattered at christmas. My mom was here and making me pies and laughing like when I was a kid. I miss her.

[Sheepshank]

11. Purely selfish here...but I love Christmas time and

I love all the stuff that goes with it. And forgive this purely selfish thought...but it makes me feel damn good when I can personally help those that want to make their own Christmas special too and it's falling a little flat. For some reason, the giving "feeling" seems to be magnified moreso at this time of the year.

[Bigmack]

12. What about Festivus... for the rest of us? nt

[lapislzi]

13. For us, it's about traditions

My husband and I are nonbelievers, and our kids (blended family) are a mix--one nonbeliever, one ardent believer, and a couple of undecideds.

But, I grew up in a German-Irish Catholic home rich with holiday traditions. I have two enormous boxes of priceless ornaments some of which date back to mid-19th century Bavaria. Some were acquired by my grandma and mom. Some I've purchased. I try to buy an ornament that represents every place I've visited. I have ornaments from four continents, and they give me great joy. Part of decorating the tree is reciting the stories surrounding the decorations. There are little notes from my grandma in the boxes and other bits of family memorabilia.

We sing carols secular and sacred, and Hanukkah songs, too, silly, serious, made up words and dances.

This is cherished family time, and I look forward to the day when I may pass these treasures on to my daughter.

You can enjoy a spiritual experience without paying homage to a supernatural (and, in my opinion, nonexistent) being.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. My teapublican neighbor thinks I am not allowed to have a christmas tree because I am a

godless heathen. :evilgrin:

[RagAss]

26. Hahahahaaa....as if it was a religious symbol !

Are the fundies getting stupider?

[immoderate]

15. I'm atheist, but I'll gladly participate in any religious observance where the food is good.

:hi:

--imm

[Marrah_G]

17. Christmas is, in reality a gathering of family and friends during the long winter nights

If you look to every cold weather culture you will find these celebrations centered around the Winter Solstice. It helped to give something to look forward to during long, cold, often isolating periods between harvests and plantings.

Christmas was placed at Winter Solstice time because quite frankly, it is easier to convert a population if you don't piss them off by taking away their Feast times.

[Capitalocracy]

19. That is precisely the reason... and there has been some contention over it in the church, too

There were times when it was strictly forbidden, then brought back essentially to boost their sales. Some sects still frown upon it.

[TBF]

21. Interesting comment and I agree completely.

Food, wine, and gifts make those long nights much more tolerable!

[Capitalocracy]

18. We do Christmas. Strange, isn't it?

It's been quite a while since I've done Thanksgiving, though, oddly enough, even though it's supposedly nonreligious. I live in another country now and I'm a vegetarian, but I was skipping Thanksgiving before I left Kansas.

[TBF]

20. I love Christmas too - more people are NICE this time of year!

I'm not really an atheist - more of an agnostic because I do think there is a spiritual side (and many things we don't understand), but I don't necessarily believe in folks floating around up in the clouds ...

We don't go to church regularly but I always take the kids at Christmas. Living in Texas it at least gives them an idea of what everyone else believes, and they certainly hear about God from their friends (I get asked enough odd questions). I agree with letting them make up their own minds as they mature since I don't have strong feelings about it. One thing I will say though is that I love church when I go, again, because people are nicer there. If only they kept that spirit with them when they walked out the door (I'm looking at you republican candidates running for president & some of the dems too ...)

[NYC Liberal]

22. I celebrate it more because it's tradition and almost all of my family does.

[Walk away]

24. I am a life long Atheist who loves Christmas.

I just love the whole thing. Just because I don't believe in god is no reason to give up such a great party! I "Happy Holidays" everybody and I'll shoot a "Merry Christmas" at my Italian neighbors. Who cares? It's fun. My house looks like Luna Park from all the lights. There are plenty of non christians in my neighborhood but even they put out "Let it Snow" decorations.

Once in a while someone puts up a "Keep God in Christmas" sign so this year we made a "Keep your Dog in Christmas" sign with little dogs chasing Santa!

Maybe I am wrong about this but I just have to go with it.

Don't forget to keep the Dog in Christmas...this might help....<http://youtu.be/b0WKMpBszSE>

[Greybnk48]

25. Another Atheist who loves Christmas!! I decorate every

square inch of the house including bathrooms and bedrooms. We play the music (well I do). And my kids, for years, went to midnight service at our 1st Congo, United Church of Christ to see the re-enactment of the birth of Jesus. We quite often knew the actors as Joseph and Mary were usually played by whoever in the congregation had the youngest baby.

My kids were/are free to decide. My oldest girl is now Jewish, but allows my grandson to celebrate Christmas with us. He loves it! My other two are not sure as yet, but they love Christmas too.

[SheilaT]

28. Most of what goes along with Christmas observance

in this country is secular. Santa Claus, the lights, the tree, the presents. I seem to recall that when I was a little girl, the nuns at the Catholic school I attended for kindergarten and first grade were down on Christmas trees, because they were pagan.

I love this time of year, driving home from work after dark and so many houses have lights. It's kind of depressing when they all get turned off at the first of the year.

[redqueen]

29. I'm an atheist who loves Christmas. Love pointing out the pagan roots, but...

I also like saying Merry Christmas, I like singing and playing Christmas songs, and I call it a Christmas tree. Christmas is my preferred cultural celebration and despite the pagan roots and my own lack of belief in a sky god, I don't shy from using the word "Christmas" in relation to my preferred cultural activities surrounding the winter solstice.

[LibertyLover]

30. I'm Pagan and I love Christmas -

my religious holy day is the Winter Solstice of course, but we celebrate Christmas as a family holiday. We are doing 4 trees this year. Our main tree in the living room is decorated with a wide variety of things, from family heirlooms over 100 years old to some origami that the kidlet whipped up yesterday. There is a 4 foot tree out on the front porch with what the industry now calls 'shatter-proof', aka plastic, decorations and lights. Then there is the 3 foot tree in the dining room with lots of very cute small decorations mostly from Hallmark. Finally, there is the 3 foot purple aluminum tree on the back porch with Baltimore Ravens decorations. It faces our neighbors' house. Their 14 year old daughter is a major Steelers fan. Bwa ha ha ha ha.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

32. I'm an agnostic who's in the process of putting up my outdoor lights as we speak

@#$%$#@$%&%$#!!!!!!!

I like spending time with my family with a nice dinner and gift giving, and I keep the religion out of it.

[me b zola]

33. I love this thread

Best of the holiday season to everyone :grouphug:

[Deep13]

34. I used to celebrate Christmas, but I stopped for reasons that have nothing to do with religion.

I always celebrated Christmas as a mostly secular holiday and my father's enthusiasm for it is what made it special. When he died in 1999, it was like Santa Claus had died. The holiday is just a reminder of loss now.

[Leontius]

37. I'm sorry that a day that should be for happiness and joy

brings you sadness instead. I understand how events and times we connect with lost loved ones can bring those feelings of sadness to us all.

[Iggo]

35. I participate.

[darkstar3]

36. Christmas, as observed today, is about as Christian as an Easter egg hunt.

[NMMNG]

38. Why is that interesting?

Perhaps most interesting, Ecklund said, was that many atheist scientists take their children to religious services so that the kids can make up their own mind about God and spirituality.


People seem surprised that atheists would expose their children to a variety of ideas and let them make up their own minds. The idea that atheists indoctrinate their children into atheism the way others indoctrinate theirs into religion, then rend their garments if the children stray, is false.

[MemeSmith]

39. Just as Sunday is no longer a celebration of the Sun...

Christmas is no longer solely a celebration of Christ.

If Christians can celebrate Jesus on a day named after the Sun 52 times a year, I can celebrate the Sun on a day named after Jesus just once.

Cheers,

MemeSmith