Atheists/Agnostics- do you celebrate Christmas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious here. I consider myself an atheist, but I have no problem celebrating Christmas. I see it as commemorating the birth of a very influential "person" (I put that in quotes so as not to offend anyone), same as I would for MLK Jr's birthday- albeit very different types of "celebrations". We take the kids to my parents' church (Unitarian) on Christmas Eve, mainly to spend family time together (and the kids enjoy it).

So, I'm confused. You don't believe in God, but you believe Jesus Christ was born and his presence on this Earth merits your active participation in rituals that are religiously significant (giving of gifts, etc) that relate to his birth?

Say what?

An athiest shouldn't celebrate Christmas. It's fundamentally inconsistent with your belief system.

NP here. I don't really think its anone's business to tell anyone else how to behave, what to celebrate, or what to do. (Catholic here.) How about we each celebrate what we want to celebrate and believe what we want to believe and leave others alone.

[Anonymous]

You are all thinking way, way, way too hard about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ; if you don't believe in Christ, how can you celebrate Christmas?

I see that you could exchange gifts, etc. like other people at this time of the year, but I don't like to hear people say they celebrate "Christmas" unless they believe in the whole true meaning of it.

Flame away, I don't care...

Not really. Christmas as you know it is actually Catholic propaganda. Religious scholars have posited that Christ was actually born around September/October based on biblical study. The relocation of the celebration of Christ's birth to December 25th occurred somewhere in the 3rd or 4th century AD and was done in order to convert pagans from Winter Solstice celebrations to a Christian celebration. The Catholic church specifically targeted late December because of the winter solstice on December 22.

So, the concept that this is only a commemoration of Jesus Christ's birth is a deception perpetuated by the Roman Catholic church.

That said, because of the major hoopla and commercialization, Christmas has become not only a religious event, but also a secular one. Most of the traditions that are associated with the holiday derive from paganism: Fir trees used as Christmas trees were first used in the 7th and 8th centuries. The fir trees are very symbolic in Druidism and natural paganism. Holly was used traditionally to ward off witches and were used to keep witches from Christian celebrations. Mistletoe is tied to both Druidism and Scandinavian mythology. It is symbolic of male essence, romance and fertility. And many more. The Catholic church took symbols from paganism to help lure and convert unbelievers to the Christian church. Santa Claus (St. Nicholas), elves, reindeer and the majority of the current symbols of Christmas do not derive any roots from the religious aspects of Christmas.

In any event, for the last couple of centuries, Christmas has become a secular holiday as well as a religious one. Celebrating the traditions of Christmas is like shooting fireworks on Independence Day (or Guy Fawkes Day for Brits), the big turkey feast for Thanksgiving or trick or treating and costumes for Halloween.

Considering that the church was originally trying to convert nonbelievers to Christianity by creating Christmas as a holiday, I find it especially ironic that so many "devout" Christians nowadays want others to ONLY celebrate it religiously and not secularly.