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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm an atheist who was raised Catholic. My entire family is Catholic. My DH was raised Catholic. My DH's family is Catholic.

Our families celebrate Christmas. We celebrate it, too. It's within our cultural heritage. We are secular Catholics, the way some people are secular Jews.

I don't see what's weird about it. [/quote]

It contradicts your commitment to atheism? That's what's weird. Atheists shouldn't celebrate the birth of a deity.[/quote]

[b]DH and I are atheists. Our children are not. They are being raised in a religion that they can decide to reject when they are older. I think religion gives a moral frame work to life. Atheism's philosophical frame work is harder to pass on to children. You have to want to be a nice person because there is no external factor like heaven or hell. So we do Christmas and take our kids to mass on Christmas Eve. We participate in a cultural ritual that we don't believe in because we, and more specifically our kids, are a part of society.[/quote][/b]

I agree that kids need a moral framework. What you do is fascinating. Do you take them to church every Sunday or only on Christmas Eve? [/quote]

We try to go once or twice a month. Why is this fascinating? [b]I assumed[/b] most people do this.[/quote]

That's your problem right there. Why do you think others are like you? No, this is really peculiar.[/quote]

I think atheism is too much for little kids. Do other atheist just tell their kids there is nothing? [/quote]

Yes. That is exactly what we told our kids. We are a fluke of the universe. We are as ephmeral as butterflies, and just as beautiful. There is nothing after death. There is no meaning to this life except what we make it, so you should work hard to make your life mean something beautiful or great or kind. They had an existential crisis getting their heads around it when they were very small, but they were over it by age 6 or 7.

BTW, we celebrate Christmas. My very Catholic parents insist on it. When DS#1 was two months old,  my mother bought a tree and ornaments and a creche and descended on my house with it.   She was leaving until we put it all up.

(She also DIY baptized the babies in the bathtub. She thinks I don't know, but she told my little brother.  Whatever. It made her feel better.)

[/quote]

The nice thing about having your own children is you can raise them the way you see fit. Although other posters have said I am a failure as a parent because I am raising them with a religion they are free to reject when they are older, I think you are free to make your own choice with your kids. I disliked your comment earlier that I am a failed parent for my choice.[/quote]

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