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...

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.

(OP here). Yes. I believe that he was "born" (your word, not mine as not to offend anyone) and that he was a great teacher and had an enormous impact on the way a lot of people think. Why is it wrong to observe this? Please explain, how is the "giving of gifts" (again, your words) religiously significant?

Jesus was the one (or one of a very few) religious leader who was not in it for the money or the chicks. And something clearly happened after his execution that resulted in 12 other men (who were nowhere near the trial or execution) spending the rest of their lives preaching at the risk of certain excruciating death.

Christmas can be quite secular with the whole Santa, shopping, decor and food. There are also tons of carols that don't mention Jesus once. I see no conflict, it's a great holiday!

We are atheist and celebrate Christmas. We celebrate it as a time to be with family and give to others. You would never know we are Atheists by looking at our house. We hang wreaths, have a tree, a nativity scene that at times has had a mennorah in it courtesy of my dd. We get gifts in stockings, but have never made a big deal out of Santa. My dd has always known the presents were from us. We attend our neighbor's church holiday concert, my dd participates in the holiday program at school, we bake gingerbread, and this year she is old enough to volunteer to lay wreaths at Arlington. It's a very festive time of year for us, it's just not about the birth of a savior.

We celebrate it like we do Thanksgiving, family time, special meals, friends, etc... add to it some presents and the Christmas decor. We don't go to church, there's no nativity scene here, we send peace on earth holiday cards, we stick to reindeer and snow men as decor, a few santas, stars, no angels. Try to avoid the overly religious Christmas songs or go with musical versions.

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.

I'm not the OP. Why is it inconsistent? I believe there is no supreme being, not that there should be no gift-swapping on 12/25.

I also see the OPs point in appreciating Jesus and his hippie teachings, even if we don't accept the son of god bit as fact.

Anonymous wrote:^^^^
pp here .. p.s., I am very spiritual but in no way that has anything to do with any organized religion or any belief in any particular supreme being, or even the existence of one (or more)...

Snort

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.

I'm an atheist and celebrate Christmas. I don't go to Mass or recite Bible verses, but I like to get together with my family, swap gifts and share a nice meal.

Yes. Good excuse to shop with lots of sales before/after. So we celebrate Amex

I am agnostic -- I just don't know if there is a God or not.

I do celebrate Christmas as family time, meals, Jingle Bells, and all that.

^^^^
pp here .. p.s., I am very spiritual but in no way that has anything to do with any organized religion or any belief in any particular supreme being, or even the existence of one (or more)...

I don't.

It's a day off from work, that's nice. I enjoy it. No church, no temple, just another day living by the golden rule and making deposits in the karma bank, according to Marx (Groucho, Harpo and Karl - "religion is the opiate of the masses.").

;-o

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).