Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if you are atheist, or something, you celebrate in a more secular way--on Christmas Santa brings toys, you get together with family for a big dinner, etc.

Or if you are a different religion, and do not feel it is appropriate to do things like Santa, big family dinner, etc. what do you do? If you work in an industry that still needs to operate on Christmas (hospital, police/fire department, etc.) do you volunteer to work on those days? Does your job pay a premium holiday rate for those shifts?

The hell is this nonsense? Either you believe or you don't. If you're doing some "secular" version of a religious holiday, you are a confused individual and you are passing along your weak constitution to your children.

Secular versions of holidays are the BEST!

Really? They strike me as a hollow acknowledgement that the rejection of faith isn't exactly confident... I mean, I love a good party, don't get me wrong. But, maybe these people are just followers in general and lacking in their convictions? I don't know how else to explain it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if you are atheist, or something, you celebrate in a more secular way--on Christmas Santa brings toys, you get together with family for a big dinner, etc.

Or if you are a different religion, and do not feel it is appropriate to do things like Santa, big family dinner, etc. what do you do? If you work in an industry that still needs to operate on Christmas (hospital, police/fire department, etc.) do you volunteer to work on those days? Does your job pay a premium holiday rate for those shifts?

The hell is this nonsense? Either you believe or you don't. If you're doing some "secular" version of a religious holiday, you are a confused individual and you are passing along your weak constitution to your children.

Secular versions of holidays are the BEST!

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if you are atheist, or something, you celebrate in a more secular way--on Christmas Santa brings toys, you get together with family for a big dinner, etc.

Or if you are a different religion, and do not feel it is appropriate to do things like Santa, big family dinner, etc. what do you do? If you work in an industry that still needs to operate on Christmas (hospital, police/fire department, etc.) do you volunteer to work on those days? Does your job pay a premium holiday rate for those shifts?

The hell is this nonsense? Either you believe or you don't. If you're doing some "secular" version of a religious holiday, you are a confused individual and you are passing along your weak constitution to your children.

Atheist, ex-Muslim checking in.

I don't so much "resent" Christmas & Easter, so much as them being the norm, and expected that you celebrate those holidays. Echoing those for businesses that are closed - I honestly don't mind working on Christian holidays, and would rather use those days off elsewhere throughout the year.

I admit I find it weird that we often talk of the US being a secular country, but it's so, so, so far from that - there is definitely not equal treatment when it comes to respecting the varying religiosity of our citizens.

I have no trouble accepting Christmas, but wish it were not 24-7 for such a long time before, even on classical music radio.

Honestly, sometimes I feel bad for my friends who run themselves ragged prepping for these holidays that seem to take so much "infrastructure"! Trees, gifts, eggs, decorations, special outfits for the whole family.... It sounds exhausting! On Christmas we sleep in and spend the day together as a family, going to the movies and eating Chinese food like good Jews. Easter we usually do a hike and picnic but since it's crappy today I think we will do the movies again. No expensive and time consuming prep work, no cleanup, but still good family time. I respect that it can be fun to do "big" holidays but I definitely do not in any way resent people who choose to do that.

NP here. I'm atheist, was raised Jewish. We had Christian family so usually celebrated the secular aspects of Christmas. I do resent the "war on Christmas." As a pretty liberal woman, I resent that the same group (and I imagine it's the righty extremists, not ALL Christians) tries to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of us and then has the audacity to turn around and claim that in fact, they are being persecuted because not enough people say "Merry Christmas," and there is not enough Christmas in public schools or other public spaces.

meant to say we respect all religions.

Muslim here that is born and raised in the U.S.

I do not resent them at all! In fact I celebrate them all....I have young kids that get excited about that all and we are off of work anyway so why not join in on the festivities.
The only thing is it does make me sad that there our own holidays are not as festive. They are in the M.E but not in the U.S.
We do obviously do not do anything religious for these holidays but for us the gifts is a commercial thing in America and the Easter bunny represents the celebration of spring. We are an open minded family that respects all families and that we are all under one God. Does not harm anyone to join in the festivities, does it?

I'm Jewish, and, no I don't think I resent the Christian holidays at all.

I think, sometimes, that just nonparticipation can start to look like resentment when you are talking about a holiday that the vast majority celebrates. Sometimes just quietly "opting out," which, I promise, I'd much rather make as little fuss about as possible, can become a bigger deal than it needs to be.

As a nonbeliever in the religion, for me (I'm not speaking for all Jews), there's not a huge distinction between the religious and secular aspects to the holiday. So, while, I'm happy the vast majority of the time to participate in other people's celebrations, there are parts that I may not want to participate in or have my kids participate in. The best example I can think of from here was a thread a few years ago about some Jewish parents who felt uncomfortable dressing up their child in red and green for a daycare photo. I haven't been in that exact situation, but there have been similar ones. I'd like to be able to just say "No, thank you" when it comes to opting out of holiday related activites without having to justify or defend. I think that's when it starts to look like resentment.

I guess for me personally, I have no issues with Christmas decorations, music, or even work and/or school celebrations. I just would like to be able to actually participate at my own comfort level.

There are also a few (thank goodness) people in my life who like to make a statement about the "War on Christmas." I've had people say to me at work something along the lines of "Merry Christmas, and I know it's not PC, but I'm going to say it to you anyway." For the past 30 years, I've been happily replying "Merry Christmas" to people that say that and "You too" to " Happy Holidays." Again, it just feels like in the last 5 years my holiday greeting has to "make a statement." So I will admit to resentment about the "War against the War on Christmas"

Anonymous wrote:I'm Jewish and I always wanted a Chocolate Easter bunny but that's about the only part I've ever coveted or resented.

They'll all be 50% off on Monday. The key is to eat the ears first.

No.

I was raised Jewish in a small town where we were one of the only Jewish families. It always was an honor to be invited to our Catholic friend's houses for Christmas Eve or Easter brunch. Never felt any resentment at all, actually enjoyed and looked forward to being included and learning about other religions.

I occasionally get annoyed at hearing Christmas music starting as early as Halloween (seriously), but then again it's lovely music, so not a big deal. I don't resent the holidays at all. Though I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to live in Israel and be celebrating at the same time as the whole nation.

I am also a fed so the holiday days aren't a problem, but I always make sure I am in the office during the days before and after the holidays, so my co-workers can take extra time off if they want to. A lot of them tend to travel and need the extra days, and I am happy to cover for them. They do the same for me when the High Holidays and Passover come around.

I am Christian and an active church goer. For me Christmas and Easter can be exhausting, with all the extra church services and meals and visiting family and friends. I'd love to have days off for other religions' holy days so I could have a real day off!