I just saw Santa. He drove right by my house, in a fire engine, with sirens blaring, giving candy out to children. No religion, just Santa and candy.Two young Hindu kids across the street came out to wave to Santa and get some candy. They squealed and cheered at their new friend and ran back inside to their waiting parents. I saw this as the perfection of Christmas — a completely secular one, where everyone is positively affected and included, regardless of religious belief. Oh yeah… It’s called the Winter Solstice. It even says so in the Bible! Here’s one Bible passage that everyone should learn:Jeremiah 10:2-4: “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.” (KJV).Ho Ho Ho.
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Well, I finally made it!! I’m back in the fold and a full-fledged member! I finally was able to log in. Sometimes I think I know what I’m doing with computers and sometimes I think I’m a complete idiot!!
I am glad that the holiday most Americans observe at this time of year is a big mix of pagan/heathen/Christian/secular traditions. It’s kinda like the American people – a big mix of a lot of traditions, languages, cultures, etc. Maybe we could think of a national motto that would reflect that idea – hmmmm! Maybe something like, oh, I don’t know – E Pluribus Unum???
Today, thousands of people across the world helped keep Santa from being too dependent on Christianity:
http://santacon.com
Listen, I am new here and I do not want to ruffle any feathers… but being an Atheist and celebrating a holiday borne of religion seems like you do not fully embrace your belief system. It looks to me like my Atheist friends who celebrate Christmas are more Agnostic, or simply do not care. I’ve got 4 children and we not only do not celebrate christmas but they are aware there is no Santa. Wy teach your children more BS than is already out there?
Welcome aboard, atheistgoddess. Ruffle away. First Amendment spoken here.
Now, to practise what I just preached –
An atheist embracing a belief system seems to me like an oxymoron. And the Santa Claus tradition has evolved a long, long way from its religious origin in the tale of St. Nicholas. As Dave pointed out, it’s a secular activity that anybody can share.
It’s still BS, of course. Santa is an imaginary supernatural critter just like the X Child. But not all BS is bad. Everybody likes to indulge in a little fantasy once in a while, and I don’t think there’s any harm in it as long as we don’t take it too seriously. I look forward to the time when the whole Nativity shtick, the Resurrection, and all the rest will just be a pleasant children’s game like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Why not celebrate Christmas?
Trees and gifts can be fun. You don’t have to teach Christian beliefs to enjoy the holiday. Call it a Winter Celebration instead of Christmas if the name is an issue for you.
You don’t have to include Santa but isn’t it fun? As the kids get older they can Play Santa for the younger kids.
Imagination is not always BS and I encourge my son to use his imagination every chance he gets.
We enjoy Easter as well and could care less about the Holy Zombie aspect of it but decoration eggs and eating candy is fun. It’s a celebration of life, fertility and the passing of Winter.
Remember, a lot of the Holy Holidays come from Pagan roots. Look for the roots.
i too am new here and it was not easy getting logged on.
i don’t get too hung up on christmas (xmas, because it pisses people off). i have kids and they love it so whatever makes them happy is good with me.
they’re too young to give a hoot about god and they’re just about done with santa, but presents they like. they go to church, as i want them to, and will be encouraged to learn and be open minded and decided for themselves. an idea that never occured to my roman catholic upbringing.
peace.
atheistgoddess,
I like the way you think. Welcome.
I catch hell from my in-laws for not celebrating Christian Hollidays, so I like to point out that they do not participate in Jewish or Muslim Hollidays, but I believe the point is lost on them.
John,
Also welcome.
I’ve been here for a while, and that seems to be the rule and not the exception.
This was my M.O. when my kids were younger and my wife was still here, but now that it is just my son and I, I left it up to him, and he was completely uninterested. Of course he will still get a few gifts so he doesn’t feel left out when all his friends have a bunch of shiny new things, but it will all be very unceremonious.
Christmas is so flamingly secular, I have no qualms whatsoever about embracing it. What’s religious about buying a bunch of stuff our friends and family don’t need or want, telling tall tales about Santa, flying reindeer, and elves, and eating sugar until we’re comatose? The only religious remnant is the name itself, and I’ve never been one to get (too) caught up in semantics. The wonderful thing about our country is that we are free to celebrate our national holidays any way we see fit.
Not that there aren’t quite a few people in your country who would like to make you celebrate holidays the way they see fit. The two Bills and all their followers, for a start.
The US will be a better place when it reaches the levels of religiousity found in Canada, or better still, many European countries. AA and this blog are helping, I think.
Homework: Find ways to use this article to get your child interested in science http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28238253/
Hi atheistgoddess and john – welcome!!
AG: I second the comment made by NotSoFast. As atheists we usually say that we do not have ANY “belief system.” Also, the only thing we here on the blog (and all atheists in general, I suppose) have in common is that we do not think that any god or supernatural beings exist. Other than that, we are all individualists, who choose to celebrate holidays in many different ways.
Some of us who grew up in xian traditions still celebrate a secular-flavored xmas. Some of us with a Jewish background might celebrate Hanukkah and give gifts – again as a non-religious way to show our love to others.
Still others celebrate the Winter Solstice on Dec. 21, as a naturally occuring event, and many of us include old pagan traditions like decorating an evergreen tree, burning a yule log, and kissing under the mistletoe (my personal favorite!)
A lot of us do a mix of any of the above, or just ignore it completely. See how freeing it is to be an atheist??
john – hang in there with logging in, eventually you will be able to do it. Try to sign in as a new member.
Atheistgoddess,my family was very poor,and christmas was the one time of the year that I got anything in the way of a gift(my birthday is in July,we had a picnic).Also,it was a time for the family to get together and eat and play games,and it was a damn good time!My parents were not in the least religous,and the Jesus myth was never mentioned.I grew up ,married a former ca
tholic girl,who also disdains the myth,we had children,who have never been indoctrinated,and yet we still put up the tree,light the hell out of the joint,and play Dean Martin christmas tunes to the point of over-saturation.(I love Dean)I have no respect for religion whatsoever,but the season doesn’t represent Jesus’ birth to me,just good family fun,and whats more ,I’ve raised two kids who also enjoy a secular christmas.My point is,the holiday is nothing more than a fond childhood ritual.Also,I hesitate to mention,atheism is not in any way a belief system,nor do I take it on “faith”,nor is Charles Darwin my god,ok?
Chistmas is not anything christian. Maybe thats good. It creates an economic forecast for how bad things really are, and the forecast is bad. The really good years were the Clinton years, but the problem there is the NAFTA treaty. Mexican factories that compete with ours can dump their waste into a river the way we did until the Hudson river caught fire. It will catch up to them, but not until our jobs are gone. Bush thinks we can compete on a global scale with third world countrie but the problem is that we are like every other country , we have white collar thinkers and people who have chosen to, or were thrust into manual labor, and when manual labor is shipped overseas, there will only be white collar thinkers making a profit within our borders. And if anyone thinks that we have the monopoly on brainpower and education, you should take a look at student viisas issued and how we, for almost free, gave away our entire legacy of proprietary industrial secrets to foreign students. I will say the American dream is over, and the middle class has been sold down the river, and you may scoff, but just pull up a chair in front of CNN and watch it unfold. I’ve seen it coming for more than two years, the poverty imported from third world countries though free trade. It was inevitable. American businesses with EPA, OSHA. labor unions, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, social security employer co pay, medicare. Then they are supposed to compete with China that had to shut down hundreds of factories and park millions of cars in order to keep from poisoning the tourists during the olympics???????? American business, and American labor cannot compete under such uneven circumstances. But, rich people do keep on getting richer selling us Chinese shit when we can’t afford to buy anything else. We have been sold down the river. The middle class has been betrayed. We built this country, and we made all those rich people who they are.
They bail out the banks no strings attached, but they will not bail out the homeowner, nor the working people of the manufacturing sector. Which patriot could have seen it coming?
NeoWolfe
It might be good to include the next vs of Jeremiah:
Jer 10:6 There is no one like you, O Lord; you are great and your name is great in power.
Jer 10:7 Who would not have fear of you, O King of the nations? for it is your right: for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
Jer 10:8 But they are together like beasts and foolish: the teaching of false gods is wood.
Jer 10:9 Silver hammered into plates is sent from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the expert workman and of the hands of the gold-worker; blue and purple is their clothing, all the work of expert men.
Jer 10:10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and an eternal king: when he is angry, the earth is shaking with fear, and the nations give way before his wrath.
Jer 10:11 This is what you are to say to them: The gods who have not made the heavens and the earth will be cut off from the earth and from under the heavens.
Christianity is growing at a rate that has not been seen ever in the past. The Asian and South American communities will soon be sending missionaries to the USA.
Being an Atheist is in fact a belief system. It simply is in the minority but it’s no different than the many other minority belief systems. If any of these non-Christian belief systems wants to lock on to some past traditional celebration around December or make up a new one so be it. Go for it. Why attack the Christian holiday? The negative comments that are made about Christmas have actual brought more positive attention to Christ and His message.
Well, you got me there. I now have no choice but to accept Jesus as my lord and saviour. Thanks, I can’t tell you what a load has been taken off my shoulders.
Just one thing. Could you explain to me how the stars could fall to earth; that’s the only thing that I don’t get. Thanks.