Do Atheists celebrate Christmas?

Sure!

Christmas was never genuinely a Christian invention...it was actually adopted and re-adapted from the Pagans (but of course, atheists aren't pagans either).

The fact remains however that the root of it's place as a day of significance allows it open to people of all faiths. There is no doubt however that is has very much become a Christian celebration, and is very much a part of our culture.

As an atheist, I love Christmas. I don't believe in the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, but I don't need to. Most of his teachings were astoundingly wise, and very much ahead of his time. If nothing else, the resulting "spirit" of the holiday merits its celebration in my book.

I also love the change I see in people during this time. It is the only time that I can count on Christians being kind and respectful, and this seems to reverberate among everybody else, bringing a sense of "peace" that offers a much-needed respite from the chaos of the rest of the year.

I also like what it does for the children. This alone makes it worth celebrating. We string them along in an adult world often oblivious to their wishes, and Christmas is one time in a whole year that we can almost universally devote to their happiness. They deserve it.

The pretty lights and colorful patterns don't hurt either!

Comments

I hate to correct you but Christmas is and always was a Christian invention. It is the day that was chosen that is the issue.
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by peterpam on November 30th, 2009
Excellent answer, Stepper.
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by maisteri on November 30th, 2009
Respectfully, that isn't entirely true. I assume you are referring exclusively to the winter solstice celebrated by the Romans, which quite correctly was NOT celebrated on the 25th of December. But the modern celebration of Christmas also owes it's existence to the feast of the son of Isis by the Babylonians, and it where the traditions of dining with friends and family, and gift-giving originated. When Europe began to explode in population as a result or large-scale migration, these Mediterranean practices were combined with those of the norther European celebration of Yule (their "winter solstice"), and introduced symbols like holly, and mistletoe, as well as the practice of lighting candles.
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by Stepper on November 30th, 2009
Isis never had any reckoning in the minds of them that celebrated Christmas the just happened to take the day in order to replace what they disbelieved and replace it for what they did believe in. The same thing is happening today in the UK with Halloween. Because evangelicals do not agree with it they are having light parties as a replacemant. That is just as misguided as the original Christmas intentions. As a Christian I would much rather cellebrate a winter holiday than what Christmas has become.If all of that makes sense.
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by peterpam on November 30th, 2009
I agree with you from your standpoint at least. I was a Christian for much of my life, and there was much about the modern celebration of Christmas that I detested from my religious standpoint...mainly the fact that it became too commercialized and distracted people from the "miracle" of Jesus birth. I now realize (or "believe" as you'd probably rather me say) that this "unnecessary deification" (respect to your views of course) is actually more of a distraction from the message of this man.
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by Stepper on November 30th, 2009
With respect to your first sentence however, there was a bit more going on. As I stated originally, Christians adopted more than the day itself from the Pagans, but many of the customs. The day was actually selected for an even more specific reason...it was to make the transition to Christianity as easy for the Pagans as possible, given that they were already celebrating around this time. As long as they got to keep their feasts, many were quite happy to make the switch.
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by Stepper on November 30th, 2009
There is nothing about how we celebrate Christmas that speaks of the work of Jesus. It is all really sentimental nonsense. But along with you I thoroughly enjoy the holiday for what it is.
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by peterpam on November 30th, 2009
I agree that they took on the celebration and imposed Christ on it. But that does not make it not a genuinely christian invention. It was supposed to be about nothing but the birth of Christ. It was totally misguided as there is no evidence in scripture that we celebrate His birth. It is His death that we ought to celebrate but not with candles and baubles but bread and wine.
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by peterpam on November 30th, 2009
Regardless of the foundations however (and as you alluded to with the Halloween issue across the pond), There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Christmas today is a Christian celebration, and its roots are really little more than a historical curiosity to me. I've been loosely following the Halloween "controversy" by the way. There is a slightly similar phenomenon over here, but of course the difference in demographics between our countries makes things much more "interesting" (if I may use that word) over there.
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by Stepper on November 30th, 2009
I agree with you mostly but it would be more acceptable to call Christmas a christianized celebration because it really has nothing to do with biblical Christianity. I hope you have a very merry christmas and that we have many further discussions!
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by peterpam on November 30th, 2009
And you as well peterpam! :-)
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by Stepper on November 30th, 2009

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Do Atheists celebrate Christmas?

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