My Secular Christmas December 28, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Atheism, Politics, Religion.trackback
Christmas time can be very interesting for someone who doesn’t believe in God. Every year the media reports on the so-called “War on Christmas,” where secular, Muslim, and Jewish elements fight with Christians over religious displays in the public square. We wait with baited breath to find out if Wal Mart employees with wish us “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas.” As a progressive and an atheist I am inherently uncomfortable with Christians shoving Christmas down the throat of the entire nation, but as someone who celebrates a secular Christmas, this debate is not all that interesting to me.
I am more interested in, and comforted by, the overwhelming secularization of the holiday I see in my daily life. To the average person I know, Christmas is about spending time with your family and exchanging gifts. I do not see an emphasis on celebrating the birth of Jesus. Many people I know attend church, and do so on Christmas Eve, but that does not seem to be the focus of their holiday observance. Ask someone what he or she did for Christmas; they will tell you what family they saw, what parties they went to, and what gifts they gave and received, I doubt you will hear about how they celebrated their belief in the birth of Jesus.
As a atheist I wish people “Merry Christmas,” I go to parties, I exchange gifts, I even went to church. I feel comfortable celebrating the modern American Christmas. Let’s face it, this holiday is about parties, Santa Clause, friends and family, the arrival of winter, and buying gifts. I’m okay with that.
All of the Catholics in my town take the religious implications of Christmas very seriously. It seems very old fashioned and foolish to me that people in this day in age would display such strong emotions for a man who lived 2,000 years ago (especially when they don’t observe many of the commandments He set forth for His acolytes). I rarely meet Christians I respect. Most of them are filled with hate and they have a sick way of interpreting the Old and New Testament to justify their own beliefs (which often are contradictory to the teachings of Jesus and have more to do with modern politics than anything else).
You are right that Christmas should be about family, gift giving and receiving and about taking a break from work and celebrating the winter solstice. We should throw Jesus out of the whole Christmas celebration, because let’s face it, most people probably think it’s a joke to worship a baby who was born 2,000 years ago. Worshipping a dog who lived during the 1970s would make about as much sense.
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