27 Nov 08
Originally posted by aardvarkhomeactually my Celtic cousin the questions were not directed towards Christians but to atheists, for it seems a little sad that they should be forced into something with religious connotations when professing none! or perhaps its just practicality!
Yes, of course. Why do christians celebrate christmas, derived as it is from prechristian festivals?
27 Nov 08
Originally posted by robbie carrobieHey robbie, take care wi dat flu🙂
hi it is just a simple question with no hidden agenda, but i could not find out if this was true or not, i just want to know if atheists celebrate Christmas and thanksgiving and other religious holidays, or if there are any atheistic celebrations, like i dunno, the repeal of blasphemy laws, or the initiating and implementation of the universal declar ...[text shortened]... really that much about religion anyway so probably you could get away with it
regards Robbie
Christmas is OK, got to mellow down easy -we have fun, we congregate, we enjoy some free time with the ones we love, we enjoy the holy spirit (from Glenlivet, that is, the other 's all yours my trustee feer!) whilst we 're waiting for Jan. 25 and another chance to let ole Cutty-Sarks rin in our hearties with a deck full of honest men and bonnie lasses
😵
27 Nov 08
Originally posted by robbie carrobieI go home over the Christmas holidays to visit my family as it is the longest school holiday for my son and my sisters children. It also includes a number of public holidays thus reducing the number of leave days I must apply for, and in the past the company closed down over the Christmas week anyway (even though most of the employees are Muslim).
hi it is just a simple question with no hidden agenda, but i could not find out if this was true or not, i just want to know if atheists celebrate Christmas and thanksgiving and other religious holidays, or if there are any atheistic celebrations, like i dunno, the repeal of blasphemy laws, or the initiating and implementation of the universal declar ...[text shortened]... really that much about religion anyway so probably you could get away with it
regards Robbie
I also give (and accept) presents on Christmas day. I do not go to Church though but the rest of my Christian family do.
My brother in law is Church of Christ and they do not believe in celebrating Christmas as a Christian holiday so they treat it as a traditional holiday presents and all.
So you see it is not just atheists that are affected by such holidays but also those of other religions and even Christians who think Christmas is unChristian.
Of course similar things apply to a countries public holidays, and traditional days.
Do you celebrate haloween?
27 Nov 08
Originally posted by robbie carrobieI certainly celebrate Christmas, I also celebrate every other day of the year. I adhere to the old adage "yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that's why it is called the present. The exuberance of living has no need to wait for a particular day. Just because I cannot accept the existence of God, does not give me the right to deny His Son a happy birthday, as long as I don't have to get an invitation to the party.
hi it is just a simple question with no hidden agenda, but i could not find out if this was true or not, i just want to know if atheists celebrate Christmas and thanksgiving and other religious holidays, or if there are any atheistic celebrations, like i dunno, the repeal of blasphemy laws, or the initiating and implementation of the universal declar ...[text shortened]... really that much about religion anyway so probably you could get away with it
regards Robbie
27 Nov 08
Originally posted by robbie carrobieCelebrating Christmas is different things to different people. I'm an atheist, have been from a reasonably young age. Only ever went to church with my religious extended family, and to be honest have always thought it was all a bit silly really. But that's simply my opinion. Anyway Christmas is celebrated in my house, none of us are religious, parents, brother. Its an excuse for us all to get to together eat turkey and brussel sprouts and get drunk. Mainly thought to us the whole holiday is a celebration of the end a year, good or bad, and the bringing in of the new year.
hi it is just a simple question with no hidden agenda, but i could not find out if this was true or not, i just want to know if atheists celebrate Christmas and thanksgiving and other religious holidays, or if there are any atheistic celebrations, like i dunno, the repeal of blasphemy laws, or the initiating and implementation of the universal declar ...[text shortened]... really that much about religion anyway so probably you could get away with it
regards Robbie
It may now be related to christian mythology, but as you said yourself it certainly has its roots in pre-christian religious mythology. But this doesn't make it a religious holiday. Or nearly every holiday would be religious, Easter has nothing to do with Christianity, Halloween, most of our bank holidays. They're all related to pre-christian celebrations, and prior to Christ they believed in all kinds of odd gods...... Thus of course any public celebrations would have been held in honor of a god, they had so many in some parts of the world, and they were truly fearful of them, believing that if they didn't honor them something bad would happen, so they dedicated festivals to them.
Celebrating the new year, or solstice, or whatever is a natural thing for people to do. Religious emphasis was placed these days true, but if the whole world was atheist, we'd probably still celebrate the end of the year, probably still have a day to honor missing friends etc. etc.
27 Nov 08
2 edits
Originally posted by robbie carrobieI cannot speak for other atheists because every person is different -obviously same would celebrate Christmas and some wouldn’t.
hi it is just a simple question with no hidden agenda, but i could not find out if this was true or not, i just want to know if atheists celebrate Christmas and thanksgiving and other religious holidays, or if there are any atheistic celebrations, like i dunno, the repeal of blasphemy laws, or the initiating and implementation of the universal declar ...[text shortened]... really that much about religion anyway so probably you could get away with it
regards Robbie
But, simply, I don’t. I celebrate nothing (I don’t like parties).
Obviously many atheists do celebrate Christmas even though they don’t believe there is a god -simply because many would like parties.
27 Nov 08
Originally posted by robbie carrobieYes, I celebrate Christmas. The holiday has been secularized to such an extent that I see no contradiction there. It is a time to celebrate family and togetherness, not Jesus. Who, I might add, was NOT born on December 25th. He wasn't assigned that birthday until the 5th century. That fact, coupled with Christmas' pagan roots, causes me to wonder why Christians celebrate it. And, of course, there are some who do not, for those very reasons.
hi it is just a simple question with no hidden agenda, but i could not find out if this was true or not, i just want to know if atheists celebrate Christmas and thanksgiving and other religious holidays, or if there are any atheistic celebrations, like i dunno, the repeal of blasphemy laws, or the initiating and implementation of the universal declar ...[text shortened]... really that much about religion anyway so probably you could get away with it
regards Robbie
Many atheists I know celebrate Darwin's birthday as 'Darwin Day.' You see, we actually know when he was born (February 12th). But Hallmark has yet to come out with a line of Darwin Day cards. I guess our nascent holiday has thus far been spared the rampant commercialization of yours.
Happy Holidays!
27 Nov 08
Originally posted by rwingettAnd Christians doesn't know what day Christ was born.
Many atheists I know celebrate Darwin's birthday as 'Darwin Day.' You see, we actually know when he was born (February 12th).
If he actually was born at 25th of december, why does the year 1 A.D start 7 days later, at January 1st?, and he was born at year 1 BC. This doesn't make sense.
Yes, I know why the arbitrary day of the 25th of december was chosen - it was a feast day of another religion that they took over, so we are actually celebrating the birth of Christ on a heathen day.
27 Nov 08
Originally posted by rwingettAs far as I know nobody knows when Jesus was born so I see nothing wrong with Christians picking a day for the celebration. The Anglican Church, as do many other denominations, countries and other bodies have many many holidays, 'feats days' or other types of special day who's date has no real link to whatever is being celebrated.
Yes, I celebrate Christmas. The holiday has been secularized to such an extent that I see no contradiction there. It is a time to celebrate family and togetherness, not Jesus. Who, I might add, was NOT born on December 25th. He wasn't assigned that birthday until the 5th century. That fact, coupled with Christmas' pagan roots, causes me to wonder why Christians celebrate it. And, of course, there are some who do not, for those very reasons.
Many atheists I know celebrate Darwin's birthday as 'Darwin Day.' You see, we actually know when he was born (February 12th). But Hallmark has yet to come out with a line of Darwin Day cards. I guess our nascent holiday has thus far been spared the rampant commercialization of yours.
Though I see nothing wrong with people celebrating Darwin's birthday and though I have great respect for Darwin, I do not see him as an 'atheist icon' as many others seem to. I see him rather as a great scientist who in addition to his great discoveries and theories came into conflict with religion.
27 Nov 08
1 edit
Originally posted by PalynkaIt varies from family to family and depends on culture, religion, country etc. Some of my family go to Church on Christmas day and the children act a Christmas play telling the story of Jesus' birth and generally do try to keep Jesus in the picture.
Christmas nowadays is more about the family than Christ.
The rest of the day is more about presents and cake than it is about family 🙂
Another big thing about Christmas is it is the one time of year that many people send out a card to everyone they still have the address of. My family produce a Christmas letter every year (and receive similar from others) and that helps them keep in touch with people who they may have had no other contact with over more than 20 years.