12.17
Should atheists celebrate Christmas? This poor kid’s mom doesn’t think so.
People say Jesus is the “reason for the season”, but that’s only half true. This time of year, the winter solstice, has been celebrated for thousands of years—long before the birth of Christianity. Many of the traditions we associate with Christianity are actually pagan traditions (and as such, some conservative Christian sects throughout history have not observed Christmas).
But even were Christmas an exclusively Christian holiday, I’d still celebrate it. I don’t care that Christmas is named after Christ any more than I care that Saturday is named after the Roman god Saturn.
Tim Minchin pretty well sums up my warm feelings about Christmas in this song (which I’m linking to for the third time on this blog ha ha).
I love this song! I came across it recently. It perfectly describes my feelings about christmas too.
[...] ever start?? (Hint: look here.) Seems like the only people spreading Christmas cheer are those wacky [...]
That mom is definitely doesn’t have the spirit of christmas.
I don’t see why atheists shouldn’t celebrate christmas – it has both secular and religious components. But if this is true than there shouldn’t be any problem with the federal government putting up christmas trees, yes? Especially given you’re link which says the tradition of decorating trees is as secular/pagan as it is christian.