Atheists & Agnostics Only Please.

ManlyBanisters

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This question is for atheists and agnostics only.

What if anything does Christmas mean to you? I have known only a few atheists in my life. While the all agree they don't believe in God or any higher power, there doesn't seem to be a consensus on Christmas. :confused: Do you put up a tree? Do you do lights and decorations? Do you give gifts? Will you accept gifts? Do you just do Christmas because your family expects it?

I'm not condemning, I'm just curious and confused. :confused:

Well - you know I'm neither atheist nor agnostic but I was raised in an atheist household. My family always celebrated Christmas - partly because my parents are first generation atheists and had Christmas as part of their family traditions and partly for us kids. Since they've been a parent only household they do not put up a tree but they do have a Christmas dinner and exchange presents and cards with family and friends.

As many other posters have said, the midwinter festival pre-dates Christianity by more than one millennium, so atheists having a midwinter celebration really isn't at all strange.

I'm not agnostic or atheist, but I am Jewish, so Christmas doesn't mean much to me (besides the start of persecution for my people) but since not everyone in my family is Jewish, we still celebrate it, kind of. We put up a cardboard tree and have a celebration on Christmas with the family, but it's more about the get together than anything else.

A cardboard tree? Interesting, never seen that before.

And the others are right, you know - the persecution of the Jews also pre-dates Christianity by more than one millennium- way more, unfortunately.

Nor do I agree with how we have become "politically correct" with Christmas and not offending non Christians. This is the USA and our founding Fathers built this country with Christian beliefs in mind. Sorry for the ranting :rant:

This is not the USA - this is a message board with many, many posters who are not American. NJ did not ask in an American context, I don't see why you feel the need to answer in that way. And besides, the Founding Fathers were as devoted to the separation of Church and State and they were to their various, and extremely diverse, beliefs.

I do agree that there is too much pussy-footing around Christmas being Christian - but the holiday has kind of spread past its original remit and become part of secular culture as well. So while Christians can celebrate the 'Christ Mass' I don't think it is at all unreasonable to allow non-Christians celebrate the secular side of the holiday in whatever way they like. Just not at the expense of the Christians being able to keep it Christian for themselves. There is nothing offensive about wishing someone of a different denomination a Happy Christmas. I have had Muslim friends and colleagues wish me Īd mubārak and I have always taken it as meant, a friendly and inclusive sentiment.
 

D_Marazion Analdouche

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Hi, my name is Wartrac and I'm an Agnostic....

Hiiiiii Wartrac.......

But I digress, as most here, for me it's just about getting together for the holidays. If it wasn't for my kids however, I'm sure it would just be any other day to me. They enjoy it so I enjoy it with them, but not on the day itself since I agreed to let the Ex have them on the actual holiday. My ex-wife is a devout Catholic, which has caused us many an arguement. Which I will avoid talking about to avoid hijacking the thread.

But yes, it's just an excuse to get together with folks maybe reminisce etc.
 

curious n str8

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I do agree that there is too much pussy-footing around Christmas being Christian - but the holiday has kind of spread past its original remit and become part of secular culture as well. So while Christians can celebrate the 'Christ Mass' I don't think it is at all unreasonable to allow non-Christians celebrate the secular side of the holiday in whatever way they like. Just not at the expense of the Christians being able to keep it Christian for themselves. There is nothing offensive about wishing someone of a different denomination a Happy Christmas. I have had Muslim friends and colleagues wish me Īd mubārak and I have always taken it as meant, a friendly and inclusive sentiment.
Well as you know I am in the USA was speaking from that vantage point. My bad again I did not clairify myself better and took it for granted that this is the time of year for everyone's celabration of each one's diffrent faith being other than Christian. And I don't get offended when people express happy sentiments to me according to their faith.
 

jason_els

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I like Christmas and love all the pagan trappings from trees and mistletoe to holly wreaths and gift exchanging. It's a blast. My favorite Christmas-eve activity is sitting lying on the couch with hot chocolate and watching, A Christmas Carol in all its various forms. All of its religious associations don't mean much but I do like most of Jesus's teachings and use the time to hope that maybe self-proclaimed Christians will start living by them. So far I've always been disappointed.

The founding fathers specifically created American government as secular. There was nothing Christian about it. Read the Declaration of Independence. It mentions God once and even then refers to God as, "Nature's God," not, "Man's God." The Constitution of the United States does not mention God at all.

Take a look at the religious leanings of the founding fathers. You'll find a bunch of deists, a few atheists, and all of them outright secular humanists.
 
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No_Strings

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I'm an Atheist and a Christian. Where do I sit?

I enjoy celebrating Yule/solstice with my family and have no qualms about the incorporation of Christ's birth into the festival.
I find it a fun time of year, regardless of any religious overtones. (Or lack thereof.)
 

ZOS23xy

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I am agnostic and Christmas is about getting together with family and friends.

I'm sort of like this as well. Though as you get older, friends and family die or drift off elsewhere.

Of a mixed bag: my daughter is coming home, bringing her husband with her. She's dropped out of college and the marriage is on rough grounds. We'll see what happens.

Better than the Thanksgiving where my sister in law gave birth and her husband got violently drunk and passed out in the living room...
 

D_Selmus_Swallow

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I guess I'll follow Bertrand Russell in saying that philosophically I'm an agnostic, and practically speaking I'm an atheist.

"I never know whether I should say "Agnostic" or whether I should say "Atheist". It is a very difficult question and I daresay that some of you have been troubled by it. As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one prove that there is not a God.


On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think I ought to say that I am an Atheist, because when I say that I cannot prove that there is not a God, I ought to add equally that I cannot prove that there are not the Homeric gods."



-Bertrand Russell, Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic?



For me Christmas is just an opportunity to gather friends and family to share food, drink, and gifts in remembrance and appreciation of the fact that we have each other, and to have an excuse for a social gathering. None of which has to do with anything necessarily to do with God, gods, or what have you.
 

B_bi_mmf

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Great quote. I also highly recommend The End of Faith by Sam Harris and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

I guess I'll follow Bertrand Russell in saying that philosophically I'm an agnostic, and practically speaking I'm an atheist.

"I never know whether I should say "Agnostic" or whether I should say "Atheist". It is a very difficult question and I daresay that some of you have been troubled by it. As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one prove that there is not a God.


On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think I ought to say that I am an Atheist, because when I say that I cannot prove that there is not a God, I ought to add equally that I cannot prove that there are not the Homeric gods."



-Bertrand Russell, Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic?



For me Christmas is just an opportunity to gather friends and family to share food, drink, and gifts in remembrance and appreciation of the fact that we have each other, and to have an excuse for a social gathering. None of which has to do with anything necessarily to do with God, gods, or what have you.
 

chosencock399

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There's nothing Christian about Christmas, it was a Roman winter festival blah blah.

I think the only reason we (non Christians) celebrate Xmas in the UK (which I would say in this day and age is largely athiest) is out of guilt. We don't want to deny the kids and each other the material gains xmas brings. People don't care about xmas other than getting the family together, having greedy feasts and going over the top when it comes to buying presents for each other. There hasn't been anything religious about it in any family in my neighbourhood since growing up. Apart from once when my Nan made me go to church with her before on Xmas eve.
 

B_BigBentTree

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I'm atheist...We put up an aluminum pole, have the feats of strength, and have an airings of grievances....

<Waits for people to get the reference>
 

nicenycdick

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I'm not agnostic or atheist, but I am Jewish, so Christmas doesn't mean much to me (besides the start of persecution for my people)...

I am Catholic by birth and an atheist at heart, but I think that the persecution of Jews began well before the birth of Christ. While it certainly continued (sometimes with great enthusiasm) after Christians began their separation from Judaic Law in 50 A.D. (when they decided that new Christians did not have to be circumcised), it is historically inaccurate, I believe, to state that Christmas (the birth of Christ) was the start of persecution for the Jews.

In response to the question posed in this thread: Christmas has over the years become much less about religion than about tradition for me. That is how (and why) I observe it.
 

Scrufuss

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I'm atheist...We put up an aluminum pole, have the feats of strength, and have an airings of grievances....

<Waits for people to get the reference>

<still waiting for the brain to finally figure out what reference he is referring to... >
 

amygdala

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Can I just say how nice it is to see all the athiests and agnostics speaking up? It gives me hope that at least part of the human race continues to evolve. I wonder if there's any correlation between such enlightenment and cock size. There seems to be a disproportionate number of well-hung athiests/agnostics. Perhaps in a few thousand years, the human race will have evolved to a point where athiesm and big dicks are the norm. Now there's a future worth fighting for!

As the product of a religiously-mixed marriage, I was not raised as anything, however, as my mother is catholic, we always had a tree, decorations, presents, etc. Except for whatever meaning my mother attached to all that in her head, those activities had nothing whatsoever to do with the birth of jesus. It was always, and remains to this day, a time to gather with family, eat lots of food, exchange presents and air out dysfunction. It's good for the economy.
 
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