Anyone practicing Christmas??

[Joe Bloe]

I have grown fond of many of the Christmas songs I used to play and despite the fact that I don't believe in the songs' message, I still think many of the them are quite beautiful.

I've been an atheist all my life, but I like some of the "old time religion" songs and even sing along when I hear them.

Do you guys completely ignore the holiday all together? If you celebrate it, what sort of things do you cut out? I am just interested to hear your thoughts on Christmas

I was always an atheist but I celebrated Christmas until I was 14 and then I stopped. No cards, no presents, no Christmas dinner since then - it's just another day for me.

But if there are children involved then I always play along, give them presents, and pretend I'm really excited about it all. Kids love Christmas and I'll never mess it up for them.

Since then I have received only a couple snide remarks from my family concerning my lack of faith (my family is general pretty accepting). However, as the holiday season approaches I am concerned about things getting heated over religion.

Just for fun, if your extended family try to put you on the spot for your lack of belief, you should ask them to find the bible text that says Jesus was born in a stable. That should keep them busy for a long time.

Matthew says the wise men went into a HOUSE to see Jesus and Luke says that Jesus slept in a manger, but that's an animal food bin (just the right size for use as a baby's cradle)

There is no mention of Jesus being born in a stable anywhere in the bible.