+1.

We do the entire family/gift/food thing Christmas Eve evening -> night. On Christmas Day, it's usually extended family who couldn't make it the day before, friends, etc.

No church at all, so it really is the best time

We put up a tree and decorations, exchange presents and have a nice day. It's got no real significance, but it still kind of feels special, somehow

We have some really nice food too.

Sure.  Great time to be with family, and show appreciation.  Decorations are fun, they don't have to be about the baby jesus.  After all, humans were having solstice celebrations LONG before he came along.

I celebrate the crass commercialism of xmas.  Keep that fucking jesus shit out of it and it is quite enjoyable.


Fucking jesus ruins everything.

(November 10, 2015 at 2:13 pm)MattB Wrote: Atheist and Christmas

I was wondering if Atheist celebrate Christmas in any way and if they allow their kids to?

We have a man here that he and his family deck out their property with lights and such just no religion to it.  Yes they exchange gifts.

So was wondering how other atheist did it?

Christmas, the way it is celebrated in the US is mostly a secular holiday, with many more roots in paganism, than Christianity. 

The tree, mistletoe, Santa Claus, giving gifts, holly wreaths, yule log, stockings, decorating with lights and almost every other Christmas tradition is Pagan from centuries before Christianity . The holiday is mostly based on Saturnalia with some Norse pagan myths tossed in.

For me, Christmas is nothing more than a time for friends and family to get together and celebrate. A time to enjoy great food and have a great time. I have no problems at all celebrating it.

Christmas = Yay! I am a big fan of bright lights and shiny objects. I have a very strong desire to steal virtually all christmas lights I pass. I also want someday to make an entire room in my house with christmas lights and ornaments. Someday......

All five of my kids are atheist.

We all usually get together on Christmas. Everyone except my second oldest, but he's an asshole. It's also two of my granddaughters birthdays, so we also celebrate that together. It's a great time for family to get together. My youngest daughter and my sister (both atheists) always go out on Black Friday and buy all kinds of toys and donate them to children in need. They've been doing it for..... 5 years now I think.

(November 10, 2015 at 3:14 pm)robvalue Wrote: We put up a tree and decorations, exchange presents and have a nice day. It's got no real significance, but it still kind of feels special, somehow

My take:

Winter sucks.  It's cold.  It's wet.  It's dark.  People always seem to get sick.  Everything seems harder to do.  And it's going to last for a few months (or, half of the year... stupid New Hampshire....).  Instead of wallowing in it, celebrate what you do have.  Spend the day being a better person (or, at the very least, not so much of a raging asshole (not referring to you, Rob)).  Appreciate your friends and family by spending time with them and giving them tokens of that appreciation.  Eat good food.  Try to be merry, and try to bring that attitude forward through the rest of winter and the year beyond.

So, yeah, it has significance, just not one attributed to the birth of a messiah child.  And, IMO, practical, lived significance is a lot more meaningful anyway.

Quote:Tradition and belief are not synonymous.

Nailed it, Jenny.

I fucking LOVE Christmas, love everything about it - family, friends, food, drink, music, pressies, decorations that look as if they were provided by Mister Duane's House Of Vision Impairment - the lot.

Minchin says it better than I can:





Boru

I will put up a Christmas tree, play the Christmas Canon non-stop, and generally celebrate the shit out of Christmas this year if I feel up to it...all while giving little or no thought to Jesus. 

Same as before I was an atheist.