Anyone practicing Christmas??

[Heather]

Ah, I am so happy to see this discussion since this is my first Christmas as an official Atheist (have you seen my badge? it's awesome). I was almost feeling guilty to do all of the normal Christmas stuff this year but so glad to see it's common place. We will still have a tree, hang stockings by the chimney, make cookies for Santa (aka daddy), and spend time with family. I love this time of year and really, it's so secular that it's easy to still celebrate as a new Atheist. Also, I still haven't come out of the Atheist closest to my family (besides hubs) so why change anything!

I say, enjoy your friends and family and yummy Peppermint Mocha Coffees! No Sky Daddy needed for that!

[Epimethean]

Heather, you put it perfectly. I will say, though, that I am very inclined to follow Kichi and Zen's lead and do it up as Hogswatch. I watch The Hogfather every year and think it has more "spirit" in it than any other winter holiday movie, and the book is bril, too.

[Angrboda]

In college I took a class in remedial holiday cheer. I think I need a refresher course.

[The Magic Pudding]

I like Hogfather idea.

This was the tree I used last year, I'm not sure if I'll get it out again, could be dusty, and Arthur Dent has probably wandered off.

[SleepingDemon]

I always celebrate Christmas. Although it began as a political thing, I think it's still secular at heart. It's a mostly wonderful time of year when most people find the self control to be less douchey, so I celebrate.

[Erinome]

My kids go celebrate with their dads, and then when they come home that evening we go out for chinese food. Then we come home and play with their new stuff and pick out old toys to give away. I don't decorate or make a big deal out of it at all. I am not against my kids having that experience, but I am just not that into it. I get extra high that day and enjoy some alone time. My family has a big to-do for Christmas, but I haven't gone since 2005, when they banned my husband/best friend after finding out he had HIV. He's dead now, but the fact remains, I don't break bread with ignorant fucktards.

[Krusedullen]

I'm a fourth generation atheist and we celebrate Christmas, tho the Scandinavians never called it Christmas. We still go by the old Yule (Jul). And we (Scandinavians) still practice the pre-christian traditions. We decorate our homes with typical Scandinavian yule-decorations, we give gifts and we eat traditional Scandinavian food. When i was a kid, we used to do other traditional stuff that was related to old superstition. Just for fun. The vikings had similar traditions, so why wouldn't we? It gets pretty dark up here in winter, so why not have something nice to look forward to when the winter enters it's darkest phase?
It's dark outside most of the day and so parents tell their kids about old superstition that people used to believe back in the days. Some of them were stories that mothers would tell their children in order to keep them from wandering off in to the woods after dark or going to close to the rivers or waterfalls. Like the stories about the trolls, nøkken, fossegrimen, draugen and huldra. And then we give the children flash-lights and let them play outside in the dark ^^.

[kılıç_mehmet]

How does one "practice" christmas?
Like from what I know from the catholics and orthodox christians, they "practice" christmas by attending masses in a church.
Like how do you do that in a protestant-majority America?

[The Grand Nudger]

People buy things Mehmet. Commercial holiday, lol.

[Ziploc Surprise]

People buy things Mehmet. Commercial holiday, lol.

Personally I like the whole winter solstice thing. The fact that Christmas doesn't exactly fall on the date of the solstice doesn't bother me either. It's a way to chase away the winter blues and remind yourself that you have reached the turning point. Warmer weather will come soon (2 months for me. At least there's some advantage to living in the Bible belt.).