Most religious holidays have become highly secularized. For me, Christmas is just a celebration of family and friends and a wrap-up of the year. And time off work, which is always a good thing. Don't need to thank Jesus for that.
Turning the question backwards, how many Christians completely avoid the secular and pagan aspects of holy days?
Don't forget about the Easter eggs, Xmas trees, and Yule logs!
I don't really celebrate the holidays anymore except for Halloween and July 4th. I like to cook, so the holidays give me an excuse to whip up an extravagent meal. Working in the waitress and retail business for so many years really soured me on most holidays. If I happen to be with family that year, I'll whip up some cookies or have some fun gifts for everyone. I do, however, like to decorate with the changing seasons. It makes my house feel very homey.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2010 08:57AM by itzpapalotl.
My family never beleved in santa. They said that it wasnt fair as my family was poor and it would make us lot think we wernt as good as the ritch kids. Drove me mad when I'd say there wasnt a santa and staff at school would tell me to shut up and I was wrong but heh conflicting information and opinions i'm used to.
Ostara is a Germanic sun goddess and Eostre is the Anglo-Saxon version. Easter is derived from their names. There's a spring goddess in most pantheons. Can you tell I'm a nerd for mythology? :)
it was my observation that about 10% of the Christmas Season was devoted to the purely religious aspects of that holiday (attending services, reading scriptures, etc.), while the vast majority of time and energy were spent on the more secular side (shopping, decorating, baking, parties, etc.).
I don't think my experience was much different from the non-Mormons (mostly traditional Christians) in my community; Christmas has become highly secularized and commercialized in our society.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2010 10:21AM by Fetal Deity.
just had this conversation with a assistant of mine yesterday about a similar deal.
She worked with a Jewish lady at her last job who would make an outward point not to participate in the "Christmas party, the Christmas dinner, the Easter dinner" but when the Christmas bonus was passed out, she was the first in line with her hand held out. My assistant confronted her about this to which the girl replied that it was a 'holiday bonus'. Nay, nay said my assistant - it is written right on the bottom of the check "Christmas Bonus" to which the girl huffed, turned and walked away without a word.
I have NO idea why people get so up in arms about holiday greetings instead of Merry Xmas. It's more inclusive and tolerant of all beliefs.
I think it's incredibly rude to pu "Christmas Bonus" on the bottom of a check, especially since she has been quite clear that she has her own beliefs. How rude of the manager and totally intolerant.
I celebrate all of the American cultural holidays including Christmas and Easter. Good Friday isn't usually a day off work where I live. As a teacher, I work whatever days are included on the school calendar. I've often gone to my classroom to do extra work when the school was closed but there's no option to teach students who aren't scheduled to attend.
It's silly to suggest that atheists don't celebrate holidays. Observing them is always a choice for them as for devout believers. I know very religious people who think it trivializes their faith to celebrate openly by exchanging gifts, partying, or decorating.
In my house we have a large party for all of our extended family. We call it the annual December Holiday party. I put up an alter that includes and beautiful statue of Santa Clause, a nativity scene, a decorated yule log (with candles), a menorah, a Kwaanza candle thingy (sorry I am not sure what it is called) a small tree that is decorated with the characters from the Nutcracker, and a gingerbread house that me and my daughter make. THeir is no praying or religiouse rituals allowed other than the alter. We call Dec 25th either Santa Clause Day or Christmas. My DD's favorite part of easter is dieing eggs and the easter egg hunt. She has no idea that their is a relgiouse idea associated with it. If my employer wants to give me a day off who am I to complain :)
I figure that since Christmas started out as a secular pagan winter solstice celebration to begin with, and was only adopted by the Christian church as a way to make Christianity more palatable to pagans, then it's only fit and proper that we atheists celebrate the true meaning of Christmas: the turning of the seasons and the coming return of the sun.
Abso-freaking-lutely I celebrate. Thank goodness (and not gods) the Puritans did not succeed in banning the pagan practice of decorating trees, dancing, exchanging gifts (both useful and joke gifts), and kissing your significant other.
Winter Solstice is a time to enjoy lots of lights in the darkness, including the warm light of friendship.
In the land of mostly plenty, we tend to forget that enjoying the feast that could be had during hunting season, and after the crop harvest, was a rarity. Good food is enough of a reason to celebrate.
Easter. They need to fix the date for that. I can never figure out why the stock market closes, and then I realize it's Good Friday.
I'm not offended by people celebrating holidays with religious themes, and I wish some Christians could stop being offended when I just say 'Happy Holidays'.
Personal thoughts and beliefs have nothing much to do with the actual holiday if people want to celebrate them.
The problem comes in when one religion, or another becomes territorial and wants it all done their way and has no acceptance or tolerance for anyone else.
Being chastised or fired for saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas is one of the more ridiculous things some employers do.
... many official holidays coincide with Christian holidays. Typical examples in Europe are:
Easter Sunday (usually in combination with either Good Friday or the monday after Easter) Pentecostal Sunday (usually in combination with the following monday) 19 March (saint Joseph, hence father's day in some countries), 15 August (the virgin Mary, hence mother's day in some countries) 1 November (All Saints, hence the day to remember the dead)
So a lot of secular holidays originated as Christian ones. And vice versa, of course:
The ancient pagan feast at the beginning of winter was later hijacked by Christians, who renamed it Christmas. Thankfully, that feast is quicly becoming secular again. Easter itself is loosely inspired by that other old pagan feast at the beginning of spring. 15 August was the feast of fertility in the middle of the harvest, which later became the feast of mothers, and only later a holiday to honour the mother of Christ. The mother's day in May was invented by kindergartens who are closed in August.
So, what's new?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2010 12:52PM by Zeno Lorea.
Of course! I greet my Indian cohorts on Divali Day, say my good wishes to my Ramadan-celebrating friends (and eat with them at the close of Ramadan, yum!), watch the opening of Buddhist Lent festivals, and help kids find eggs during Easter. Everyone's happy, what's not to celebrate?
Most religious holidays are also national holidays where I am, no biggie, off I go somewhere to celebrate. I'm sure I won't be burned to a crisp when I attend Catholic Mass with a friend. Truth be told religion is merely cultural for me now, so I don't "hate" these kinds of celebrations. OTOH, a JW colleague has never attended a Christmas office party, it's sinful to them! That's the kind of stranglehold religions have on people.
I take advantage of free paid vacation days, and it's a wonderful time to meet up with family and friends - after all, they all have the same days off.
For many years, christmas has been a secular festival divorced from the pagan as well as the christian aspects. I say 'happy christmas' and send christmas greetings cards, because the day has a title..... christmas day..... it has nothing to do with *anything* religious.
we celebrate the holidays, cause we want to!! i usually work over Easter (nurse) and then choose a weekend either before or after, we spend a lovely day at home with kidlets, color & hunt eggs (we take turns hiding for each other.) dont do the Easter basket thing. we have Christmas & Christmas Eve however we want, we love to decorate our house, we put up a tree, sing carols, have dinner, we dont pray before meals, etc but we love to give gifts, hang with each other. i usually work over christmas itself but we choose a couple days and make those our christmas, turn off the phone & celebrate. enjoy July 4th, we are a well-known awesome house to stop at on Halloween...
Most European countries compensate you for holidays that happen in the weekend: I don't work on saturdays, christmas is on a saturday this year, so I get an extra day off some other time. In some European countries you cannot choose the extra day off, they give you the next working day off.
In the case of Easter and Pentecost, which are always on sundays, you get the following monday off. But some countries prefer to give Good Friday off because it is part of the Holy Week, and Easter monday isn't really a part of the Holy Week.
I think, by the same token, some US states recognize some holidays and others don't. Am I right?
I don't see the problem. I love the holidays! And getting rid of the stolen religious meaning (because these were originally Pagan holidays) means that I can focus on family and friends.
And since my fiancé and I are both atheists our Xmas tree is decorated with the invisible pink unicorn, etchings of Darwin's tree of life, the FSM, the pirate fish, and the FSM as the tree topper. It's our own way of substituting out our religious background for our own personal search for truth.
I am going to do the festivus holiday off Seinfeld this year instead of christmas. I'll invite my whole TBM family and we are going to do all the festivus traditions. I can't wait!
@ badgirl Good Friday is a bank Holiday in the UK.... so many people will have it as a paid vacation day, or be compensated, extra, for having to work that day.
@tiff In my experience, Christmas is such a secular holiday in Europe, that the religious aspect is lost - or, at least, pushed to the sidelines.
I dont know whether you were being honest or sarcastic about your tree decorations...As a Brit, I actually find it funny that anyone would go to the bother of putting any of that stuff on the tree. It is already full of irreligious/Pagan meaning. I try to think of my own box of tree decorations and cant honestly think of one thing that is 'religious'... snowmen, santa claus, reindeer, robins, sparkly baubles, tinsel......Nope, Nothing religious.
The entire Xmas tree is a pagan idea. However, I enjoy having sacrilegious tree ornaments because it's fun! It's the same reason people consider themselves Pastafarians or put the FSM sticker on their car.
It's nice to take a tradition that used to be very religious in my family (lots of Christian themed ornaments) and turning it into my own thing. It's fun =)
Pixie Dust Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > For example, by taking advantage I mean do you > take Christmas and Good Friday off from work, or > do you work those two days? > > Do atheists give Christmas gifts?
Absolutely I give Christmas gifts and I expect to receive them, too! :)
Christmas is more or less a secular holiday in North America which is how it should be seeing as how it came to be (other posters explained that above). I'm a freak for Christmas trees and have amassed a formidable ornament collection which I can't wait to drag out and hang on the Fraser Fir that we'll get from Home Depot.
The NYSE closes on Good Friday which is a holdover from the days when all businesses closed and kids got off school for the day. I think it's stupid, but whatever. Schools no longer have the day off and all businesses stay open (there are probably some exceptions). However, virtually everything is closed on Christmas day, therefore everyone (including atheists) gets off work.