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Celebrating Christmas as an Athiest?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Pixelbro, Mar 14, 2014.

  1. Pixelbro

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    I've always wondered since I came out to myself if I would celebrate Christmas with my kids and my husband in the future. I know, I know, I'm only 15, but I tend to think about the future a lot.

    You would think that your kids would feel left out if they were the only ones that didn't celebrate Christmas. I don't want them to feel that way, but at the same time it's a CHRISTIAN holiday, and my experiences have made me want to get as far away from Christianity as possible. I also don't want to lie to my kids and tell them Santa's real, but if I don't that just ruins the 'magic' of Christmas.

    I was thinking maybe I'd just call it 'holiday' or some shit but I don't know. What do you think?
     
  2. BryanM

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    You can call it Christmas, Holiday, whatever you feel comfortable with. I'm agnostic and celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday where I meet back up with family and friends. Basically I do that with the entire holiday season, which is also why I say Happy Holidays, unless told otherwise by that person.
     
  3. Yosia

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    I dont have any beliefs really, im open to whatever people around me want me to believe, but my family still celebrate christmas~ i guess because its the normal ^^

    But if someone said happy holidays not merry christmas, then thats what i would return ^^
     
  4. Aussie792

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    Christmas is a secular and a religious holiday. Nobody has special claim to it (except Christ, perhaps :lol: ), so anybody can celebrate it for their own reasons.

    And don't worry about not being Christian; last time I checked, commercial frenzy and a magic man in a sleigh aren't integral parts of Christianity. It's probably the most secular religious holiday I can think of.
     
  5. lordsnow

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    I grew up in a Christian household, but am now an atheist though I still celebrate Christmas every year with my family.
     
  6. Chiroptera

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    I celebrate Christmas beause it is an excuse to be with my family and friends, to eat a lot and to laugh and talk about everything. I don't care about the religious part of it, but i still have lots of fun.
     
  7. BelleFromHell

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    I'm an agnostic atheist and I still celebrate Christmas. Hell, I was expected to be born on Christmas, but I was born on New Year's Day instead. :icon_bigg
    My birth father once told me I shouldn't be allowed to celebrate Christmas because I'm not a Christian, I told him he can go fuck himself. :lol:
    Besides, Christmas was originally a PEGAN holiday, so if I shouldn't celebrate Christmas, neither should he. :slight_smile:

    ---------- Post added 14th Mar 2014 at 02:00 PM ----------

    It's the same for me. Christmas to me isn't about some magical jewish baby being born, it's about spending time with my family and having FUN. :grin:
     
  8. Hexagon

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    I celebrate yule/winter solstice. Kind of. I'm not particularly interested in winter celebrations, to be honest, but my family is happier if I celebrate something, even if it isn't christian. If I ever had kids, I suppose I'd introduce them to this rather than christmas.

    I observe the solstice for a number of reasons. In some ways, it isn't, strictly speaking, secular, being that yule is a pagan festival. But I have little issue with paganism. I find it interesting, and I suppose I respect it as some kind of local heritage. And in other ways, while the solstice may not actually have any physical significance, it does exist, and I like the semi-spiritual connotations associated with it.

    I dislike christmas, but not particularly because of the religious origins of it. Religious festivals crop up all the time, and none of them are my problem. What I dislike is the commercialism, the mass murder of turkeys, and the uncomfortable proximity of family.
     
  9. Owl333

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    My family isn't Christian, but we've always celebrated Christmas culturally. Maybe you could just celebrate as a sort of winter celebration? :slight_smile:
     
  10. Beetle

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    I still celebrate Christmas, and know tons of atheists who do too. It's a pretty secular holiday anyways.
     
  11. Tarok

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    I don't celebrate Christmas. Or my birthday. Or anything at all. It seems illogical to celebrate how many times the Earth has gone around the Sun since something happened.
    It also looks like an excuse to buy presents.
     
  12. The Escapist

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    I'm not into Christmas so much anymore. Because I'm now an ex-Christian, because of everything Santa... Gets me all depressed and hits alot of nerves. I wouldn't lie about Santa, there's nothing magical about a lie. Show them the real magic in this world, all the beauty and good. :slight_smile:
    Of course you can still celebrate the secular-ness of it with all it's silliness.
    I like a general thought of winter holiday, where everything's blue and snowy and nice. Pretty.

    ---------- Post added 14th Mar 2014 at 06:50 PM ----------

    Oh yeah, and all the rage because I prefer to say happy holidays. As in holy days... So.
    That gets me depressed. My parents are serious about Christmas being Jesus' birthday. :/
     
  13. NotBrokenYet

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    I'm an atheist and I celebrate Christmas because my family does (i'm the only atheist in my family). It doesn't bother me to celebrate Christmas. Its become majorly detached from religion by commercialism these days, and I think lots of non religious folks still celebrate it.
     
  14. CharlieHK

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    I call it "celebration of the tree". And my atheist parents cook food and watch movies. I am more of a loosely practicing Buddhist, so I dunno where my place is, I just like fooood.
     
  15. AwesomGaytheist

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    I treat Christmas the same way I treat Thanksgiving: a time to eat, drink, and be merry with friends and family.
     
  16. VideoGameLover

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    Me and my family celebrate Christmas, even though most of us are athiests. It's the nice festive mood that really brings joy on that time of year.
     
  17. Abbra

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    I was raised by a very staunch Atheist, and his philosophy was always:
    "You don't need religion to be a good person. Christmas is a time to have fun and give effort and gifts, you don't need a God to do that."
     
  18. luckrunningout7

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    Thats why some call it "X"mas. Your Xing out the name christ. Now we can all have fun yay!!! XD
     
  19. ThePhoenix

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    There are many aspects of different religions in Christmas which is how most religion were created, but I don't really celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday. There some decorations pertaining to religion and such, but I use it as a day to give and celebrate family.
     
  20. Yosia

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    I thought pople did that because X is like a cross and cross symbolise christ?? ^.^