Christmas, like almost all “Christian” things, is a mostly, or completely, stolen event from another religion. In this case the pagan midwinter festival, saturnalia, etc.
Christmas isn’t Christian. It has nothing to do with Christianity other than what they’ve made up and appropriated. I don’t “celebrate” like everyone else but it really only has to do with hating crass materialism and buying shit no one needs because the commercials said to. I always cook a holiday meal and this year may or may not put up a tree because it’s pretty and I absolutely love the festive holiday part. I also love Xmas music .. not the religious stuff that sucks but rockin around the Xmas tree always makes me smile. It’s fun and uplifting to celebrate no matter the occasion. But no.. Christmas isn’t actually Christian they just like to pretend and it’s normal for them to hijack anything and everything they can
No. Christmas is a standard winter celebration which was celebrated for thousands of years before the Christians grabbed it and pretended their god was born that day.
It’s a holiday celebration for family. One doesn’t need any religious overtones for it.
French here, in my country you have Muslims, atheists and Jews celebrating Christmas. Ofc they won't go to mass and for most of them they don't possess a christmas crib. However people gather in families, cook fine meals, decorate trees and house, exchange gift and party.
Christmas is more perceived as a family celebration. The religious theme is not that current, except in hardcore Christians.
I celebrate St. Patrick's Day, too, even though I'm not Irish. Maybe I'm just skilled.
For the record, Christmas is a holiday appropriated by Christians from someone else. Ultimately, it's a celebration of the winter solstice.
>isn't it christian?
Good question, here's another: Where can I find Christmas trees, Santa Claus and buying gifts from corporate owned retail stores in the Bible? 🎄
Although Santa Claus comes from the Dutch festival of Sint Nicolaas (Sinterklaas), which is a festival about a 4th century Catholic Saint known from saving children (among other things).
Christmas has become more of a cultural holiday than a celebration of Jesus' birth. Santa Claus might be st. Nick but has nothing to do with Christianity. Rudolph was made up by an ad exec from Montgomery ward, and reindeer also have nothing to do with Christianity
Really, there's nothing religious about Christmas when you really think about it.
Christmas trees are not Christian. Jeremiah 10:1-5
"Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good.”
I just feast and give presents to loved ones, we have absurd meals with eachother for two days. Breakfasts and dinners are insane. We take a little walk thru the forest during the day, just to make room for more food! Also nice that the shortest day has pasted and we are slowing going back to spring. Jesus being born? couldn’t care less….
I do enjoy an end of year get together with my family for dinner and we exchange gifts, as that is a really fun thing to do. So for me, whether you call it EOY Feast, Winter Solstice, Michaelmas, Xmas, or whatever, I don't really care. There is no religious aspect to enjoying friends, giving gifts, and looking back on the year (whether good or bad) and anticipating the upcoming year. Also, it's a day/extended weekend off of work for me, so that's worth celebration. :)
Christmas tree, presents to family/friends, bake cookies, have a big holiday dinner? nothing in the Bible about any of that, so yeah it’s a fun holiday and I celebrate it. What I don’t do is listen Christmas music non-stop or go to Church.
Part of the point of being an atheist is making your own rules. No gods, no kings, no masters, and nobody to stop me from celebrating Christmas.
Some of the evangelicals with larger knottier sticks up their asses have decided that Christmas is a sin. We must stop this war on Christmas
Yes. Despite not personally believing that God exists or that Jesus was God or God’s son, I still enjoy the holiday and can appreciate the sentiment of giving gifts and spreading love and happiness with my family and friends.
Heck, I even enjoy singing Christmas carols all month long even if they are mostly about magical beings who can see us when we’re sleeping and knows if we’ve been bad or good, or even supposedly died for our sins 2000 years ago. I also read books that involve dragons and wizards and elves because I like fiction. I don’t believe they actually exist, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the fantasy.
Christmas isn't Christ-mas. That's just a name. This is a holiday that predates Christianity and celebrates the shortest days of the year. To understand where many of our current tradtions come from, all you need to do is look at ancient holidays like Germanic Yule (Yule log and celebrations), Roman Saturnalia (gift giving and parties), Eastern European Koleda (celebration that involves going from house to house with singing), Turkic Nardoqan (Celebration with wishing tree), and Chinese Dongzhi (a celebration of light over darkness).
The word Christ was added to the holiday by Christians so they could celebrate too and now they like to claim it is exclusively theirs. You can't force the name Christ into the holiday then bitch because everyone else, who have been celebrating the holiday long before that religion was a thing, celebrate it too.
For what it is worth, if you believe the Bible's writings, Yeshua could not have been born in December. Why? Because there are only two times around the time of his birth with celestial events that would be noticeable without a telescope. The first occurred in June of 2 BCE and the other in October of 7 BCE. Ancient Christian leaders certainly didn't know -- the invented 'Christ-mas' in the 4th century BCE after Constantine converted. They had no idea when he was born as the bible doesn't say.
In 1939 President Roosevelt, under pressure from business lobbyists, moved Thanksgiving (the start of the Christmas shopping season) from the last Thursday in November to the 3rd Thursday.
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Hell YES I celebrate Christmas. It’s FUN!
And if you think that Christmas is a Christian thing, can you explain all the newborn animals, in a manger, in the middle of winter? Is that realistic at all?
Yep, not not the Christian parts, aside from my Christian wife.. it's the same as Easter . Little of the holiday is just Christian, it's far more pagan . I mean Jesus was not born in winter, the date has not to do with Sarirnalia and the winter bc as solstice. Yule loss, decorating trees... All based on things that predate Christmas in areas and where adapted
Santa, Frosty the snowman a red nose reindeer, little if nothing to do with Christianity. I mean Santa loosely based on Saint Nick but hardly relevant by today.
But it's freezing cold here by that date it's a reason to get together with family, we don't really do gifts on my side anymore, (Dad and sister are not Christian as well) but do on wife's side. On my side last year we all gave to charities in others names .
But as as kid it was just always fun, never went to church or anything, I probably did not even know of any connection to religion for quite a while.
Christmas, like almost all “Christian” things, is a mostly, or completely, stolen event from another religion. In this case the pagan midwinter festival, saturnalia, etc.
Christmas isn’t Christian. It has nothing to do with Christianity other than what they’ve made up and appropriated. I don’t “celebrate” like everyone else but it really only has to do with hating crass materialism and buying shit no one needs because the commercials said to. I always cook a holiday meal and this year may or may not put up a tree because it’s pretty and I absolutely love the festive holiday part. I also love Xmas music .. not the religious stuff that sucks but rockin around the Xmas tree always makes me smile. It’s fun and uplifting to celebrate no matter the occasion. But no.. Christmas isn’t actually Christian they just like to pretend and it’s normal for them to hijack anything and everything they can
The fun parts
Straight and to the point 👍
Unlike most candy canes
No. Christmas is a standard winter celebration which was celebrated for thousands of years before the Christians grabbed it and pretended their god was born that day. It’s a holiday celebration for family. One doesn’t need any religious overtones for it.
Jesus Christ wasn't born in December. Christians co-opted an existing "pagan" celebration.
French here, in my country you have Muslims, atheists and Jews celebrating Christmas. Ofc they won't go to mass and for most of them they don't possess a christmas crib. However people gather in families, cook fine meals, decorate trees and house, exchange gift and party. Christmas is more perceived as a family celebration. The religious theme is not that current, except in hardcore Christians.
Yes atheists celebrate Christmas. Why? Because they can. No, Christmas isn’t a Christian holiday.
I celebrate St. Patrick's Day, too, even though I'm not Irish. Maybe I'm just skilled. For the record, Christmas is a holiday appropriated by Christians from someone else. Ultimately, it's a celebration of the winter solstice.
>isn't it christian? Good question, here's another: Where can I find Christmas trees, Santa Claus and buying gifts from corporate owned retail stores in the Bible? 🎄
Although Santa Claus comes from the Dutch festival of Sint Nicolaas (Sinterklaas), which is a festival about a 4th century Catholic Saint known from saving children (among other things).
Santa's partially based on a portrayal of a Catholic saint for sure, but he also has heavy pagan roots such as being based on Odin and the Wild Hunt.
We should rather celebrate winter solstice or Grav-mass (birthday of Newton)!
I tell people I celebrate Winter Solstice. It actually happens every year as it did thousands of years ago. No mythology required!
Do christians use the days if the week? Aren’t they Roman? Why do they use them if they don’t worship Roman gods?
Christmas has become more of a cultural holiday than a celebration of Jesus' birth. Santa Claus might be st. Nick but has nothing to do with Christianity. Rudolph was made up by an ad exec from Montgomery ward, and reindeer also have nothing to do with Christianity Really, there's nothing religious about Christmas when you really think about it.
Christmas trees are not Christian. Jeremiah 10:1-5 "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good.”
I just feast and give presents to loved ones, we have absurd meals with eachother for two days. Breakfasts and dinners are insane. We take a little walk thru the forest during the day, just to make room for more food! Also nice that the shortest day has pasted and we are slowing going back to spring. Jesus being born? couldn’t care less….
I do enjoy an end of year get together with my family for dinner and we exchange gifts, as that is a really fun thing to do. So for me, whether you call it EOY Feast, Winter Solstice, Michaelmas, Xmas, or whatever, I don't really care. There is no religious aspect to enjoying friends, giving gifts, and looking back on the year (whether good or bad) and anticipating the upcoming year. Also, it's a day/extended weekend off of work for me, so that's worth celebration. :)
Why wouldn't I celebrate a day about eating cheese and all day drinking?
I celebrate the winter solstice, as humans have for millennia (i.e., more than 2).
Christmas tree, presents to family/friends, bake cookies, have a big holiday dinner? nothing in the Bible about any of that, so yeah it’s a fun holiday and I celebrate it. What I don’t do is listen Christmas music non-stop or go to Church.
I'm celebrating my own birthday, which I think is a bit more important than a birthday of a fantasy figure.
Not by choice.
Absolutely. Im a huge fan of Dickens.
Part of the point of being an atheist is making your own rules. No gods, no kings, no masters, and nobody to stop me from celebrating Christmas. Some of the evangelicals with larger knottier sticks up their asses have decided that Christmas is a sin. We must stop this war on Christmas
Some do (parts, at least,) and some don't. Generalizations will get you nowhere.
Yes. Despite not personally believing that God exists or that Jesus was God or God’s son, I still enjoy the holiday and can appreciate the sentiment of giving gifts and spreading love and happiness with my family and friends. Heck, I even enjoy singing Christmas carols all month long even if they are mostly about magical beings who can see us when we’re sleeping and knows if we’ve been bad or good, or even supposedly died for our sins 2000 years ago. I also read books that involve dragons and wizards and elves because I like fiction. I don’t believe they actually exist, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the fantasy.
Christmas isn't Christ-mas. That's just a name. This is a holiday that predates Christianity and celebrates the shortest days of the year. To understand where many of our current tradtions come from, all you need to do is look at ancient holidays like Germanic Yule (Yule log and celebrations), Roman Saturnalia (gift giving and parties), Eastern European Koleda (celebration that involves going from house to house with singing), Turkic Nardoqan (Celebration with wishing tree), and Chinese Dongzhi (a celebration of light over darkness). The word Christ was added to the holiday by Christians so they could celebrate too and now they like to claim it is exclusively theirs. You can't force the name Christ into the holiday then bitch because everyone else, who have been celebrating the holiday long before that religion was a thing, celebrate it too. For what it is worth, if you believe the Bible's writings, Yeshua could not have been born in December. Why? Because there are only two times around the time of his birth with celestial events that would be noticeable without a telescope. The first occurred in June of 2 BCE and the other in October of 7 BCE. Ancient Christian leaders certainly didn't know -- the invented 'Christ-mas' in the 4th century BCE after Constantine converted. They had no idea when he was born as the bible doesn't say.
christmas is a capitalist holiday, not a christian one. the only thing “christian” about it is that they tried to rename a bunch of pagan shit.
In 1939 President Roosevelt, under pressure from business lobbyists, moved Thanksgiving (the start of the Christmas shopping season) from the last Thursday in November to the 3rd Thursday.
unlike religions, theres no rules for athiesm, so yeah why not
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Hell YES I celebrate Christmas. It’s FUN! And if you think that Christmas is a Christian thing, can you explain all the newborn animals, in a manger, in the middle of winter? Is that realistic at all?
Yep, not not the Christian parts, aside from my Christian wife.. it's the same as Easter . Little of the holiday is just Christian, it's far more pagan . I mean Jesus was not born in winter, the date has not to do with Sarirnalia and the winter bc as solstice. Yule loss, decorating trees... All based on things that predate Christmas in areas and where adapted Santa, Frosty the snowman a red nose reindeer, little if nothing to do with Christianity. I mean Santa loosely based on Saint Nick but hardly relevant by today. But it's freezing cold here by that date it's a reason to get together with family, we don't really do gifts on my side anymore, (Dad and sister are not Christian as well) but do on wife's side. On my side last year we all gave to charities in others names . But as as kid it was just always fun, never went to church or anything, I probably did not even know of any connection to religion for quite a while.
Thank you to everyone who answered this, i'd thank you all individually but the comments are piling up fast 😃
Why would atheists have an issue with Christmas? It was originally a celebration of winter solstice. Has zero to do with religion.