Why do atheist celebrate Christmas ?

Question

Some say that is not the issue. Well some say otherwise...
Christmas is a time of sharing joy, and peace with others.
Giving gifts, and whatever your hearts desire. But most
people associate it, with the birth of Jesus Christ. All
around the world, too. I wonder why atheist like to
celebrate Christmas, though. Of course you don't have
to be religious or anything, to do so. But the center of it
all, is still around Christ. For those who don't know.
A mere contradication, or confliction of beliefs. Hmmmm.
What is your take on this matter, Yahoo ? And for all
my atheist friends, why do you celebrate Christmas ?
Be honest about it. Best answer wins. ***

Zodiac Man, doin it big again.....
Thank you guys.

Answer 1

You answered your own question. "..Christmas is a time of sharing joy, and peace with others. Giving gifts, and whatever your hearts desire."

Christmas holds different meanings for different people. For Christians, it's Jesus's birthday. For atheists, it may be a time to get together with family and friends. It might also just be a celebration of winter.

While I don't believe in Jesus Christ, I celebrate Christmas to enjoy the spirit of the holidays. Ideally, people would be compassionate towards each other everyday, but that obviously doesn't happen.

Answer 2

Whether or not this is a celebration regarding the birth of Christ, I think it has gone so far away from the thought that it's Jesus' birthday (not actually his birthday) to a more commercialized and global holiday. This holiday was created by the Catholics to celebrate the birth of Jesus (his birthday actually falls closer to somewhere in Fall rather than the end of December), and was chosen because of its lunar/solar significance. Athiests want to celebrate Christmas because mostly it's a day off from work/school and it's an excellent opportunity to come together with family and enjoy the holiday together. As stated before, presents are always nice as well. I think many Christians have also forgotten their own reason for celebrating and look more forward to the presents and the time off.

You should try going to other non-christian countries and see what their Christmas celebration is like. Living in Japan ( a predominantly Buddhist/Shinto country) you will see how little of an impact Christmas has on their society. I had to work on Christmas eve and Christmas day as it is just another day for them. It is celebrated with gifts and family togetherness, but has nothing to do with Jesus at all.

Answer 3

The Christmas holiday has always been a day when our family gets together. Much of the family is separated by miles - some by many, many miles. The holiday is when everyone comes home and we spend several days together enjoying the fun, food, exchange of gifts and catching up with each other.

Has nothing to do with religion in our minds.

You may celebrate is as you wish, but surely you know that Christmas has it's roots in the pagan Saturnalia and is held at the same time of the year.... You surely know that there were no evergreen trees, snow and icicles hanging from trees, etc - in the place where your Jesus was supposedly born...don't you?

Just because someone names a day "Christ Mass", doesn't make it true.

Answer 4

For many of us, no its not about Christ. I think it about where you live. If you live in America like myself, you will find people of many different faiths or non faiths for that matter celebrating Christmas. If you go back far enough, it was never about Christ. It was all about the winter solstice, and in order to convert all the pagans the church turned that holiday into the birth of Christ.
So back to answering your question, so what if they want to buy gifts, just because you don't believe in god that doesn't mean you don't have a good heart and can't get with the good will towards men. Its so easy to take Christ and God out of Christmas.

Answer 5

Well, I am not an atheist, nor do I know any, but I do know of religions that do not celebrate Christmas because they believe that Christ is definitely not a part of the holiday. They think celebrating Christmas is a sin. Maybe the atheists see it the same way. Christmas has become commercialized to the point that for a lot of people it has ceased being about the Lord. Atheists want their children to have a good holiday too, and it is undeniably fun to participate in presents and decorating for the holidays. I think that atheists just prefer to leave God out of it, including the singing of Christmas songs as praise.

Answer 6

Christmas as you call it WAS and STILL IS the pagan feast of the winter solstis. 12 days of feasts and parties, long before the roman church stole it to celebrate a birthday that actually is months later.
Jesus was born at lambing time. That in the middleeast is the last week of March and the first two weeks of April, no way december (the loses would be too high)
It is a great pity that christianity, based on an honest prophet (Jesus), aren`t at all honest about all the pagan rituals and feasts they have taken as their own....!!!


So the real question should be why do christians celebrate the pagan winter solstis...??

Answer 7

Some atheists celebrate Christmas because they don't have the bottle to do their own thing, and they 'get p*ssed' and overfed, and still call it Christmas, not Yule or something similar. They whinge about state interference in their liberties, but do sweet nothing about state funding for religious education and state-backed religious festivals. Pure hypocrisy.

Other atheists observe Christmas because they actively hate Christ, Christmas being a Roman Catholic invention designed to assist the cardboard mock-up of Christianity that parades as the real thing. Anything rather than real Christians, thank you.
.

Answer 8

Well, first of all, I get the day off of work and that is something to celebrate. Secondly, why do I need to be religious to enjoy a holiday where I get to give people presents, eat a large meal, and hang out with my family? This date was originally a pagan holiday, then christians hijacked it, now its being hijacked again by the American capitalist system. I celebrate christmas for many of the same reasons I celebrate Thanksgiving.

Answer 9

Christmas, originally a celebration of the winter solstice (a pagan celebration), really has nothing to do - historically - with the birth of Christ. He is believed to have been born sometime in September. The holiday was stolen by Christians.
I celebrate Christmas because it's the most wonderful time of the year...at least according to that song.

Answer 10

It is a time off work to enjoy with your family and have fun if they want to join it it doesn't bother me even though it kind of beats the entire object of Christmas but then again does it? I am a Christan so to me we are celebrating the birth of Jesus but later on the stories of st nick came along and introduced a concept which is about caring for others (giving the poor children toys).
Tradition also plays a big part for some people too.