Why Do Atheists Celebrate CHRISTmas?

Question

are they oblivious to the fact that it isnt about santy clause aka ole saint nick, reindeers, gifts and eggnog or do they use the holiday as an excuse to spend $14.5 billion in gifts and get time off work?


I could never see myself celebrating a holiday I have no affiliation or belief in just for hedonistic purposes.


hypocrisy?

pagan smagan, you guys still celebrate CHRISTmas and I bet most of you were the first ones in line on black friday buying gifts and CHRISTmas decorations. It being a pagan holiday didnt stop you from spending $14.5 billion did it?

its the celebration of Christ's birth. Despite the date of his actual birth, we are celebrating it on Dec 25th and so are hypocritical atheists that "coincidentally" decide to buy their CHRISTmas gifts to share on Dec 25th even though they claim its a pagan holiday for the son of a so called God that doesnt exist. just come on out and call yourself hypocrites! lol

how can you celebrate the holiday but not the religious aspect???? why is it called CHRISTmas? *shaking my head*

Answer 1

... with hypocrisy because they have no right to celebrate the birth of one they don't believe in.

Answer 2

I'd say there are many professing Christians who pay only lip service to the "Christ" part of Christmas, because there are many consumers of Christian persuasion who would walk over another human being to get at the last gadget that junior wants to see under the family Christmas tree. If Christmas is truly about Christ, then Christians should be appalled at what it has become. It is more a worship of Mammon than of Christ. If I wanted to celebrate consumer frenzy, then I could do that any day I chose. The fact that Christ's name is attached only brings down the religion to the level of the materialistic frenzy the holiday has become. As for why atheists celebrate Christmas, I suppose it may be due to the fact that it is the biggest recognized excuse to party all year.

Answer 3

I wasn't aware that atheists celebrated Christmas, but I'd imagine that those who do aren't focusing on the religious aspects of it - because there's far more to it than Christ's birth (which, coincidentally, has all but been proven to have occurred in Spring or Summer, NOT December!).

I myself am Pagan, and though the religious nature of the holiday is practically meaningless to me, I still celebrate it. For me, the fact that it's a Christian holiday (albeit one based around a Pagan holiday) is far less important than the opportunity to spend quality time with loved ones and spread "peace and goodwill" to loved ones and those less fortunate through gift-giving and charity. Besides, I can honor my family's traditions even if I don't believe what they do.

Seriously, the religious side of it is basically BS anyway. Christmas has only been around in its present form for a few hundred years, and its sole original purpose was to get Pagans to convert to Christianity... Just enjoy the "spirit of giving" and mind your own business. How and why others celebrate shouldn't matter to you, anyway.

Answer 4

No it's not hypocrisy. Not an Atheist, but as a Deist that loves Christmas I can still answer.

Santa is fun. Shopping is fun. Cakes and yummy food are fun. Trees are fun. Decorations are fun. Even cliché holiday songs (when sung by Frank Sinatra) can be fun. BEING NICE AND KIND TO OTHERS AND GIVING THOUGHTFUL GIFTS IS FUN. None of that crap (ok maybe the songs) has anything to do with Christ or god and everything to do with having a good time and celebrating. As to what one celebrates, that's their business.

For those of us raised as "ethnic Christians" it's a habit/ritual that some of us feel no reason to leave behind (especially as family tend to remain Christian and still like our families). Plenty of Atheists kick the xmas habit btw.

Besides the holiday was stolen from Mithras anyway!

Answer 5

It's not hypocrisy at all. Many non Christians celebrate the secular aspects of the holiday. You give it one meaning, we give it others. Non Christians are surely not celebrating the birth of Christ but are still free to celebrate as they choose.

I'd also be willing to bet that the vast majority of that $14 billion was spent by Christians celebrating a Pagan-rooted holiday.

I don't go to work that day because it's a national holiday and most places of business are closed.

Answer 6

People get use to participating in traditions because that's what their families have always done. The true meaning of Christmas isn't celebrated properly by most people, Even Christians... Christmas has become more of a Family togetherness tradition rather than a religious event. So telling Atheist that it's hypocritical of them to celebrate Christmas is ignorant and senseless. They have every right to celebrate a family tradition no matter how they feel about God. I'm sure they are aware the roots to it, but since no one else celebrates it that way they shouldn't have to either.

I bet you Celebrate Halloween without really knowing the traditional meaning behind it...

Answer 7

Yours is a foolish question. Long before there was Christmas, pagans were celebrating this Winter Solstice Season - marking the return of the sun. The better question is "Why do Christians celebrate Jesus' birth at this time of year?" See the answer not far below this one from Catherine E: VT.

Answer 8

It's a Christian adaptation of a pagan holiday, anyway. Besides, it's a good time to get together with friends, get a little drunk and collect some loot. Lighten up.

And if I work Christmas, I get double-time. If that's not a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is.


*edit* You took the name of a Greek goddess as a screen name; Persephone is the queen of the underworld. Interesting. Nice contrast to your Christianity.

Answer 9

Why do Christians celebrate a holiday that was stolen from pagans? NOTHING about the holiday is original to christianity. Why fault someone for spending time with their families exchanging gifts and accepting a holiday when the nation (US) forces it on everyone?

Shouldn't you be welcoming atheists celebrating YOUR holiday - maybe it'll rub off on them? Not.

To stay pagan free during the Christmas season avoid the following:

Decorations * a tree inside the house * candles lit all night (or lights) * exchanging gifts * mistletoe * toasting each other * feasting * gathering family together * burning a Yule log * celebrating a savior's birthday on the 25th * wreaths.........

Added: no, I don't celebrate your Christ at all on any day. We celebrate Yule 12 days and nights. On Christmas day we go to a national park because the world is forced to shut down on xmas day.

As for Black Friday - no, we were decorating our home with natural items like pine boughs, pine cones, candles and handmade ornaments. Our giftings, few and usually handmade don't come from large stores. The majority of my time is spent with Toys for Tots and charity.

Gee, who has the proper spirit of the season, after all?

Hypocrite - isn't that someone who professes to be one thing but acts another way? Like a Christian who attacks others and drives them away with hatred instead of welcoming them and offering love? Why does your profile say that you dislike hypocrites? Your sarcasm, elitism, and lack of open dialog is hypocritical, darling.

Answer 10

Do you wonder why people who never served in the military take Veteran's Day as a holiday?

Or those who have never dreamed of being a politician celebrate Presidents' Day?

Or the non-Italians celebrate Columbus Day?

Or the non-citizens consider July 4th a good day for a cook-out?

I see no hypocrisy in these holidays or their observance, and since it's been determined via tradition and via the centuries old non-Christian celebration of solstice that the time of the darkest nights of the year are to be noted with a festival, we are simply joining with our multiple cultural posterity and doing so.

I suggest you get your head out of your provincial posterior and note that Christianity lassoed Christmas from the pagans a mere 1000 years ago, and that its traditions have more to do to with that past than it does with Jesus' birthday.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 11

I just like being around family, eating good food, and spending a relaxing couple of days with people I care about. I don't see anything hypocritical about that.

I bet you take a long weekend for Labor Day and Memorial Day while only playing lip service to the real meaning. So who is the real hypocrite?