An atheist's question about Christmas?

Question

I have never had a Christmas tree before. My parents were JW's so I didn't have one when I was a kid. I have seen them in stores, but I never put one together before. What in the heck are they supposed to look like? I don't have all the packages under there like at the department store. I don't have all those round shiny things either. I just have a tree and some lights. Now what? I put some candy canes on there, but it looks kind of like, I don't know, it just well, it's white for one thing, and all the lights are blue. Okay? I confess, I don't know how to do something. How do I make this look good? Also, believe it or not, my very Catholic wife put out a nativity scene with the figures that are about five inches tall right next to my Hot Wheels. Dangit, you don't think the baby Jesus will go for a spin in my 1970 green and white Plymouth Roadrunner, do you? I don't get this Christmas display stuff. Explain it to me. Please?

Answer 1

Well my friend, you and I are precisely in the same boat this year :) It’s been a few years since I moved out and quit being a JW, but this is first year I’ve ‘done Christmas’. I wanted to put in an effort this year because I was tired of feeling like crap at Christmas...

I felt rather muddled and had no idea what to do, but I ended up making my own tree. It's woven out of these reed thingys and looks quite cool. Took me about week to make the damn and I was thoroughly sick of it by the time I'd made it. I'm very proud of it and sooooo badly want to send photos of it to my parents :P

It's best to stick to just stick to a few colors when it comes to decorations. Wind the tinsel and or lights around the tree so that each stripe looks parallel to the previous. Scatter the decorations between the stripes of tinsel/lights. You should buy some baubles (thats the round shiny things ;p) or other things, like little bells, stars, pine cones etc. If the lights are blue and the tree is white, get red or metallic decorations.

Don't look at it as a chore...have a drink or two and just muck around with it. Get your kids to help if you can.

Just have fun with it...that's the point. I wish you a very Merry Christmas my friend...

Answer 2

You can find some inexpensive decorations at your local Dollar Store - whatever you think looks nice or makes you feel good. Candy canes are a great start. Some colored beaded garland also help show off the lights. When you're first starting a tree can look.... less than those you see in the store - so what? Build up your ornament collection as you go, that's part of the fun.

Just relax and enjoy. Every tree is different. For example, as a heathen family, there are no angels or nativity scenes on or near our tree. Find what works for you.

Answer 3

Actually, these days it seems like Christmas is even more an atheist holiday than a Christian one by seeing all the commercial buzz and fancy house decorations and such. Most of the activity you see or read about during this time of year has absolutely NOTHING to do with either CHRIST or CHRISTIANITY, which means it is therefore pagan or atheist activity even if it is not recognized as such due to the enduring stigma of those words in our culture. So in effect if you are atheist it is not Christmas you are celebrating on December 25th each year, but rather the most basic social institutions of family and community, just as the ancient pagans did with their Winter festivals, which had nothing to do with Christianity, but from which Christianity adopted some traditions and symbols like the Christmas tree. As you can see from the above explanation, "Atheist Christmas" is a misnomer.

Answer 4

Put the lights on first. Put as many as you can. The more lights, the prettier.
Try to evenly spread the shiny ornaments around the tree so they catch the lights nicely. Make sure to put some deeper into the branches, too, because they reflect the lights and make it appear even prettier.
Put your favorite ornaments right in the front, as close to eye level as possible. Try to keep really fragile ornaments away from the bottom branches if you have children or pets.
Get the ornaments on first, and then do the candy canes. You want the candy canes on the top layer because people will be pulling them off to eat them, and you don't want them to be inadvertantly taking the ornaments off with them.
Just try to spread things out evenly and have fun with it.

Answer 5

Your tree sounds just fine. Of course, many people I know just go with the "put as much junk on the tree as possible" unspoken guideline. Tinsel, lights, more lights, bulbs, ornaments, popcorn strings, homemade decorations, a train on a track going around the bottom, candy canes, and whatever else you can find. Just remember to spread out the tree's branches if it is fake. Otherwise it will look scraggly. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a Charlie Brown style Christmas tree.

Answer 6

Cheer up. It's a pagan festival or a combination of several of them. Roman Saturnalia, followed by Northern European Yule (New Year). Celebrating life, the turn of the season, birth and coming plenty. The Christian bit is an add-on, like the corporate commercialization, so you don't have to let it get you down, and can add on what you want. Just drink, eat, and be merry with whoever - and enjoy while you can the improbability of human survival, largely in spite of all the fantasies we've harbored across the centuries. There has to be something good in all that inventiveness!

Answer 7

A white tree with blue lights sounds lovely. Get some inexpensive blue ornaments to hang also, it will go very well.

The tree is a symbol that came to us from the Northern pagans. The evergreen was the only plant to survive the harsh northern winters, and became a symbol of everlasting life. We put lights on it to celebrate light in the darkest time of the year. Ornaments represent an acknowledgement of the gifts we give to and receive from life.

As a non-Christian I leave you to deal with the nativity scene... can't help you with that one. We used to have a little one when I was a kid, and set it apart from the presents. Never bothered me.

Answer 8

If this is a serious inquiry let me know..I have pictures of what REAL christmas decorations are supposed to look like..
the deal about baby jesus takin a spin makes me think you are still on that beach partaking of the herbal rites
♥FA

Answer 9

When in doubt, use tinsel... sparkly!

Seriously, just put whatever you want on there. It's supposed to be a fun thing, not an exercise in perfectionism.

Here's a few common crafty things you can do...

Get a needle and thread, and lots of popcorn, and make a garland.

Spray pinecones with adhesive, or brush with rubber cement then sprinkle glitter on them and attach a string to hang them.

Answer 10

I like to tie string around those tiny bottles of Jack Daniels, and hang those all over the tree.

Maybe throw some Mardi Gras beads on there.