I'm new here and i realise this has probably been discussed a few times before but i would still like to here other peoples opinions on this. I know most of the christmas traditions are taken from earlier pagan festivals such as the winter solstice so there is hardly anything christian about christmas but if most of us want to see an end to religion should we just ignore christmas altogether. Does it make atheists hypocrites if we take part in religous events? Again guys this has probably been asked before but i would be really grateful if I could get some feedback.
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Hey there, Sean. Welcome to the AR. Good to have you with us. Legit question, by the way. However, you are looking at it all wrong, my man. *grin* It is the CHRISTIANS who are being hypocrits for celebrating Christmas (and Easter, especially) as if they were "holy days". Like you said, they were originally pagan days of celebration centered around the seasons and harvests long, long, long before Christianity was ever known. God and Jesus never had anything to do with them.
Besides, Christmas is fun! And you are free to enjoy it in whatever manner you want. Nothing religious about it if you choose. Gather with the family, eat some good food, exchange a few gifts, and have a blast! No laws or rules saying you have to pray over the turkey before you gobble it down. (See what I did there? Gobble..... Turkey..... Pretty good, huh? lol)
Thanks a lot Tin man, I never actually thought about it like that as in the christians are the hypocrites. Funnily enough i never liked turkey.
Christmas is a secular holiday that has more to do with paganism than Christianity.
1. No where in the bible are Christians told to celebrate Christ's birth.
2. No where in the Bible is Jesus said to be born on Dec. 25. A Pagan Holiday
3. The bible specifically forbids cutting trees, standing them in your home, decorating them with gold and silver, singing songs around them and gift giving. All Pagan Ways.
Look at it this way. Let the Christians have Jesus and their nativity and some stupid religious songs. We can keep Santa, His reindeer, Happy Christmas songs about Rudolph, Snow Rides in sleighs, kissing under mistletoe, and jolly ole Santa. We will keep the Christmas trees, the bright lights, wreaths on our doors, funny Christmas cards, and stories like "The Night Before Christmas." We will keep brightly wrapped packages and the giving of gifts. The Christians can have the rest. Who in the hell cares. If Christ missed Christmas this year, NO ONE WOULD NOTICE.
Speaking of Christmas and Santa, where the hell is Bad Santa??? He should be here for this. No doubt he could give us a bit of insight on this.
Hey!.... BS!.... Put down the eggnog and step away from that elf! This is your area of expertise! Get in here!
It would only be hypocritical if you told others not to take part in Christmas festivities, but did so yourself.
You could be an atheist and sing Christmas carols, and it need not be hypocritical.
@Sean toner original post:
Others as well as yourself already covered that Christmas is not really a christian thing and is plagiarized from earlier religions. And yes you can be atheist and still celebrate all the religious holidays, celebrating holidays do not require belief in god.
That said, while I am atheist, I am also anti-theist.
I feel religion does far more harm to the world then it does good, especially lately, in the age of information. Christmas and other holidays can act as a recruitment and loyalty tool, that plays scary well to little kids. Basically a "bribe them with toys and gifts and fun family get togethers."
I think we all can use more excuses to get together with the family and party and have a good time with those that are important to us. But I would love to see these holidays divorced from their religious components and the end of using them as a tool bribe children into religious ideas.
In my earlier career where I got paid by the hour, I always worked the holidays for 2x the pay, and then celebrated the holiday the next available day off I had, so I get the family/friend get together/party, and also pocket a nice chunk of cash.
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Hi Sean, welcome to AR!
Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus or religion, if it had, most likely we would have celebrated it in January like our good, but equally deluded friends from orthodox church.
It's main purpose is to keep the population of turkeys in check and the second is money.
You see, we all heard that god loves us, very, very much, but it seems that he loves money even more, and his servants and big corporations take full advantage of it.
So don't even suggest that we should get rid of it, a lot of money and well being of all those pedophile priests is at stake. Who would want to see them kicked out of their opulent houses and suffer a little bit? (...oh, well, maybe few...)
And I would be out of the job too! Nobody wants that!
That would be totally unacceptable for a lot of grown up children.
Besides we are very busy here at the North Pole preparing all those good AND bad presents. If Christmas is no more, what the fuck would I do with all this shit?
Plus, all the work force I have here, elves and reindeer and such, I would be forced to fire their sorry asses!
Although, in case of Rudolf, I wouldn't mind.
Son of a bitch went out drinking last night dragging half of my crew with him. Imagine the mess in the workshop this morning!
So, NO, Christmas stays! Everybody needs some fun from time to time and that's the way you should treat it.
@Bad Santa
Outstanding! I knew we could count on you to shed some light in this thread!
Now, speaking of gifts, I'm sure you have gotten my request letter by now. And before you even ASK, I will go ahead and be honest with you and tell you, "NO! I have not and will not be a good boy. I refuse! And you cannot bribe me with your presents." Okay, so, that being said, please-please-please make sure I get item number 58! And remember, it should be the deluxe model with the interchangeable appendages. The standard models just get too boring after the first two or three dozen times. Oh, and could you toss in a few extra batteries, too? That would be swell!
Hey Tin
To tell you the truth, I won't even try, you stay baaaad.
It's more fun and also, I'm really sick and tired of those goody goody, sweet, polite little twerps, always hiding behind mommy and daddy and always thinking they're entitled to have everything handed to them just because their daddy was some big dick in some shady company.
And yes, yes, I got your letter. Woo-hoooo, model 58 you sayin'?? *whistling and shaking head*, you have some expensive taste mister!! Did you hear about the newest version (still in Beta) Model 58XBA, eh?? XBA stands for "Extremely Bad Ass", I bet you would love that one!
What the heck, I'll get the crew started on it as soon as I sort out this mess with Rudolf getting drunk last night. And it's not only that no work has been done today, (half the crew is either laying around puking their guts out or shoving snow in their mouths from thirst). The bigger problem is that I'm getting those phone calls from female elves complaining about Rudolf inappropriate behavior at the party...... You see what shit I have to deal with here??? ...
Welcome to AR Sean!
Christmas has become the corporate holiday known as Giftmas. So it's fine to celebrate it. Don't miss out on those deal on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Even if you don’t want to celebrate the corporate parts of Xmas, then you could alternatively just observe the parts of it that are spending time with family and/or showing the spirit of generosity.
Being atheists gives us a lot more freedom when it comes to celebrating holidays like Xmas. Pretty much the only difference in between the way we celebrate it and the way Christians celebrate it is that if someone invites us to go to church or see a nativity with them on Xmas eve, we’ll say “Nope.”
Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate the responses
And im not gonna lie, i laughed at bad santas post
No, it doesn’t make us hypocrites. The reason why I celebrate Christmas is because I think it’s fun, and I observe the parts of it that celebrate the spirit of giving and generosity, and I also enjoy spending time with my family during Christmas. And besides, it isn’t even a fully-religious holiday, because over the years it has accumulated a lot of traditions that one does not necessarily need religious belief to celebrate.
But if you don’t want to celebrate a holiday from an actual religion, then don’t worry! In Pastafarianism (a parody religion), they have this holiday at around the same time as Xmas/Hanukkah that the “Pastafarians” call... Well, “Holiday”. More details are at this site:
https://pastafarians.org.au/pastafarianism/holidays/
Good questions. Since the deaths of me wife and daughters, to be wholly honest, I have not celebrated any holiday. Not even the T-day or the C-day. While married, we did celebrate them, but only because everybody else did. In fact, I have never liked any of the Christian holidays. You see, I have been a die-heard atheist, die-hard anti-theist, die-hard anti-religionist even before I understood what they meant. I never believed in the Bible because it always seemed to be a mush-mash of faerie tales.
However, if you are in a family who does celebrate these holidays, what is wrong with playing along and joining in? No harm no foul.
A couple of holidays me daughters quit believing in and not participating was Easter and Halloween. They thought they were a bunch of bullshit. No not their exact words, but the same.
As far as being hypocritical joining on the religious holidays, no. It is not hypocritical. What the hell is wrong with having some fun and joy with other family members? Reiteration: What the hell is wrong with having some fun and joy with other family members? While me wife and daughters were alive, we still celebrated those holidays, but we looked at it as a means for family and friends to get together and have some fun, enjoyment, laughter, good times. What the hell is wrong with that? Just because me wife and I were atheists still did not inhibit our desire for "good times" these holidays gave everyone. Again, what the hell is wrong with that?
Now off to read other responses...
rmfr
@Sean Toner:
Sean, you should avoid gluttony, drunkenness, greed, anger, dishonesty, hypocrisy, and selfishness during the holy season of Christmas. Only card-carrying Christians are allowed to engage in those sacred Christmas activities.
But by all means go to church and join in the service, remembering to yell out "Ho Ho Ho" when everyone else says "Amen".
@Algebe Re: "Sean, you should avoid gluttony, drunkenness, greed, anger, dishonesty, hypocrisy, and selfishness during the holy season of Christmas."
WELL!.... YOU certainly do know how to totally suck out all of the fun from the holidays! Hmph! Good GOD, man! Where's your Christmas spirit?!?
@Tin-Man: Where's your Christmas spirit?!?
LOL! I left it behind in the Northern Hemisphere. Northern mid-winter binges seem a bit mad up here in the Southern Hemisphere. But even here we've got our share of Xtian wowsers whining about people forgetting the real meaning of Xmas.
Sean toner,
"Should atheists celebrate christmas or any other religous festival"
According to Paul, the creator of Christianity, a believer can celebrate any holy day or sabbath that he wants to and if anyone doesn't like it that is too bad.
Glad to have some new blood on the boards. Welcome.
As it says in Colossians 2:16-17 (NOG) = "16 Therefore, let no one judge you because of what you eat or drink or about the observance of annual holy days, New Moon Festivals, or weekly worship days. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts the shadow belongs to Christ."
Now go celebrate some New Moon Festivals.