The Great Google Atheist Christmas Search

[DavidDvorkin]

The latest post on my blog (link below). I collated the search terms used in Google, etc. to find an essay on my Web site about atheists and Christmas.

Most of the search terms are pretty much what you'd expect, but there are some nuggets in there -- e.g., "why dont jews celebrate christmas" and "kick atheists america".

[NMMNG]

1. You have to watch out for those atheists.

They're trying to kill Christmas, you know. :evilgrin:

[DavidDvorkin]

2. Unfortunately, they're not succeeding

[NMMNG]

3. Maybe because the "War on Christmas" is bullsh*t

Much like 90% of what the RRRW says.

[ihavenobias]

5. I have no desire to kill Christmas

I love celebrating the secular, commercialized version that was born in America despite the objections of Puritans. After all, the vast majority of Americans DO celebrate a secular Christmas despite their supposed objections to it.

Don't get me wrong, I realize plenty of people take it very seriously but I'd bet everything I own that they're in the (relative) minority. For most people it's about the lights, music, cookies, parties, decorated trees, songs and of course, gifts. But you know what?

As an agnostic I also take that time to reflect and appreciate the people I care about and how much they mean to me.

With that in mind, no, I feel no guilt about contributing to the material aspect of the holiday (which again, has pagan/secular roots to begin with) and enjoying the decorations, songs, egg nogg and classic movies.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. It wasn't born in America

It was born in the mind of Charles Dickens.

The marketing of that image was probably perfected in America. We've always excelled at marketing ideas that were born elsewhere.

[ihavenobias]

8. (Shrug)

Yes, but it really exploded here. I don't think we really disagree!

[BlueJazz]

4. I long for the simple days of Festivus and the "Airing of Grievances"...

...., in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. Also, after the Festivus meal, the "Feats of Strength" are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, the holiday only ending if the head of the household is actually pinned.

[lapislzi]

7. I make no apology for my enjoyment of Christmas and the holidays

I don't try to rationalize it away with the "pagan roots" canard. I am an atheist. I enjoy celebrating Christmas. I like decorating a tree and my home; I enjoy exchanging gifts; I enjoy spending time with friends and relatives who I don't see very often. I see no need to put any kind of window dressing on that. My daughter is absorbing traditions and will someday inherit an attic full of gewgaws that get trotted out once a year--just for fun.

It is nobody's damned business whether I buy into this myth system or that one. I celebrate Christmas because I enjoy it. I have little interest in its religious overtones beyond a "hmmm...that's interesting." Whether that makes me a "moral coward" in the writer's eyes is immaterial to me. I don't understand what moral courage has to do with it. I'll be honest--I want to partake of the festivities because they're FUN and a great way to connect with others. If that is moral cowardice, then so be it.

[DavidDvorkin]

9. So that's why you also celebrate Diwali?

And Eid?

[lapislzi]

10. What's your point?

I celebrate Christmas because it's what I grew up with and it's what I like. It's what others around me celebrate, for the most part. I would welcome the chance to observe and partake of Diwali and Eid celebrations, but I know of none.

I do enjoy celebrating Chinese New Year and Passover, for the same reasons as I've already stated. Happy now?

[DavidDvorkin]

11. Mystified, if you consider yourself an atheist

[lapislzi]

12. Are you being deliberately obtuse?

Why can't I enjoy the celebration--of anything--without superimposing a layer of something else? The holidays are fun. I enjoy the traditions associated with them. I reject the supernatural. It's quite simple. Yes, I understand the symbolism, but understanding and appreciating it does not equate to buying into it.

"OK, fine, you're celebrating Jesus' birthday (or whatever.) Good for you. I'll go along for the ride because the celebration is fun in its own right and because I enjoy spending time with you even though I don't accept your beliefs." My Jewish, Sikh, and atheist friends all come to my holiday party along with the Christians. Nobody seems particularly bothered by the Christmas tree in the the middle of the room--and certainly nobody would be so rude as to call me a hypocrite for displaying it. It's pretty, it's fun, IT'S MEANINGLESS TO ME except as a symbol of a time of year I enjoy. There we are, all enjoying a holiday just for the sake of it.

Is that so odd?

[DavidDvorkin]

13. In my view, It's extremely odd

You're celebrating the symbols while rejecting what they symbolize.

[lapislzi]

14. Yup.

If you have a problem with that, it's YOUR problem.

Edit: So in Dave's Universe, we wouldn't be allowed to participate in any celebrations other than those sanctioned by our religion?

What do you make of the pagan aspects of the Christmas holiday, by the way? I assume that if you are a practicing Christian, you don't have a Christmas tree.