are hypocrites. How can you celebrate a day which is about the birth of jesus christ, who you do not love, care about or follow?
The answer I usually get from this is 'The presents' then they laugh off the question.
Your still spending money funding corporate conglomerates who twist your arm up your back to make you think you need all these presents to celebrate a day which you do not believe in.
44 comments
Uhhh, no. I celebrate the Winter Festival.
Christmas isn't a christian holiday, you monumental douchebag.
How can Christians celebrate something which has incorperated so many "pagan" themes? You're grossly misinformed if you think the day belongs to them. As people coverted to Christianity they brought their cultural influences with them and it melded together to create many of the customs they now celebrate. Likewise, when someone coming from a society that celebrates Christian holidays changes their religion, they are likely to take many of those themes they grew up on and put a twist on what it means to them. It's not the end of the world - Get over it.
Uh, it's not enough just to spend one day a year giving gifts and enjoying the company of your loved ones? You people have to try and cram your superstitious Jebus woo in there too? I mean, it's not like Xmas was a Christian holiday to begin with.
While I agree that corperations are greedy and gouge prices during the winter, you're forgetting one slightly important thing;
CHRISTMAS IS A PAGAN HOLIDAY. The bibles never says anything about when Jesus was born.
However, since you're being such a douchebag about it, when I have kids, we'll do everything the same, except call it 'Winter festival'.
I'm Pagan and celebrate the Winter Solstice. My atheist wife celebrates that with me because she figures the rhythms of nature include her. But we love giving presents and being around (some of!) our family, and if the reason for that is Christmas, we'll take it.
@ BrokenMatchstick: We also celebrate Festivus, and we always hated Seinfeld! Really, we just love celebrating. If you ask us to come to your Diwali or Eid al Fitr celebration, we'll do that, too.
I celebrate it because, families come together. Presents, to others yes. But to me, I don't mind. Anyway, please check up origin of Christmas, on a non Christian site.
First and foremost: not that it's any of your business, but have you considered that some of us are ex-Christians who still celebrate it with friends and family. The mere difference is that we don't celebrate the religious aspects of the festival, merely the secular and cultural. Which for us means getting together with friends/family, eating a bunch of rich food, and swapping presents.
Second, Christmas has been unendingly commercialised anyhow. And it was largely the doing of mainstream Christians since World War II.
Third, Jebus wasn't the only "saviour" born on 25 December--what about Horus, Krishna, and Mithras?
@Broken Matchstick
As do I, but I'm the only one in my family who celebrates it. So, it makes the Airing of Grievances and the Feats of Strength really interesting...
Christmas is not part of the Christian tradition, no matter how many morons think that it is. It is an attempt to stamp out the winter solstice celebrations, and to be honest, the Christian celebrations are often more wholesome than what people used to do.
I don't buy ANY presents at Christmas and don't encourage anyone to buy me any, but I do visit and celebrate with my friends and family. If I was going to buy someone a present (1) I would buy someone something that they really needed, not another box set of DVDs or something. (2) I wouldn't wait till Christmas to do it.
I don't believe that Jesus was actually born in December, no. His birthday was moved to recruit pagans, but most details in the story would not make sense being at that time if you actually know anything about either the Roman empire or the Middle East.
That being said, it's nice to have a day to spend with your family and exchange gifts, and unless you all have the same birthday why not make it the one you're getting off from work anyway?
I think of christmas as a good excuse to spend time with my family. I also donate money to charities (small, community based charities). As for presents - HATE presents with a passion! Too much stress trying to find the right gift, spending money on useless crap, buying "revenge" gifts...too much! As for this jesus fellow it's not my fault his followers changed the purpose of the winter solstice festival.
And what about you and halloween? Halloween goes agianst almost everything a christian believes in, but you and your family most likely celebrates.
The answer I usually get from this is 'The Trick or Treating' then they laugh off the question.
Your still spending money funding corporate conglomerates who twist your arm up your back to make you think you need all these bags of candy to celebrate a day which you do not believe in.
Check mate.
Actually Jesus wasn't even born on that day, if he existed at all, the Roman Catholic Church absorbed a pagan celebration in an attempt to steamroll other religions and cultures.
I consider it a time for family and generosity, thanks. Something Jesus wouldn't have liked anyway, seeing as he constantly demanded people abandon their families in order to be his disciples.
"Your still spending money funding corporate conglomerates who twist your arm up your back to make you think you need all these presents to celebrate a day which you do not believe in."
No I believe in the 25th December, it definitely exists.
Actually, people were celebrating midwinter festivals long before Jesus was born. You do know that many of your 'Christmas' traditions are actually pagan survivals? Of course you don't.
By the way, can you show me exactly where in your bible it says that Jesus was born on December 25?
As far as I'm concerned, Christmas has always been an excuse to see friends and relatives and eat too much with them, particularly the ones I don't see often. Back when I was a kid, Christmas was one of two or three times in the year when I could be sure that I'd get to see my favourite uncle, aunt and cousins. And now that I have left home, as have my little brothers, and that my parents divorced, this is pretty much the only time I can go home and be sure to see them all.
As for presents, I do enjoy getting them (and to an extent I rely on them to help maintain my financial balance: a bit pathetic maybe, but as my OCD and back problems make it next to impossible to work...), and it is a convenient opportunity to give them in person.
I celebrate the end of the year, the promise of a new one, of light returning soon.
I do believe in the Winter Solstice, as I have experienced it every single year. First it gets darker and darker, the days get shorter and shorter. When it's at its worst you go to work when it's dark and you come home when it's dark, you only see day-light through office windows and during the weekend. Then, after the Winter Solstice, it gets lighter and lighter, and life and hope returns. Then, at the Summer Solstice, when we dance around a phallic symbol with flowers in our hair, and drink snaps and eat lots and lots of herring, it almost isn't dark at all, the sun just thouches the horizon and starts rising again. And, after that it becomes darker and darker again...
You can enjoy the benefits of Christmas without being a christian, douchebag. And it's a little hard for me to celebrate the Winter Solstice in December because I live in the southern hemisphere. So I call it Christmas, even if it has fuck all to do with Jesus.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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