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Merry Christmas from a non-believing padded macro fox :3
10 years ago
I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays :3.
I am an Atheist and you might think it's strange for me, an Atheist, to say this or to celebrate Christmas in any way. But it's actually very common for Atheists to celebrate Christmas. The reason for this is because the vast majority of us enjoy the secular and cultural celebrations around Christmas and we enjoy being with friends and family, gift giving and just having a good time during the Christmas season. For me, being with friends and family is a huge part of why I celebrate Christmas.
Majority of the modern Christmas traditions in our culture are secular with no relation to Christianity or Christ at all. Such as Gift giving, mistletoe, reefs, Christmas trees, yule logs, Christmas dinner, Santa, and many others. In fact, all but Santa have roots in the traditions of the ancient Pagan cultures in Europe based around the celebration winter solstice and as they saw it, the "rebirth" of the sun with longer, warmer days coming soon. The biggest celebrations that influence modern Christmas celebrations are Yule and Saturnalia. Yule is even still the word in some cultures (such as in Swedish and Norwegian the word is Jul, pronounced the same as Yule in English) and is used in some Christmas songs, such as the phrase "Yuletide Carols". In fact, the old beliefs and traditions of Pagan-based cultures shaped much of the elements of Western culture such as the name of our days and months being named after Pagan gods and goddesses (such as March coming from Mars and Thursday coming from Thor) as well as most of the names of the planets.
Hanukkah also just occurred as well and there are many secular Jewish people (aka Jewish people who don't believe in a god but follow Jewish traditions) who also celebrate Hanukkah for the same reason we Atheists do: For the cultural reasons and for friends and family.
This video here does a great job explaining why we Atheists celebrate Christmas and some of the history of the holiday. As well as slapping down some arguments against Atheists celebrating Christmas and the whole manufactured "War on Christmas" BS that happens every year:
http://youtu.be/kenbgMjRvlY
Despite the reason you celebrate this holiday, rather it be secular or religious, have a great Christmas and I hope everyone enjoys time with their families and gets some great gifts :3
I am an Atheist and you might think it's strange for me, an Atheist, to say this or to celebrate Christmas in any way. But it's actually very common for Atheists to celebrate Christmas. The reason for this is because the vast majority of us enjoy the secular and cultural celebrations around Christmas and we enjoy being with friends and family, gift giving and just having a good time during the Christmas season. For me, being with friends and family is a huge part of why I celebrate Christmas.
Majority of the modern Christmas traditions in our culture are secular with no relation to Christianity or Christ at all. Such as Gift giving, mistletoe, reefs, Christmas trees, yule logs, Christmas dinner, Santa, and many others. In fact, all but Santa have roots in the traditions of the ancient Pagan cultures in Europe based around the celebration winter solstice and as they saw it, the "rebirth" of the sun with longer, warmer days coming soon. The biggest celebrations that influence modern Christmas celebrations are Yule and Saturnalia. Yule is even still the word in some cultures (such as in Swedish and Norwegian the word is Jul, pronounced the same as Yule in English) and is used in some Christmas songs, such as the phrase "Yuletide Carols". In fact, the old beliefs and traditions of Pagan-based cultures shaped much of the elements of Western culture such as the name of our days and months being named after Pagan gods and goddesses (such as March coming from Mars and Thursday coming from Thor) as well as most of the names of the planets.
Hanukkah also just occurred as well and there are many secular Jewish people (aka Jewish people who don't believe in a god but follow Jewish traditions) who also celebrate Hanukkah for the same reason we Atheists do: For the cultural reasons and for friends and family.
This video here does a great job explaining why we Atheists celebrate Christmas and some of the history of the holiday. As well as slapping down some arguments against Atheists celebrating Christmas and the whole manufactured "War on Christmas" BS that happens every year:
http://youtu.be/kenbgMjRvlY
Despite the reason you celebrate this holiday, rather it be secular or religious, have a great Christmas and I hope everyone enjoys time with their families and gets some great gifts :3
The original story of Saint Nicholas, a real person, is the origin of Santa. I'm 25 and I still believe in Santa because I know Santa to be a legacy that we keep alive. My parents made sure me and my brother knew the origin of Santa when we were growing up.