Sooo...who is atheist here?

[letswastemoney]

Not that I am... I was just wondering if anyone here is atheist, and if so, do you still celebrate Christmas? If so, why is that? I mean..it's a Christian holiday..

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

Not that I am... I was just wondering if anyone here is atheist, and if so, do you still celebrate Christmas? If so, why is that? I mean..it's a Christian holiday..

which part is christian?

the tree? the lights around the house? the exchanging of gifts?

humans celebrated this season together long before jesus. did you ever wonder why it's right around the winter solstice?

i love xmas. just because i don't believe in the supernatural doesn't mean i wouldn't enjoy a chance to share time with family and friends.

[letswastemoney]

Originally Posted by hi_im_god

which part is christian?

the tree? the lights around the house? the exchanging of gifts?

humans celebrated this season together long before jesus. did you ever wonder why it's right around the winter solstice?

i love xmas. just because i don't believe in the supernatural doesn't mean i wouldn't enjoy a chance to share time with family and friends.

It's supposed to be about the birth of Jesus.

The exchanging of gifts relates to the story in the Bible where the 3 men traveled a long way to witness the birth of Jesus and when they got there, they arrived with gifts.

I understand there was winter solstice though before Christmas. I wouldn't mind if they called it Winter Solstice again.

[AeWingnut]

like many things

Christmas was a pagan holiday before it was claimed to be the birthday of our Lord

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by AeWingnut

like many things

Christmas was a pagan holiday before it was claimed to be the birthday of our Lord

yes, it was. the modern christian holy days occur when there were once pagan celebrations. it was to help make conversion to christianity easier to accomplish....hey, instead of going to your festival, try ours for a change. pagans used to have a winter solstice festival-they celebrated the sun on that day. interesting when you think about it.
no one knows when jesus was actually born. among other things, the council of nicea, held by constantine, set christmas in december.

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

It's supposed to be about the birth of Jesus.

The exchanging of gifts relates to the story in the Bible where the 3 men traveled a long way to witness the birth of Jesus and when they got there, they arrived with gifts.

I understand there was winter solstice though before Christmas. I wouldn't mind if they called it Winter Solstice again.

i think even for a devout christian it can be less about the literal birth of jesus than the figurative return of god's glory to man. that he came to suffer for our sins because we couldn't find our way back to god's glory without him is a beautiful story that connects on many levels. it doesn't last 2000 years otherwise.

i celebrate xmas because it's part of the sea i swim in.

but i don't have to believe someone in ancient greece actually flew on wings made of wax and feather's to understand what the larger message in the myth of icarus was.

and if everyone around me was celebrating man's first flight and it's tragic consequences on 12-25, i'd still participate even if i wondered why everyone was taking it so literally.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by hi_im_god

which part is christian?

the tree? the lights around the house? the exchanging of gifts?

humans celebrated this season together long before jesus. did you ever wonder why it's right around the winter solstice?

i love xmas. just because i don't believe in the supernatural doesn't mean i wouldn't enjoy a chance to share time with family and friends.

a cool yule-everyone has heard that... yule logs were also a pagan happening. the tree was germanic in origin. our 'traditions' are an amalgamation of many cultures.

[dellinger63]

Learned today the Poinsettia was a wild flower from Mexico that got marketed by some dude named Hickey who sent free ones to the Carson Show, Bob Hope, Dinha Shore Shows and Better Homes and Gardens. Today the grandson of the founder sells 50 million of them yearly.

[herkhorse]

not necessarily an atheist, but definitely not affiliated with any religion, however, there is a great B-ball game on right now and the in-laws have finally left....can I get a Amen?!.....

[GBBob]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

Not that I am... I was just wondering if anyone here is atheist, and if so, do you still celebrate Christmas? If so, why is that? I mean..it's a Christian holiday..

To Christians, it's a Christian Holiday...to me it's a Holiday about family, the spirit of giving and yes..a vacation.

If you want to celebrate the Birth of Christ or whatever it is you believe...go for it. Just don't rain on my parade, or the Jews, Muslims, Druids, etc

Happy Holidays

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by GBBob

To Christians, it's a Christian Holiday...to me it's a Holiday about family, the spirit of giving and yes..a vacation.

If you want to celebrate the Birth of Christ or whatever it is you believe...go for it. Just don't rain on my parade, or the Jews, Muslims, Druids, etc

Happy Holidays

To reiterate what others have said, I celebrate Christmas as a time for family, love and brotherhood...it corresponds with our celebration of Yule (Winter Solstice)....one of eight sabbats which equally divide the "Wheel of the Year". History tells us that early Christians set the birth of Christ close to the Winter Solstice to avoid persecution, from our point of view, any celebration of peace, love, brotherhood and belief in the Almighty is worthwhile.

[letswastemoney]

If you think about it...we can spend time with our families any weekend. It seems weird to me that a certain time period is designated for people to go to their families, and everyone just follows it.

I know..I'm the Grinch who stole Christmas it sounds like lol. I'm thinking way too hard about this.

It just seems like if society can tell us what to do during a specific time period, then what can't society tell us?

It's like we don't have a mind of our own. It seems that if 90% of the world wanted to jump off a cliff, most of us here would agree to it.

[Rileyoriley]

I would jump off that cliff if I had to spend every weekend with my family.

[FGFan]

Originally Posted by Rileyoriley

I would jump off that cliff if I had to spend every weekend with my family.

We could hold hands and jump, I don't really like heights but would be forced in this scenario, cause I would too....

Hope you had a nice christmas DebODeb!!

and everyone else too!!

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

If you think about it...we can spend time with our families any weekend. It seems weird to me that a certain time period is designated for people to go to their families, and everyone just follows it.

I know..I'm the Grinch who stole Christmas it sounds like lol. I'm thinking way too hard about this.

It just seems like if society can tell us what to do during a specific time period, then what can't society tell us?

It's like we don't have a mind of our own. It seems that if 90% of the world wanted to jump off a cliff, most of us here would agree to it.

society can't tell me nothin' man! i'm a rebel as you can tell by my goatee, tats, piercings and fashionably ragged clothes.

[GBBob]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

If you think about it...we can spend time with our families any weekend. It seems weird to me that a certain time period is designated for people to go to their families, and everyone just follows it.

I know..I'm the Grinch who stole Christmas it sounds like lol. I'm thinking way too hard about this.

It just seems like if society can tell us what to do during a specific time period, then what can't society tell us?

It's like we don't have a mind of our own. It seems that if 90% of the world wanted to jump off a cliff, most of us here would agree to it.

Doesn't that equal religIon/god?

[Rileyoriley]

Belated Merry Christmas Hossy!!!