How do you celebrate Christmas?

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Jared Alesi's picture
How do you celebrate Christmas?

Some Christian sects don't celebrate Christmas, like Jehovah's Witness, and of course not every atheist is super excited about celebrating a purportedly Christian holiday, for understandable reasons. But everybody's different, so what do you do? Any non-Christian theists feel free to join in as well.

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Old man shouts at clouds's picture
I haven't 'celebrated'

I haven't 'celebrated' Christmas since my 14th birthday. I have celebrated, partied and coincidentally it has been December 24th to Jan 6th. But that's it a coincidence. In the last 30 years I've managed to avoid partaking of the whole christmas/yule/hannukah thing entirely. Until comparatively recently as an entertainer December was a very busy time for live shows and thus good income from revellers, last 15 years as a writer and occasional performer I can thumb my nose from the sidelines. My family of step and foster kids all have had the good sense to be atheist and so we this year will enjoy a quick afternoon meal together at eldest step daughter and then for a nap at home.

algebe's picture
I get drunk and curse at the

I get drunk and curse at the TV every time Santa or a clergy-twat appears in some news item. Then I load my gun for elephant and go hunting Santa Clauses at the mall. (Well that's just a fantasy.)

I am the Grinch. I am Malvolio. I am Scrooge. Bah! Humbug!

Jared Alesi's picture
Well you sound fun around the

Well you sound fun around the holidays.

Streetz's picture
i do it like every other

i do it like every other hallmark pagan ritual based american except i know better. Im in it for the off days at work family food and gifts im pretty sure most "Christians" aint thinking about jesus when there oping a gift or any of the shit that goes with it

Aposteriori unum's picture
I do absolutely nothing. I do

I do absolutely nothing. I do find it annoying though.
Number one: christmas music is garbage
Number two: the ritual of buying gifts for people on one random day of the year is dumb.
Number three: the decorations are obnoxious and wasteful.
Number four: for my hemisphere it means winter has just begun and I hate the cold.
Number five: Santa claus
Number six: it's the same thing every year.
Number seven: it's too long... It's one day but people act like it's the day after tomorrow in November
Number eight: the Christian half of the holiday... Who celebrates the birthday of a long dead guy that, in all likelyhood, never existed? Oh, Christians... The blood magic, human sacrifice cult. Right.
Number nine: people say stupid things like: seasons greetings and happy holidays and they pretend to be happy even if they're miserable.
Number ten: people are miserable. It's cold (unless you're in Australia in which case disregard), people get sick, people stress out over gift giving and family get togethers or vacations somewhere, stores are crowded... It's a mess.
Number eleven: can't they come up with some different songs already? How long must we ensure the aural assault? How long? (Redundancy for assurance purposes)

Jared Alesi's picture
You just stated all the

You just stated all the reasons I hate Christmas.

Triumph's picture
Aposteriori Unum==Do they

Aposteriori Unum==Do they call you Scrooge????or just an unhappy person

watchman's picture
I wouldn't call it

I wouldn't call it "celebrating" anything actually......

I just follow the time honoured traditions of the midwinter feasts ...... food , drink... family.

Pakana's picture
I have a thing for Christmas

I have a thing for Christmas music.. Might be because I was a choir girl for four years and all we did was practise Christmas songs. So I do still listen to songs, but that's about it for me. And I also agree with Aposteriori Unum: Christmas music is garbage. Most of it, at least.

But other than the music, I spend time with relatives, eat good food (sometimes even traditional Christmas food), and I visit cemeteries to place some candles on my relatives' graves. None of my relatives mention God or Jesus during Christmas, even if they might still believe.

algebe's picture
I get irritated when

I get irritated when newsreaders comment after a news items about a car crash or murder that it must be terrible for the victim's family that it happened at Christmas. So what's a good time of year to lose a loved one?

Big George's picture
Yeah, like after every

Yeah, like after every (religiously motivated) terrorist attack, politicians tweet that "the victims are in our prayers"

Prayers ????

It's praying and worshiping imaginary deities that brought such tragic& sickening behavior.

Aposteriori unum's picture
Besides that; saying " I'll

Besides that; saying " I'll pray for you" is really functionally equivalent to saying: "I'll sing a song for you. "

watchman's picture
@AU.....

@AU.....

You mean something like this ...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDST-tHEV5w

(and that's the closest you'll get to "seasons greetings" from me ......... for all the old hippies )

CyberLN's picture
Thanks for that memory :)

Thanks for that memory :)

Flamenca's picture
Family, friends, food,

Family, friends, food, alcohol... after some I can even sing Christmas carols hehe. Although I don't feel excited but also annoyed about the consumerism and fake joy, I always try to have some fun anyways.

Sheldon's picture
I'm fairly neutral about the

I'm fairly neutral about the whole business, and love watching the grandchildren reach an hysterical apotheosis of excitement. However one thing about xmas does bother me, it's when crass loud boorish people with no dress sense and festooned in tinsel aggressively and loudly tell anyone who is not minded to join in their insanity that they are a 'killjoy'. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that the murder rate, like the suicide rate, spiked over the xmas period.

My long standing theory is that people without the wit and intelligence to enjoy their lives in any meaningful way for the rest of the year, can blend into this absurdly crass show of jollity without being noticed by most people, and become pugnacious when they see people who are quite clearly happy and content enough so that they don't need to pretend they're jolly and fun people with a nauseous crass showy overcompensation.

How long before someone tells me I'm a killjoy I wonder?

Tin-Man's picture
@Sheldon

@Sheldon

KILLJOY!!! (Sorry. Had to end the suspense. It was killing me.) LOL

chimp3's picture
My parents are visiting. My

My parents are visiting. My mother is first generation Syrian-American. I learned to cook from my Syrian grandmother. My mother has been asking me to cook some of the comfort foods of our childhood. Dolma, Kibbi (raw and cooked), Tabouli, Mujuddara, Lubi B'zeit. So, I will spend this weekend cooking. I have been perfecting a Bacon Baklawa. It may be a first, I don't know. I will cook this Saturday Mujaddara and a Greek Spanikopita. My parents are Pentecostal, my Brother a Deacon in the Baptist church, I consider Christmas a Winter Solstice celebration. Happy Solstice /Happy Festivus Everyone!

Sky Pilot's picture
You had better watch what you

You had better watch what you say or someone will whack you =

"Bell Ringer Beaten After Wishing Man ‘Merry Christmas’"
“I greet everybody, 'Merry Christmas,'” said Rev. Jamie Wolfe, Sr.

Sadly, those two simple words got this bell ringer knocked out.

“He haymakered me, hit me, got me down on the ground and we started wrestling, at that point I’m fighting for my life,” Wolfe Sr. said."
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2017/12/20/bell-ringer-beaten-merry-chris...

"Muslim woman attacked with broken bottle after saying 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry Christmas'
Assailant allegedly smashed beer bottle over the back of her neck and threw rocks at her"

"A Muslim woman was reportedly subjected to a brutal verbal and physicial attack after her alleged attacker said "merry Christmas" but she replied "happy holidays".

Police are investigating reports the man stole the woman's headscarf after the incident at the Beeliar Village shopping complex in Perth, Australia.

According to the Islamophobia Register Australia, the assailant smashed the 33-year-old woman over the back with a beer bottle after the exchange."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/muslim-woman-attack-smashed-bott...

Can you do a Trump?

"Donald Trump’s holiday cards uses EXACT ‘politically correct’ ‘happy holidays’ language that he has railed against on campaign trail"

"When it comes to the holiday season, Donald Trump has all of his bases covered.

The Christmas card the 2016 front-runner mailed to supporters this week uses the exact "politically correct" language he has consistently railed against on the campaign trail.

The bombastic billionaire's garland-tinged card reads, "Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays."

"We are, together, going to make America Great Again!," the card states. "I Love You All, Donald J. Trump.""
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-xmas-card-happy-holidays-...

Tin-Man's picture
HAPPYNEWMERRYTHANKSCHRISTMASG

HAPPYNEWMERRYTHANKSCHRISTMASGIVINGHOLIDAYYEAR!!!..... *TWHACK--- sound of breaking glass*.... Hey! What the fuck??? That shit HURT! Medic!!!

Sky Pilot's picture
Just say that you have to go

Just say that you have to go boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

MCDennis's picture
Family, friends, food,

Family, friends, food, alcohol and gifts for loved ones, especially loved one children.

bigbill's picture
Well I go to mass since I am

Well I go to mass since I am a Roman Catholic then I visit some friends and then I go home and cook a wonderful dinner. I feel if you have total unbelief in a God, Then that just brings things down to the natural world. And tell me who doesn`t need an escape from this existence. The natural world only allows for taxes sickness and eventually death. That is so gloomy a life to experience

algebe's picture
Agnostic Believer: "That is

Agnostic Believer: "That is so gloomy a life to experience"

The natural world is full of wonders that you'll never experience while you're blinkered by religion. Why do you think god is necessary for friendship, family, and good food? Existence isn't a prison that you need to escape from. It's a great adventure.

bigbill's picture
if you only have this

if you only have this naturalistic world of existence you then have nothing only taxes sickness and eventually death my friend.

algebe's picture
@Agnostic believer: "you then

@Agnostic believer: "you then have nothing only taxes sickness and eventually death my friend."

"My friend" sounds really condescending. We're not friends.

Taxes, sickness and death are everyone's lot. Two of them can be minimized and one can be postponed. LOL

But since you presume to know so much about my life, I'll tell you that have seen more, been more, done more, learned more, thought more deeply, lived wider, helped more people, and known greater joy and deeper sorrow than you and the entire congregation of your benighted little church.

bigbill's picture
lol you and all naturalist

lol you and all naturalist are living an empty life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why are you boasting about this worlds experiences. The fact is without god we have no life. he is the purveyor of all that is good for humanity. All the things you described above will come to an end if not already. But if Christianity is correct then life begins at death.

Tin-Man's picture
Re: "But if Christianity is

Re: "But if Christianity is correct then life begins at death"

If you believe that, AB/DC, then why haven't you started living yet?

algebe's picture
Agnostic Believer "why are

Agnostic Believer "why are you boasting about this worlds experiences"

Because it's better than boasting about a sky-fairy over the rainbow in cloud cuckoo land.

"he is the purveyor of all that is good for humanity."

LOL. "Purveyor" is an old-fashioned word for a shopkeeper, pedlar or trafficker. I won't be buying anything in your god's shop. He charges too much and doesn't give any guarantees for the stuff he sells. And he really needs to check on the behavior of his employees.

"Life begins at death". No death begins at death. If Christianity's wrong we'll never know, will we?

Aposteriori unum's picture
Well, it's most likely wrong.

Well, it's most likely wrong. Until you provide at least a shred of evidence that it might be true then everything you've said is vacuous.

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