Celebrating the Holidays

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Rick and Ralphy, you boys are pretty articulate for kids with such poor reading comprehension.

I'm an agnostic and I celebrate Christmas because it's a time when I can spend time with friends and family. And, to be honest, I get a lot of time off of work. That's why I look forward to it. I don't even consider the religious aspect of the holiday - it does not cross my mind at all.

EB Scrooge wrote:

Rick and Ralphy, you boys are pretty articulate for kids with such poor reading comprehension.

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aghere wrote:

I'm an agnostic and I celebrate Christmas because it's a time when I can spend time with friends and family. And, to be honest, I get a lot of time off of work. That's why I look forward to it. I don't even consider the religious aspect of the holiday - it does not cross my mind at all.

To my point, you're not really celebrating Christmas then, are you? You're basically enjoying a winter break, not unlike students. Is it safe to assume you don't exchange gifts or put up decorations? If you do, why? What is the purpose of such things if you aren't celebrating a holiday.

I'm not trying to be argumentative. It just seems that if one is not a Christian, then he wouldn't have any reason to celebrate anything related to Christmas.

christmas is more of a corporate holiday now than a religious one i think. if you buy gifts and like winter than woop-dee-doo its Christmas. i dont think the media really depicts this as a religious holiday.

Santa and his elfs, Rudolph, Frosty, Christmas trees, mistletoe, Jingle Bells, presents, and 90% of the stuff modern people do for Christmas don't have anything to do with religious belief one way or the other, any more than you have to be a Catholic to get drunk on Mardi Gras or Irish to get drunk on St Patrick's Day. Personally, I had a blast celebrating Bastille Day with a bunch of drunks in France one summer and I'm not French!

And conversely there have been plenty of Christians like the Puritans who founded New England, who rejected all of the customs associated with Christmas because they thought (and were probably right) that most of them were really pagan customs.

If people like celebrating Christmas -- and most people think it's pretty fun -- more power to them, regardless of their religious beliefs. I don't know why everyone has to get so serious worrying about whether to have a celebration.

I'm not religious, but I like getting gifts, saying merry christmas, christmas cookies, and etc....

You're correct. I don't celebrate Christmas; I celebrate a few days off of work where I can spend time with friends and family. We do exchange gifts and put up xmas lights. Now that I think about it, I just do it because it's what we've always done since I was a little kid. You've got me thinking that there really is no rhyme or reason for it :) It's harmless, of course, so we'll continuing doing it until the government bans outdoor xmas lights.

I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!''

I'm an atheist and I don't do anything to personally celebrate Christmas - I don't decorate my house or have any holiday rituals. My boyfriend and I don't exchange gifts.

I exchange gifts with my parents and call them on Christmas day because it's meaningful to them that I do those things. However, I do not visit them in person because it is a very religious occasion for them, and I draw the line at going to services or pretending to pray. Fortunately, they are in agreement that the best times to visit are on non-holidays when the airport is less busy.

In the past, I have spent the day with some other non-religious relatives who celebrate a time of family and vacation rather than a religious occurrence.

EB Scrooge wrote:

Rick and Ralphy, you boys are pretty articulate for kids with such poor reading comprehension.

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