Christmas

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, or Whatever

~ thepoisedatheist ~ Leave a comment

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate Christmas.  Seasons Greetings to those who don’t celebrate Christmas or do celebrate Christmas but personally prefer a more inclusive greeting this time of the year.  Same goes for Happy Holidays or whatever holiday/winter season greeting you can think of.  Let’s be clear though.  There’s no war on Christmas as the Christian conservatives will make it out to be.  I’m an Atheist who celebrates Christmas and even before I declared myself an Atheist, 99.9% of our Christmas celebration activities were secular in nature.  I love Christmas.  I love the lights.  I love gift giving.  I love spiked drinks.  I love a fireplace in the cold weather.  It’s a great time of the year.  Sometimes I say Merry Christmas and sometimes I say Happy Holidays.

What all of us need to remember, Atheists and Christians alike, is these are simple greetings in which intentions are almost always good.  It’s ridiculous to be offended if someone says Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays.  If you’re offended, and assuming the person saying it isn’t saying it to be an asshole to you, your offense at Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays makes YOU the asshole.  😊

So I end with this.  Merry Christmas.  Seasons Greetings.  Happy Holidays.  Happy Winter Solstice.  Happy Boxing Day.  Happy New Years.  WHATEVER.  Just enjoy this time of the year and be nice to people!

War on Christmas Update

~ thepoisedatheist ~ 2 Comments

It’s been a few weeks, but by now you’ve likely seen that Bill O’Reilly, prominent Fox News opinion show host, was ousted due to claims of sexual harassment.  What does this mean?  It means the War on Christmas is over!  We’ve taken dowm the Christian right’s ring leader!  Christmas is officially over!  Death to Christmas!  Now what?  Let’s bring the war to Easter!!!

Satire off.  Of course there was never a war on Christmas and Atheists are in no way trying to get rid of Christmas.  Most of us love Christmas because everything most people celebrate is entirely secular.  Present!  We all love presents!  The War on Christmas was started by O’Reilly as a way for him to push his agenda.  His agenda of what?  His agenda to make millions and his followers were suckered into it.  Thank the make believe god he’s finally off the air.

Happy Holidays!

~ thepoisedatheist ~ Leave a comment

I’ll keep this short today.  Today is Christmas Day.  Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you have a great day.  I’m an Atheist who celebrates Christmas.  Everything we do is secular.  I expect I’ll receive a few Amazon Kindle gift cards from family.  What will I use them on?  Well, I have a list of Atheist books I’ve had my eye on for a while.  This will be the perfect opportunity to purchase and read them!

Successful War on Christmas

~ thepoisedatheist ~ Leave a comment

We’re now a month past Christmas and I would like to take a moment to thank all Atheists out there for their hard work to make this year’s war on Christmas a huge success.  This year we stopped nativity scenes on private property, closed down all church Christmas Eve services, made it illegal to say grace at your own dinner table, and once and for all made it a punishable crime to say Merry Christmas.  Wow!  I never imagined we’d eventually win the war on Christmas and now it’s suddenly here!  Oh…wait.  None of those things happened nor do Atheists care that Christians do all of these things.  What you do on your own time on your own property is your own business.  Sigh.  Oh well, there’s always next year’s war on Christmas to look forward to! </sarcasm>

To Say Merry Christmas or Not?

~ thepoisedatheist ~ Leave a comment

Christmas Day arrives in two days and we’ve all likely been told ‘Merry Christmas’ several times.  In addition, we’ve probably been told ‘Seasons Greetings’ and/or ‘Happy Holidays’ among other common sayings.  Should you, as an Atheist, be upset if someone says ‘Merry Christmas’ to you?  Let’s consider two scenarios.

Scenario One:  Let’s assume the person has no clue you are an Atheist.  In this case, no, it’s ridiculous of any Atheist to get mad at this.  The person doesn’t know and probably isn’t even aware that ‘Merry Christmas’ can hold strong religion meaning to some.  They’re probably just saying it because they are surrounded by others who say ‘Merry Christmas’ and it simply seems to be the right thing to say around Christmas.  Many people don’t even realize there are other holidays in December and assume that Christmas is the only holiday everyone else is celebrating.  You don’t have to say ‘Merry Christmas’ back.  Say something along the lines of ‘Thank you and happy holidays to you too.’  That’s it.  Say it back nicely.  🙂

Scenario Two:  The person saying ‘Merry Christmas’ is well aware you are an Atheist.  Maybe they are saying ‘Merry Christmas’ to rub it in.  Maybe not.  After all, most Atheists celebrate the pagan aspects of Christmas (which include most aspects of Christmas).  Even if they are trying to be mean and/or snarky, reply back very politely ‘Thank you and happy holidays to you too.’  Again, that’s it.

No one should be upset at a holiday greeting from another person as long as that greeting is genuine and said in a polite manner.  Who cares if someone says ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Seasons Greetings’???  They are all polite greetings from one person to another.

So this holiday season, I encourage all Atheists and Christians (and everyone else!) to be polite to each other regarding holiday greetings.  There’s no reason to pick a fight over a simple greeting.

Atheists and Christmas

~ thepoisedatheist ~ 1 Comment

Christmas is quickly approaching and if you’re a non-believer, you may have already been asked what you do at Christmas.  So what do Atheists do at Christmas?  From what I’ve read in Atheist books, blogs, websites, message boards, social media sites, and my own personal experience, Atheists do the exact same thing as a majority of Christians.  Atheists celebrate Christmas by spending time with family, exchanging gifts, and enjoying some time off from work.  That’s it.

There’s nothing magical, mysterious, or scary about Atheists celebrating Christmas.  In fact, a large majority of Christians celebrate Christmas in a non-theistic, pagan way.  Think about what most Christians do at Christmas.  They put out lights, set up holly/ivy/mistletoe, put up a tree, exchange gifts, send out cards, celebrate Santa Claus for kids, etc.  All of this is pagan for the most part.

Sure, some people set out a nativity scene or images of a white Jesus living in the Middle East, but for the most part, most of what people celebrate at Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus Christ.  In fact, it’s very unlikely Jesus, if He existed, was even born on December 25th.  Celebrating Christmas on December 25th has to do with the Roman Catholic Church defining that day of celebration for many reasons having nothing to do with Christ.  In fact, there’s strong evidence Jesus was born during the summer months.  For more information, check out:

When Was Jesus Born?

Regardless of your beliefs, it’s fine to celebrate Christmas.  However, don’t criticize Atheists for celebrating Christmas unless you are only celebrating the Christian aspects of Christmas and nothing else.  My advice?  Celebrate Christmas.  Enjoy the time with family.  It’s a great excuse to give gifts to others and receive gifts from them!  YOU GET PRESENTS!!!  Celebrate Christmas!  LOL!  If you’d rather not, that’s fine too.