I grew up in a Roman Catholic home and celebrated Christmas religiously (pun intended).  Coupled with my birthday on the 26^th, this time of year has always been my favorite.  But over the years I have gradually moved away from religion to the point where I now feel confident coming out as an atheist and am ready to share my thoughts on the matter with others.  This, however, has left me in a bit of a pickle with regards to my favorite holiday.  I’m now left asking myself whether I should continue to celebrate Christmas or not…

A part of me feels that celebrating Christmas now as an atheist would be hypocritical.  Common knowledge, after all, tells us that this day is a deeply Christian event celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.  It would, logically anyway, be celebrated by Christians and any non-believers would have no reason to participate.

I, however, feel hesitant to forfeit all of the wonderful Christmas traditions which I grew up with and still enjoy to this day.  It’s always nice to take some time away from work to spend time with your family, eat delicious food, share presents with one another, tear into an over-stuffed stocking, sing songs, watch movies, tell stories, put up and decorate a tree, and get lots of discounts on stuff which you really don’t need in the first place.

The best part is… all of those things can be done without the element of religion!

Debunking the “Christianity” of Christmas:

Wanting to know more about Christmas and its traditions, I did some research and uncovered a number of details about the history and origins of Christmas which I found interesting.  Let us consider the following tid-bits:

• The 12 Days of Christmas – German pagan ritual.
• Christmas Caroling – Roman pagan tradition.
• Yuletide – Scandinavian pagan tradition honoring the god Thor (yep, like the movie!).
• Mistletoe – Pagan fertility ritual.
• Santa Clause – Based on a Dutch pagan character named “Sinterklass” but made famous by none other than Coca Cola!
• Christmas Tree – Based on pagan rituals surrounding the Winter Solstice.
• The Virgin Birth Story – Based on the Mother-goddess religion, a very ancient and copied pagan tale. (1)
• December 25^th – The birthday of Jesus is not detailed in the Bible; however, there is evidence which suggests that the church elected this dated due to its association with the pagan celebration dies natalis solis invicti, or the birth of the invincible sun god. (2)
• Etc…

Given this to be true, I believe that Christmas is an amalgamation of traditions which can be celebrated by everyone.  You do not need to be Christian to love and share with others, and quite frankly I find that the above information puts into question the validity of the traditions of this holiday.  Moreover, it feels to me that Christmas today has more to do with Santa and gift exchanging than it does with Jesus and his birth; therefore, I postulate the following:

Two Types of Christmas:

I believe that Christmas today can be seen as 2 separate holidays:

1. A secular holiday focused on family, togetherness, peace, love, gift-giving, bountiful food and good times.
2. A Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, I believe that atheists CAN celebrate Christmas and share in its traditions in a secular fashion.  As for me, this year I will be celebrating Christmas in Guatemala with my girlfriend and my deeply religious host family.  They are wonderful people who, despite our religious differences, have welcomed me into their home and are happy to share new Christmas traditions with me.  If only we could all be so open-minded…

Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!!!

Bibliography:

1) “Can Atheists Celebrate Christmas?” Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111028210315AAbWsVh
2) Fairchild, Mary. “Why Do Christians Celebrate Christmas on December 25?” About.com Christianity. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Dec. 2013. http://christianity.about.com/od/christmas/f/christmashistor.htm