Dec 24 2008
An Atheist’s View of Christmas
I do not believe in any god or gods, and, moreover, although I do believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure, I do not believe that it can be ascertained exactly when he was born. Nonetheless, I do not have any problem with the holiday of Christmas, its date, or even celebrating it myself. If you wish me a merry Christmas, I will wish you one right back. Yes, I know that my behavior is exactly contrary to what many Christian fundamentalists have tried to convince you about us atheists. But my approach to Christmas is, in my experience, the most common among atheists.
First, there is no problem with arranging a celebration on any occasion – with gathering with friends and families, experiencing good food, and sharing presents. Second, Christmas has already become so extensively secularized and commercialized that even many Christians celebrate it without engaging in religious ceremony. It seems that Santa Claus, rather than Jesus Christ, is the mythical figure around which Christmas is centered in English-speaking countries today.
Third, numerous pre-Christian cultures had celebrations on or near the beginning of winter. Celebrations of the winter solstice emerged naturally in numerous cultures because, if people had enough food with which to celebrate, this meant that they also had enough to last the winter – when gathering new food was problematic for pre-Industrial peoples. The early Christian church understood the significance of Winter solstice celebrations to those whom it converted. Instead of trying to root out the celebrations – an impossible task that would arouse considerable hostility – the early church officials simply co-opted them by convincing people that the birth of Jesus occurred around the time of the winter solstice. But the solstice celebrations came first.
Contemporary Christmas needs not have a religious component at all, and for many people it does not. And for those who wish to celebrate it with a religious component, this is their free choice. So long as no coercion is involved on the religious front, I have no objection to people, including myself, celebrating Christmas in public.
Sincerely,
Gennady Stolyarov II
thank you for introducing me to this site. i’d never heard of it. i read somewhere that there isn’t any historical record of jesus christ. i also read that the bible tells it’s readers not to celebrate christmas. i still can’t get past the parents lying to their children about santa claus when it’d be just as easy to write ‘from: mom and dad” on the card.