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They may not find much meaning in the birth of Jesus Christ, but many atheists embrace religious traditions such as churchgoing for the sake of the children, a new study finds.
The research, which focused on atheist scientists, found that 17 percent of atheists in the study attended a religious service more than once a year. The atheists embraced religious traditions for social and personal reasons, they told the study researchers.
Lots of American atheists came from Christian families, or have Christian family members, and we see no reason to stop old traditions...and definitely no reason to seperate Christian family members from atheist family members...so we celebrate Christmas.
Merry Christmas...Ho! Ho! Ho!
Also, everybody likes presents...and Hanukkah is too complicated.
Lots of American atheists came from Christian families, or have Christian family members, and we see no reason to stop old traditions...and definitely no reason to seperate Christian family members from atheist family members...so we celebrate Christmas.
Merry Christmas...Ho! Ho! Ho!
Also, everybody likes presents...and Hanukkah is too complicated.
Being that the Winter Solstice (Christmas) was originally a pagan holiday (as well as the Spring Equinox; aka Easter), I often wonder why Christians celebrate these two dates.
Being that the Winter Solstice (Christmas) was originally a pagan holiday (as well as the Spring Equinox; aka Easter), I often wonder why Christians celebrate these two dates.
We know about the Pagan significance of Christmas & Easter but we do not care. That is just interesting trivia to us.
This might make for an interesting post over in the atheist forum. Not that I'd care to prosletyze there....heaven forbid they think we care about them...
Two things: First, I'll tell you why I celebrate Christmas, then, keeping to the topic of the article you linked to in the OP, I'll tell you why I attend church.
Although I don't believe in God or that Jesus was anything other than a man, I still celebrate Christmas and Easter in my own way. Why?
1) It is a national holiday that is part of our culture like the 4th of July. Look, I am not Catholic, but I still celebrate St. Patrick's Day and St. Valentine's Day. I don't believe in ghosts and goblins, but I still partake in the Halloween activities.
2) All of my extended family still celebrate Christmas. It is a family thing. It is fun to join in all of the festivities and traditions, including giving and getting gifts, and visiting each other. We even still put up our own lights and tree.
3) Many of the Christmas traditions aren't Christian anyway, but have pagan roots, such as Christmas trees, 25th of December, etc. And Santa is far from any religious message as well.
__________________________________________________ _____
I am a Unitarian Universalist. My wife and I left the LDS Church at roughly the same time and shortly thereafter became agnostics/atheists. We wanted to keep all that we liked about our previous lives as Mormons and change and improve on the things we did not like. We both enjoy feeling peace, transcendence, unity, joy, comfort. We wanted to be part of a community that encouraged those feelings through hymns and the sharing of thoughts and experiences, but without supernatural emphasis. I'd rather not have to filter through a bunch of stuff I don't believe that is taught from the pulpit as if it were the undisputed truth. I would not be comfortable with that.
We also wanted to be taught the sorts of things we were now into: environmentalism, skepticism, personal spiritual journeys, justice for all regardless of race, gender, orientation, etc. I wanted a community that I could raise my children in with those values and have mentors for them that would encourage exploration of ideas. I wanted people I could turn to for support during times of hospitalization, deaths, births, marriages, etc. I wanted to be able to unite to accomplish greater good through community service and pressure on legislatures. I wanted to enjoy community pot-lucks, seminars, and functions, etc.
Basically, I wanted an atheist church that valued a non-supernatural spirituality. I briefly entertained the idea of starting my own atheist church, but then I learned that they already exist. So, we visited a local Community of Reason, and I emailed several other secular humanist groups and freethinking "churches", but we found them to be devoid of spirituality and not very kid friendly. They felt more like academic societies with weekly lectures, than a church community. But, then we heard that many post-mormons had found a home in Unitarian Universalism. So, we went to our local one and felt right at home. It was a spiritual community that accepted atheists just the way we are. The sermons prompt introspection and contemplation. I have no fear that my kids will be indoctrinated. I am learning to be more tolerant of others who do have supernatural beliefs.
Unitarian Universalism has no creed dictating that all UU's must believe such and such. Instead, there are seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote:
The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
They may not find much meaning in the birth of Jesus Christ, but many atheists embrace religious traditions such as churchgoing for the sake of the children, a new study finds.
The research, which focused on atheist scientists, found that 17 percent of atheists in the study attended a religious service more than once a year. The atheists embraced religious traditions for social and personal reasons, they told the study researchers.
Why is this in the Christian forum? Seems like it would be better placed in either the atheist forum or the religion general forum.
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