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There was no 'sometimes' option so I checked 'no'.
Growing up I had no religious schooling and we had family gatherings at Christmas. I enjoyed it as a child and grew to resent it.
My birthday is the same week and it got overshadowed by Xmas.
I'm not materialistic, but I found it to be quite the slap in the face to be given a single gift designated as a Xmas/birthday present.
It was not about getting one gift vs two. I'd be totally happy with just a birthday present.
Along came my husband, his birthday is the 24th. He shares the same b-day woes.
We focus more on our birthdays than Xmas. Afterall, try having a birthday party at that time of year! No one comes because they are with family.
I tend to not like holidays for so many reasons, yet at the same time, there are holidays that we have gatherings just because it's that time of year and we make it what we can.
I celebrate Christmas by sleeping in. The decorations are pretty and I do look forward to seeing them during that time of the year, but I'm too lazy to put up any myself.
I am in two minds about xmas. As an atheist it holds no meaning for me however traditionally I was brought up with a large family tradition of food, presents, xmas tree and all the merriment of the season.
In NZ we don't have Thanksgiving so our major holiday is xmas. It's a time for family and we always had very large family gettogethers. Being here in the US away from my family the season makes me feel terribly sad. I avoid it as much as I can.
I have such mixed feelings towards this time of the year.
I do. Fun, fun. On Tgiving I am remembering the indigenous Americans and how many more Europeans would have died than actually did, if not for the help of "the locals." That much is absolutely true. I realize Native Americans weren't "invited" to the first Thanksgiving, but they came and they brought what they considered to be the main course (deer) so it's not like they crashed empty-handed or anything.
I'm not being politically correct there or anything. That's how I've thought of Thanksgiving really for as far back as I can remember. Though rife with inaccuracies, what our schools always taught us kids about Thanksgiving was that we were grateful that the Native Americans saved an early colony from starvation. That's always how it was presented, and I grew up in a very Catholic area!
I am grateful to live in the U.S. and who knows, had things been different in the early Colonial years I might not be. I am not specifically grateful to any god. I am grateful for the whole thing, rather...my hard work; my husband's hard work; my grandparents coming to the U.S.; ...really, I'm grateful for circumstance plus hard work that allow me to live my life as I do today.
Christmas: Oh big fun! This one is awesome. Of course we celebrate it quite secularly but that is no problem as the overwhelming majority of Christmas isn't about Jesus (as has been gone over and over and over on this and many other threads, and elsewhere). It's not like we have to "deliberately" leave that particular mythology out. Nor do I have any illusions that the rest of what we're celebrating is mythology; there's nothing wrong with a fun little myth or two!
We don't go overboard. We're smart about it. It's not the gifts per se that "make" Christmas (of course we get them for the little ones); it's everything...fun music, mid-winter celebrating to break things up, yummmmmmmmmmy food, seeing people we haven't seen in forever, green trees, pretty lights. And so on.
I only do because of my parents. They'd be mortified if I didn't come over on Christmas day to celebrate with them. Of course, they don't know I'm an atheist. If not for them, I definitely wouldn't bother.
There was no 'sometimes' option so I checked 'no'.
Growing up I had no religious schooling and we had family gatherings at Christmas. I enjoyed it as a child and grew to resent it.
My birthday is the same week and it got overshadowed by Xmas.
I'm not materialistic, but I found it to be quite the slap in the face to be given a single gift designated as a Xmas/birthday present.
It was not about getting one gift vs two. I'd be totally happy with just a birthday present.
Along came my husband, his birthday is the 24th. He shares the same b-day woes.
We focus more on our birthdays than Xmas. Afterall, try having a birthday party at that time of year! No one comes because they are with family.
I tend to not like holidays for so many reasons, yet at the same time, there are holidays that we have gatherings just because it's that time of year and we make it what we can.
I have four kids. My sons birthdays are Dec 20th, and the 21st. I have always made sure they feel that their birthdays are separate from Christmas. Nothing that has to do with Xmas had any part in their birthday. I always had their party the beginning of Dec, so others would come.
My 8 yr old, who turns 9 on the 20th, had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese already. I have always felt bad for kids whose birthdays were anywhere near Xmas. Sorry you went thru that.
Answer to the OP: Yes, I celebrate Christmas. Not as a religious holiday, didn't even celebrate it as such when I was a Christian. Why? Because I love it. I love everything about Christmas. I'm a Christmas nerd.
Why didn't I celebrate it as religious, even when I was a Christian? Just don't believe it is Jesus' birthday, nor felt the need to celebrate His birthday. The nativity scene always made me laugh, since it is soooo wrong, and no one seems to care.
Xmas is what you make it, so I don't buy the claim that it's a hollow, commercialist day of disgust and loathing. If that's what the 24th is to you, well, shame on you for not making better use of your time on that day to make yourself happy!
The religious aspect means absolutely nothing to me. But having an opportunity to spend quality time with my family means EVERYTHING to me, and I celebrate the occasion from that point of view.
I don't find anything wrong with giving gifts to loved ones on occasion. I love the arts and crafts aspect of Xmas- the pretty wrapping paper and ribbons, decorating the tree with hand-made ornaments, and enjoying all the lights on peoples front lawns- best of all laughing at the exceptionally gaudy displays.
Any excuse for a great family meal is a good one, IMHO. You don't need to be religious to enjoy a fine home cooked meal. I'm making prime rib this year.
Last edited by Alkonost; 12-07-2011 at 01:52 PM..
Reason: typos
Do you celebrate Christmas? If you do why? If not why? Anyway I know 2 people that are western that don't celebrate Christmas and the reason why one of them states it is because he says he is pagan, other states he not an christian.
I am thinking about throwing yet another party, this one called "Independance Day in December" As a kind of statement about the "Christmas in July" Commercialism that several stores (and at least one church) pitch
We could set up a room with all the red white and blue and then go outside and blow off all those left over fireworks from the 4th of July. It is always warm here anyway so we can fire up the grill and play a dvd of the John Phillip Sousa story or anything with John Wayne And no exchanging of Christmas Gifts or the like foduring this party. We will save that for your choice of the upcoming Hanukkah, CHristmas or Solstace parrty ...whichever one you drop by for.....
(Festivus of course, does not center around the commercialism of the season)
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The decorations are pretty and I do look forward to seeing them during that time of the year, but I'm too lazy to put up any myself.
