I sort of feel like, religious or not (I’m not), it’s a cultural holiday.
We always celebrated double-Christmas when I was growing up because my parents both had different traditions they wanted to honor. We did Christmas Eve for my mother - which was a very, very German holiday. There was a giant cedar, candles as lights on the tree, and the meal was a traditional German one. Christmas Day was for my dad and was a very, very middle-American holiday. There was a giant pine, multicolored lights, and the meal was a traditional American one (turkey with all the traditional sides).
These days, since I don’t have children, we mostly spend the holiday hanging out with family and getting involved in double-barrelled holiday meal eating. There are a few gifts, which are mostly courtesy gifts because my mom likes to have things under the tree to unwrap for everyone.
Ex-Catholic secular humanist here, and yes, I celebrate Christmas. But Christmas has become such a secular - not to mention consumerist - holiday, that I don’t feel like I’m being hypocritical. We do a tree, stockings on the mantel, lights on the roof. Mrs. SMV, who still retains some lingering residue of her Lutheran childhood, likes to go to church on Christmas Eve. So do I, for the bells-and-smells aspect. And I like singing “Adeste Fidelis”, “Hark, The Herald Angels Sing” and “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”. I don’t need to believe to enjoy the beauty of a Christmas Mass.
We were practicing pagans back in the 90s and so got in the habit of celebrating the Solstice. When we finally admitted we were Atheists we kept the habit because we figured we were at least celebrating something real, the start of day getting longer again.
We do a tree, but with the sun at the top.
We do presents.
We have a big meal.
We just do it on the 21st or 22nd depending on the year.
It’s kind of nice having the 25th as just a free day to play with all our new stuff.
Recovering Catholic here, married to another atheist raised vaguely Lutheran. We have a 10 year old, raised without religion, but who likes lights, food and gifts.
As mentioned above, it’s not a Christian celebration—despite the name—and people who pretend that it is are just promoting a hollow conceit. That said, 90% of what is done in the name of Christmas is just annoying bullshit.
We do Christmas,but we don’t do it like Christmas cards. My parents are double-lapsed Catholics (plus UU on my mom’s side). I’m in my late 40’s.(No kids.) The Fella is in his 60’s. (Three adult children/ one grandchild.) My sister is in her thirties and has no plan to have kids.
We celebrate it as a time to get together but not in a religious way. This year we’re going to a movie (we’ve done it before (usually after drinking all night) so my sister and I fell asleep a few times)
We don’t do gifts anymore which is such a pressure off. (No one has kids. Kids & gifts are Christmas crack.)
When we get together with the grandchild it will be crazy awesome and fun.
Like all the others, I view “Christmas” as a secular event in our mostly secular country.
Yes, it has some genuine Christian roots. It also has Roman pagan roots. More of the former roots still show above ground for many Americans than do the latter roots. But it’d be darn stupid for anyone to seriously claim the Christian roots are better or more valid than the Roman ones. One of my favorite signs around this time of year says “Let’s put the Saturn back in Saturnalia!”
Do I celebrate the modern cultural & commercial aspects? You bet.
When I was 9 or ten, a friend asked me, “You and your family don’t go to church, right?”
“Sure,” I answered.
“So you don’t celebrate Christmas,” he said.
My response: “What does Christmas have to do with going to church?”
If I believed in a non-Christian religion, sure I wouldn’t celebrate Christmas. But I don’t believe in anything, so I put up a tree, send out Christmas cards, and bake cookies for my favorite bartenders.
I hate most modern Christmas songs, though. I first heard “Christmas Shoes” while having a cavity drilled, and it still fills me with loathing and horror. Give me an old fashioned song, like “Christus natus est.”
Atheist, raised Catholic. I celebrate all the secular stuff, and will participate in quasi-religious stuff if I’m at someone’s house. That is, I’ll sing a carol or two, but I won’t go to Mass. Well, I might go to Mass sometime, but it would be as “an event to watch” rather than a religious ceremony to participate in. Just like I’ve been to Seders, and put on a yarmulke and even asked the 3 questions when I was the youngest person there. Oh, what I would do these days to be the youngest person anywhere!!
I grew up in a mildly Christian home that observed a secular Christmas. I’m an agnostic who’s stuck with the family tradition of the non-religious Christmas.
I only “celebrate” Christmas in the sense that I’m forced to, so I vote no. I don’t have a reasonable choice as to whether I’m going to receive gifts or attend dinner with my family. I don’t like celebrating anything on a recurring basis regardless. Celebrations should be for one-time events.
I certainly don’t mind Christians celebrating Jesus’s birthday on Christmas, but it’s clearly a secular holiday in every way that matters.
All the cool traditions have non-Christian roots.
Even most people who self identify as Christian primarily celebrate the non-Christian elements of the holiday.
Jesus’s birthday isn’t even in December.
I can see how the name superficially makes it appear like a Christian holiday, but that’s pretty weak unless you also feel uncomfortable enjoying Thursday when you don’t worship Thor.
Frankly I can’t see any good reason not to celebrate Christmas if it’s a part of your culture’s secular tradition, like it is in the U.S. and so many other countries. It makes as much sense as not celebrating Thanksgiving because you’re non-Christian.
