| 12/22/2009 8:07:04 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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lefty247
Swartz Creek, MI
70, joined Apr. 2009
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If we accept 12/25 as the birth of Christ, but treat it as a birthday, disassociated from religion, are we being true to the cause? Or hypocrites?
I'm going with being true. But wonder how the rest think?
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| 12/22/2009 8:50:38 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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slightlycrazy
Bryan, TX
75, joined Feb. 2008
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Christmas is a Federal holiday, like Memorial Day and Fourth of July, only the religious people consider it a religious holiday.
For me, it's a day to exchange presents with people I care about. I love the lights and the food, why should I deny myself that just because some people are celebrating the birth of a religious icon, especially since the buybull beaters admit that Dec 25th is NOT jesus's birthday.
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| 12/22/2009 9:14:25 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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gib_bouche_dag
Buttzville, NJ
36, joined Dec. 2009
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I consider myself not religious and I celebrate Christmas simply because my family does. I appreciate what the meaning of Christmas has become for us. We share few gifts, only for the little ones. We enjoy it. And anything that puts people in a genuinely good mood is something that I'm not likely to throw out of my life so easily.
It has become a social convention in the US that has largely shifted it's religious undertones to focus more on commerce. So it isn't really so much of a religious holiday as it is a commercial one anymore.
Whether I continue celebrating it when I finally have children of my own is really up in the air.
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| 12/22/2009 7:57:45 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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skiwino
Redford, MI
55, joined Feb. 2007
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It doesn't have to be religious if you don't celebrate it that way; I say any excuse for a party!
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| 12/22/2009 8:18:55 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
72, joined Mar. 2007
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I agree with the wino and others. I like the lights and tree and giving for children. These things where not celebrated for jesus till a few centuries ago, but have been a sun celebration forever.
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| 12/24/2009 5:56:03 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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goodfriend4u2
Gardena, CA
52, joined Oct. 2009
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Nothin wrong with celebrating Christmas. It means you accept and understand other religious views and the traditions associated with them.
It's supposed to be religious Freedom, not religious control.
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| 12/24/2009 6:50:50 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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slightlycrazy
Bryan, TX
75, joined Feb. 2008
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Nothin wrong with celebrating Christmas. It means you accept and understand other religious views and the traditions associated with them.
It's supposed to be religious Freedom, not religious control.
No, it doesn't mean I understand other religious views.
First of all, for an Atheist, there are no OTHER religious views, that implies that Atheism is a religion, it is not.
I don't understand religion or why people need a religion at all.
I do accept though, that a huge majority of people have been brainwashed into believing that there is a god.
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| 3/5/2010 8:02:40 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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mgdbottled
Suttons Bay, MI
68, joined Jan. 2010
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Christmas is celebrated on the Pagan holiday simply because some drunken insane Roman Emperor dictated that the christian religion shall be the only religion allowed in Rome from that point on and that the Pagan holiday will thereafter be celebrated as Christmas. That was just before the christians totally destroyed what was left of the Roman Empire and brought on six hundred years of misery, known as the dark ages, across Europe. I blame the Romans for letting it happen. They should have never stopped feeding them nuts to the lions. Freaking bastards are still trying to destroy everything and anything they can get their hands on.
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| 3/6/2010 3:49:14 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
72, joined Mar. 2007
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Just as they have in many other countries they forced to become christian, the church allowed the pagan or voodoo holiday's to be called christ something or other, to keep their "converts". So just WHO? is the hypocrite? 
[Edited 3/6/2010 3:49:43 PM ]
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| 3/8/2010 3:23:21 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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logic66
Union Grove, AL
68, joined Nov. 2009
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Just as they have in many other countries they forced to become christian, the church allowed the pagan or voodoo holiday's to be called christ something or other, to keep their "converts". So just WHO? is the hypocrite?::sign please::
i've never seen a christian that wasn't a hypocrite. none of them do what the buybull tells them to do.
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| 3/14/2010 2:52:37 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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chimara
Lake Orion, MI
39, joined Mar. 2010
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i don't celebrate christmas in the sense of religion, i tend to focus on the parts of being close to your family, and friends, and remembering to be nicer to the people around you. Sometimes we just need a reminder of why we bother. Lets face it, we are never gonna survive november and december without having to go through the holiday hoopla. So i make it stand for the parts of humanity that deserve to be acknowledged and celebrated.
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| 3/27/2010 1:20:05 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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mushuukyou
Redondo Beach, CA
44, joined Sep. 2009
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We call it Solstice, as it should be referred to. 
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| 3/28/2010 12:34:50 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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skiwino
Redford, MI
55, joined Feb. 2007
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We call it Solstice, as it should be referred to.
Solstice also has religious context; who cares about semantics? I will go to Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukua, and Solstice celebrations; if it's a party I'll make the best of it.
[Edited 3/28/2010 12:35:15 AM ]
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| 3/30/2010 12:04:14 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
72, joined Mar. 2007
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I agree with you, any reason to get together and parttyy. 
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| 4/12/2010 6:53:24 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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cpsmith419
Burnsville, NC
46, joined Mar. 2010
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I, for one, don't celebrate Christmas, or Easter for that matter. Not just for the religious aspect of it, but from a stress standpoint. While people are being trampled to death at WalMarts around the country, I will be home watching TV, or clipping my toenails. Between the week of Thanksgiving and the day after New Years, I try to avoid stores outside of grocery shopping. As far as using it to get family and people you care about presents...there are 364 other days of the year to do that. You should "uncelebrate" Christmas and celebrate every other day...lol.
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| 4/23/2010 7:54:22 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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airfoceguy
Charlottesville, VA
31, joined Oct. 2009
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what i celebrate on Christmas is washington's victory at trenton nj on 10/26/1776. i dont know if that counts as "celebrating Christmas" or not but if nothing else it gives all of us "Non-Believers" somthing to celebrate during an otherwise cold, bleak month.
[Edited 4/23/2010 8:01:30 PM ]
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| 4/30/2010 7:56:06 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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freezinoutside
Scotts, MI
63, joined Aug. 2008
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Atheists cannot celebrate anything; their gods won't let them.
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| 8/8/2010 9:49:14 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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ashadeofred
Lansing, MI
66, joined Dec. 2007
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I celebrate "joy to all men (and women)" and decorate too. Mostly non religious.....an occassional angel that I think is just too pretty. But as I explained to my mother....I view them as mythical creatures....you know, like unicorns!
I celebrate Easter too....welcoming Spring....with non religious bunnies and eggs!
Thanksgiving.....just grateful for what I have...in my own mind....
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| 8/20/2010 3:48:25 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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alaskaman21
Kanab, UT
56, joined Aug. 2010
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Now that is a good idea and very well put. I am sometimes amazed at the celebrations religious people concoct. As if it were not bad enough that religious beliefs in and of themselves are a form of insanity, they come up with things like Easter, in which, the death and resurrection of their "lord and savior" are celebrated with colored eggs delivered by a rabbit
I like Christmas in that I enjoy the food and friendship, but to me Thanksgiving is just as good.
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| 9/2/2010 8:32:39 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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i_stan
Byron, GA
67, joined Aug. 2010
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Christmas is nothing more than a commercial endeavor . . .
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| 9/3/2010 8:59:52 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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deepthinker_76
Chicago, IL
41, joined Aug. 2010
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I agree i_stan,
It's just another hallmark holiday. But I do celebrate Christmas, because to me it's all about my family getting together and enjoying ourselves. How many people even mention Jesus on Christmas these days. They don't really, even those who are christians barely mention the day as being the birth of Christ. You see more pictures, decorations, and movies about Santa Claus on Christmas then baby Jesus, LOL.
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| 9/6/2010 1:06:12 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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odendin
Burlingame, CA
38, joined Sep. 2010
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santa clause is a creation by coca cola and some guy in europe...
i dont like celebrating it. i like my money.
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| 9/9/2010 12:19:18 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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atheistcat
Frederick, MD
25, joined Sep. 2010
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I still celebrate Christmas and im atheist... it dosnt rly matter 2 me... i could go celebrate w/e holiday i want for any religion & still b atheist lol... not gonna change my beliefs or anything O__o... i used 2 even get Hanukkah presents along with Christmas presents
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| 9/9/2010 2:54:06 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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kaosk
Lynn, MA
25, joined Sep. 2010
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christmas is actually labeled as paganism its a man made holiday along with thanksgiving and new years. religious people are brainwashed and raised ignorant and arent open to the truth. im definetly not religious.
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| 10/14/2010 10:58:25 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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higgy5721
Murcia
Spain
66, joined Sep. 2010
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There is no evidence to support the 25th of December as the birth date of Jesus Christ, but there is a biblical case for placing His birth in the September - October timeframe.
Based on the scriptural evidence, a case can apparently be made that Jesus Christ was born on the 15th day of the month of Tishri, on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which corresponds to the September - October timeframe of our present calendar!
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| 10/19/2010 7:26:34 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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i_stan
Byron, GA
67, joined Aug. 2010
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"Christmas' is an economic endeavor . . . 
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| 10/20/2010 8:36:42 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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lxxero
Media, PA
31, joined Oct. 2010
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When I was younger (err...when I was a teenager with an opinion), I would take a hard core stance on this and kinda say "no religious holidays period" but I've come to realize that you can celebrate culture without relatively celebrating the religion, it depends how "into" it you get. In my family the religious aspect of most holidays usually wasn't taken that seriously anyway, it simply becomes an excuse to have familiar gatherings, but for a while I did completely disassociate with it, now, I don't have as much to prove anymore, so I don't care as much.
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| 10/21/2010 12:40:51 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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loyal7
Jersey City, NJ
45, joined Aug. 2010
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I agree anything that brings people together and makes the children happy can't be that bad.
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| 10/22/2010 4:44:14 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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logonsquestion
New York, NY
40, joined Mar. 2010
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Your an atheist..well do what ever you want to do...
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| 11/10/2010 9:44:48 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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effie23
Mesa, AZ
25, joined Oct. 2010
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We have every right to celebrate Christmas it brings families together. It is a time for family!
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| 11/12/2010 6:19:53 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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dhpc
Polk City, FL
52, joined Nov. 2010
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Can Clinton be a non smoker ( if he is ,I dunno) & still smoke pot???
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| 11/30/2010 1:54:32 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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rutgrrr
Johnsonville, SC
26, joined Nov. 2010
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christmas is about giving gifts to people and stores making money
so yeah atheist can celebrate christmas anyone can its not about religion at all
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| 12/1/2010 9:27:13 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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visualfuel
Grand Rapids, MI
26, joined May. 2010
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Yeah, we can celebrate it.
We can celebrate the philosophy of the character, Jesus.
Ever heard of "Atheists for Jesus?"
While this isn't the reason I celebrate Christmas, I'm sure it could work.
I personally celebrate it to spend time with family, free from work and college for a little bit. I don't find the lights and general atmosphere, although the Santa Clause and religious themes could be done away with, IMO.
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| 12/4/2010 12:29:06 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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zenlite
San Leandro, CA
33, joined Aug. 2009
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I don't celebrate Christmas, but it is worth considering that the holiday itself was a reinvention of Saturnalia to assuage public outrage when that Roman holiday was done away with following the Christianization of the empire. Once one throws in the birth of Sol Invictus and the tree worshiping Cult of Asherah, there are a bunch of holidays that make up the end of December. It is fairly easy to pick any one, or three, as an excuse to gather in lieu of the day Christians like to think is about them.
Humans have always gathered, it is what we do. We do not need a reason to do so and that we live is sufficient cause for a celebration.
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| 12/5/2010 10:11:29 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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timesquare1
Colorado Springs, CO
51, joined Dec. 2010
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What is an atheist? I know I think. He hates religion, the rituals, the crazy the ones that think a man can walk on water the seven days and so on and yet many atheist gaze at the stars and the wonder of it all and I wonder if they would be offended if there was a God and he hated religion all religions all over the world and I wonder if the stars say without words that the wonder is there and is a wonder of wonder of wonders and I wonder too what it all means !!! yahoo search michael c hecht pe for my wierd books only, and "is it him" means little as who was that guy? and anyway what he was and what religion made of that guy could be completely different !! Could it not ?? best !! Mike... so the dude might had been a cool dude or a ?? anyway who cares... Marry Xmas and I believe he was born in April and died at age 25 and he hated his Jew religion by the way and did not invent Christian as that was invented decades after he was chicken fried !!!
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| 1/13/2011 6:57:13 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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ashadeofred
Lansing, MI
66, joined Dec. 2007
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I celebrate Christmas....as good will towards all men/women.
I celebrate Easter....as welcoming Spring.
I celebrate Thanksgiving....as being happy with what and who I have in my life.
Never pass up a chance to be with friends, family, good food, and presents!!
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| 4/9/2011 9:36:27 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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quantumphysical
Monroe, WA
54, joined Apr. 2011
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I celebrate Christmas and Easter with my kids, though I leave out the religious stuff. I let my kids know why others are celebrating, but I also let them know I think that it's based on myths.
Just like people can celebrate Halloween without actually celebrating All Saint's Day the next day (or whatever Halloween is based on... LOL)--nobody thinks it's a religous holiday...
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| 4/11/2011 5:29:52 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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gjlover
Grand Junction, CO
54, joined Aug. 2010
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I celebrate the Pagan aspects of the Holiday. It was Pagan before the Christians Corrupted it for their own purposes.
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| 4/13/2011 2:35:59 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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inkling99
Scottsdale, AZ
35, joined Apr. 2011
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First of all, even if you believe in JC, he wasn't born on December 25th. This date is due to a merging of cultures.
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| 4/27/2011 10:26:15 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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the_raptor
Australian Capital
Australia
39, joined Apr. 2011
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Religious holiday my ass!!
Its just another commercial holiday, and I celebrate it that way, dont believe in the religious side of it at all and thats fine with me!
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| 4/30/2011 4:55:06 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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doeeyes1990
Homestead, FL
27, joined Apr. 2011
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Yes, Christmas is a federal holiday, for one. Plus according to historians and some theorists... Jesus wasn't born until spring anyway... But that is besides the point. Personally speaking, the holiday season is a time I get to spend time with my family... so it's a matter of how you view the day and what it means to you, not what it means to someone else.
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| 5/8/2011 11:26:05 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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intense_city
Aliso Viejo, CA
43, joined Apr. 2010
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I don't mind Christmas time, but don't 'celebrate' it, per se.
Mr. Costanza had it right:
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| 5/12/2011 7:07:39 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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bobloblaw61
Big Beaver, SK
56, joined Apr. 2011
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I see Christmas as a day to exchange gifts with people and celebrate life in general, religion does not enter the picture at all, as it never does anyways for me.
My idea of Christmas is waking up, opening some gift, have a good brunch, start pouring drinks and watch some good football, smoke a big bat and enjoy the day with friends.
Religion is the last thing on my mind Christmas day, and I don't give a shit that some dude was born on that day who people revere, its a day of party and celebrating for no particular reason whatsoever.
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| 5/28/2011 4:35:55 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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deviantkink
Reading, PA
46, joined May. 2011
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Better question: can one be Christian and celebrate Christmas?
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| 5/29/2011 2:48:08 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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gorrrdone
Aurora, CO
41, joined May. 2011
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The celebration of Yule, bringing a lighted and decorated tree into your home, having a feast, burning an extra log, that sort of thing, has been celebrated in many different ways by many different cultures that pre-date christianity by thousands of years.
Christmas, is basically the culmination of many pagan winter solstice festivals, wrapped into one, and conveniently labeled christ, though none of it has anything to do with christ in the slightest. It was part of the early christians way of committing culturecide, so to speak. Take the holidays already being celebrated, and say their christian. Easter is the same way. Easter was just another Pagan holiday that the christians said was theres, but it really wasn't. Hell, they didn't even bother changing the name on that one. Eastre is the name of a Pagan god.
Biblical historians will agree with this. According to the bibles story of the events surrounding jesus birth, it was no where near winter time, let alone right on the winter solstice.
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| 5/29/2011 8:23:01 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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jrock1078
Cincinnati, OH
39, joined Jan. 2010
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Christmas is just another excuse to spoil my kids. And when they visit their grandparents, it's a good excuse to get drunk with friends!
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| 6/3/2011 7:12:48 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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maruli
Mönchengladbach
Germany
68, joined May. 2011
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If people like the holiday, then if could just be given a new name, maybe the CONIFER Day. The other in spring could be renamed as the BUNNY Day.
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| 6/4/2011 5:52:28 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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ynghrt1
London
United Kingdom
71, joined May. 2011
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Yes. I am atheist but was married to a catholic girl. We celebrated Christmas and very often I prayed with her just to make her happy.
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| 6/4/2011 6:29:08 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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duchessa
Yonkers, NY
64, joined Aug. 2008
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Yes. I am atheist but was married to a catholic girl. We celebrated Christmas and very often I prayed with her just to make her happy.
What a phony...!!!!
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| 6/8/2011 2:17:04 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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mojojoe42
Langley, BC
51, joined May. 2011
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Yes. I am atheist but was married to a catholic girl. We celebrated Christmas and very often I prayed with her just to make her happy.
Holy shit, that's crazy!
Sounds like you've got no balls.
But you saying you "were" married and so she figured that out too then.
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| 6/15/2011 9:04:38 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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hello_kitty420
Plainfield, IL
24, joined Apr. 2011
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Well christmas is all about the presents anyway
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| 6/16/2011 5:53:55 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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duchessa
Yonkers, NY
64, joined Aug. 2008
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Well christmas is all about the presents anyway
When somebody prays it's not longer "for presents".
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| 6/18/2011 10:46:18 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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diane832
Union City, MI
65, joined May. 2011
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Atheists cannot celebrate anything; their gods won't let them.
So cute.lmao
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| 6/19/2011 6:00:29 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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duchessa
Yonkers, NY
64, joined Aug. 2008
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I agree anything that brings people together and makes the children happy can't be that bad.
But ONLY if the bullshit side of this holiday is not present. Why to rise children amidst lies?
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| 6/19/2011 6:05:45 AM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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duchessa
Yonkers, NY
64, joined Aug. 2008
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Quote from freezinoutside:
Atheists cannot celebrate anything; their gods won't let them.
Atheists don't have imaginary friends....gee, you are always peeing out of the cup.
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| 6/21/2011 6:09:42 PM |
Can one be an atheist & still celebrate Christmas? |
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4foodfighter20
Wichita, KS
36, joined May. 2011
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why not christians celebrate Christmas and it has NOTHING to do with christianity. December 25th isnt even the actual day their so called Jesus was born.. technically speaking of course
Besides most of if NOT ALL christian religions are stolen from other religions as a way to get those pagans to become christian.
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