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God is most assuredly a figment of man's imagination (and an unquantifiably harmful figment at that), and Jesus - if he did exist - was nothing more than a political dissident. Those are my firm and long-standing beliefs. And I also 'religiously' celebrate Christmas - the decorations, the tree and presents, the songs, the food, all of it.
Confused? That's probably understandable - after all, none of my Jewish friends are celebrating Ramadan to the best of my knowledge - but I can truthfully pronounce that there is no hypocrisy or cognitive dissonance happening on my side of things. In an increasingly secular nation, I am certainly not alone in living a life entirely devoid of spirituality and religion while also greatly enjoying and partaking in the holiday season (this of course does not even mention the heavily secular nations of Western Europe, where Christmas is also a major celebration.)
A very significant part of my habits in this area, of course, are simply rooted in cultural upbringing. I was raised in a Protestant Christian household, and it would be silly, dishonest, and quite noticeably superficial for me to attempt to forcibly and entirely divorce my lifestyle from all traces of religion. While I thoroughly and unequivocally reject the notions of faith, spirituality, and a metaphysics of "Creation" - along with the historical and scientific validity of 99.999% of the fables of the Bible - there are certain cultural manners in which my life and living habits have been harmlessly molded by religion that I do not plan on changing, nor probably could ever change even if I so desired. For example, if I am exasperated in a situation, I'm likely to utter "Oh Jesus Christ!" in disgust or despair - a firmly ingrained cultural speech marker that I have no intention of trying to shed. Likewise, If I adopt kids one day, they most certainly will not be raised religiously but they will hunt for dyed eggs on Easter and wake up on Christmas morning to open presents. Those things, to me, represent cultural events not primarily rooted in the advocacy of religious principles or the acknowledgement of the truth of any religious dogma. Christmas, as I celebrate it, has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus (an iffy event at best, anyhow); it is a cultural event, something I have always participated in since being a young child, that carries a positive secular value (more on the exact nature of that secular value below.) In the same manner, I find great joy in celebrating Halloween each year while certainly not thinking even once about its underlying, ancient Celtic origins.
Even if we analyze the underlying history, though, we realize quickly that Christmas is a most un-Christian event in its modern incarnation. Beyond any room for historical refute is the fact that the Christians essentially expropriated the essence of this holiday from various pagan celebrations of the Winter solstice, most of which were taking place many hundreds of years before the emergence of the Christian faith. And the highly commercialized nature of Christmas in the United States was essentially a government-promoted by-product of the massive and widespread industrial wealth created in the years following the Civil War. Indeed, for all of the nonsensical ruckus that the right-wingers predictably create each year about something as trivial as the use of the phrase "Happy Holidays", it should be noted that this "most holy" of holidays was not even a particularly big deal in most of the (Christianized) West until quite recently; few people are aware, for example, that celebrations of Christmas were actually banned in England during the 17th Century.
But even given my upbringing and the "interesting" history behind the event, the primary reason why I continue to participate in the holiday season is a remarkably simple one: Christmas represents one of the most unabashedly upbeat and positive periods of the year, a short window of time in which politeness and benevolence are not only expected but generally flow forth from many people in voluminous quantities. Nearly all of the thoughts from my schema associated with Christmas are remarkably positive and generally represent the very best of humanity: love, kindness, generosity, and charity. Furthermore, like most American kids one of the most positive recurring memories from my childhood is waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents under the Christmas tree (not to mention the myriad associated traditions such as baking cookies for Santa, tasty eggnog during the month of December, participating in the Christmas parade, the great music, and those lovely decorations, among many others.) When all of the connotations that you associate with an event are overwhelmingly positive, it is fairly illogical to discontinue participation in that event.
Over the next month, Americans will be subjected to the usual putrid display of hysterical right-wing bigots decrying any use of the phrase "Happy Holidays" and militant secularists proclaiming in response that any celebrations associated with Christmas represent yet another attempt to impose a religious agenda on a fundamentally secular nation. Both sides have it wrong, I think, and could greatly benefit from sipping some eggnog and realizing that spreading happiness and goodwill need not be a point of contention. If we all can't at least agree on that principle, then perhaps we really are screwed beyond hope.
Tis' the season, after all, and some people would benefit by acting like it is.
A very significant part of my habits in this area, of course, are simply rooted in cultural upbringing. I was raised in a Protestant Christian household, and it would be silly, dishonest, and quite noticeably superficial for me to attempt to forcibly and entirely divorce my lifestyle from all traces of religion. While I thoroughly and unequivocally reject the notions of faith, spirituality, and a metaphysics of "Creation" - along with the historical and scientific validity of 99.999% of the fables of the Bible - there are certain cultural manners in which my life and living habits have been harmlessly molded by religion that I do not plan on changing, nor probably could ever change even if I so desired. For example, if I am exasperated in a situation, I'm likely to utter "Oh Jesus Christ!" in disgust or despair - a firmly ingrained cultural speech marker that I have no intention of trying to shed. Likewise, If I adopt kids one day, they most certainly will not be raised religiously but they will hunt for dyed eggs on Easter and wake up on Christmas morning to open presents. Those things, to me, represent cultural events not primarily rooted in the advocacy of religious principles or the acknowledgement of the truth of any religious dogma. Christmas, as I celebrate it, has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus (an iffy event at best, anyhow); it is a cultural event, something I have always participated in since being a young child, that carries a positive secular value (more on the exact nature of that secular value below.) In the same manner, I find great joy in celebrating Halloween each year while certainly not thinking even once about its underlying, ancient Celtic origins.
Even if we analyze the underlying history, though, we realize quickly that Christmas is a most un-Christian event in its modern incarnation. Beyond any room for historical refute is the fact that the Christians essentially expropriated the essence of this holiday from various pagan celebrations of the Winter solstice, most of which were taking place many hundreds of years before the emergence of the Christian faith. And the highly commercialized nature of Christmas in the United States was essentially a government-promoted by-product of the massive and widespread industrial wealth created in the years following the Civil War. Indeed, for all of the nonsensical ruckus that the right-wingers predictably create each year about something as trivial as the use of the phrase "Happy Holidays", it should be noted that this "most holy" of holidays was not even a particularly big deal in most of the (Christianized) West until quite recently; few people are aware, for example, that celebrations of Christmas were actually banned in England during the 17th Century.
But even given my upbringing and the "interesting" history behind the event, the primary reason why I continue to participate in the holiday season is a remarkably simple one: Christmas represents one of the most unabashedly upbeat and positive periods of the year, a short window of time in which politeness and benevolence are not only expected but generally flow forth from many people in voluminous quantities. Nearly all of the thoughts from my schema associated with Christmas are remarkably positive and generally represent the very best of humanity: love, kindness, generosity, and charity. Furthermore, like most American kids one of the most positive recurring memories from my childhood is waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents under the Christmas tree (not to mention the myriad associated traditions such as baking cookies for Santa, tasty eggnog during the month of December, participating in the Christmas parade, the great music, and those lovely decorations, among many others.) When all of the connotations that you associate with an event are overwhelmingly positive, it is fairly illogical to discontinue participation in that event.
Over the next month, Americans will be subjected to the usual putrid display of hysterical right-wing bigots decrying any use of the phrase "Happy Holidays" and militant secularists proclaiming in response that any celebrations associated with Christmas represent yet another attempt to impose a religious agenda on a fundamentally secular nation. Both sides have it wrong, I think, and could greatly benefit from sipping some eggnog and realizing that spreading happiness and goodwill need not be a point of contention. If we all can't at least agree on that principle, then perhaps we really are screwed beyond hope.
Tis' the season, after all, and some people would benefit by acting like it is.
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