For those of you that don't believe in God, how do you deal with Christmas? Do you still celebrate it? If so, what are you celebrating? Is it still a special time for you because of getting together with family and friends? Just happy you get off of work? If your family goes to church do you go with them during the holidays? Do you make a stink about it or not? I’m not attacking anyone’s beliefs just curious how the Christmas holiday goes for those that don’t believe in it.
Well this should be fun. First off, my ultra religious parents never celebrate Christmas, so there is that. I never had Christmas growing up. But we usually get the family together and have dinner sometime around Christmas. I went to church with my Sunday morning. I made no stink. Now as an adult, I guess we "celebrate" it with my wife's family. Meaning we go to her Mom's house, visit with family, have dinner, and open presents. As my daughter gets older, I'm sure we will "celebrate" Christmas as a family. We will have dinner, open presents, decorate the house/tree, etc. We will just keep all the religious stuff out of it.
No judgement passed but I find it interesting you will still celebrate the Christmas time with your daughter.
Christmas can be a time of family, spiritual or both. It isn't just about spiritual nor would you not celebrate it because you, your spouse or both not believe in God. Tim
I have a hard time believing in a supreme being but if people do that's fine by me I never pass judgement on anybody for it. I celebrate Christmas and always have. It's more about being with family and having a good time. My wife is a religious person and came from a catholic family. She follows the whole birth of Christ and that meaning of Christmas but she has never went to midnight mass. She does go to church on some Sundays but not most. She asks me about once a year if I want to and the answer is almost always the same. The time off of work is nice but sometimes it's hard to get the stuff done that you need to because of everyone being shut down. On the same lines as the thought I do wish everyone a Merry Christmas and not happy holiday.
I have celebrated Christmas since I was born and did the whole church thing as well until I got older and my parents no longer pushed me to go. Now I beleive people are celebrating more for the family experience and the gift giving.
It's mostly because of my wife. I don't really care about Christmas, as I never had a Christmas growing up. I'm pretty apathetic about it. But my wife has many fond memories from her childhood surrounding Christmas, and thus, wants to provide our daughter with those same memories. That is fine by me.
I believe that Christmas has evolved to a point there is a separation between spiritual Christmas and cultural Christmas. In my opinion even those of us who do believe in God have some what separated from spiritual Christmas as well. Yes we still claim we "know the reason for the season" yet fall under the cultural and commercial spell of Christmas as well. If us believers truly only associated it with the birth of Christ we would limit our celebration only to spiritual things. We wouldn't par take in such things as office parties or an over abundance of gift giving or the lore of Santa Clause personally I have no issue with non believers celebrating Christmas. Regardless if people see it as a religious event it is a peaceful time and brings out good in people and brings people together. How can that be wrong ? Today it is looked upon as a bad thing for children not to receive gifts at Christmas......whether they are believers or not Honestly I hate to think of any children not receiving gifts . If all of us........religious people include .....only saw Christmas from the religious / spiritual side we wouldn't have bell ringers or Angel trees to provide gifts to needy children. Instead you'd pick a child's name off a tree and take that child to church.......
This is it exactly. Like it or not, Christmas is much more cultural than spiritual nowadays. Santa isn't mentioned anywhere in the bible. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
People been celebrating the Winter solstice for years before Christianity coined Christmas as a holiday. So I guess if you don't believe in the Christian holiday you can always light a bone fire on a high hill, eat a lot and drink too much...
Honestly anymore Christmas is just another day. We still get together and have a small family dinner. Growing up when my dad was still around it was more of a big deal since we'd go to my mom's family for lunch and dad's for rest of day. Since dad passed away almost ten years ago we don't see his family much and the other side is down to my grandparents and two uncles that come to my moms. So its kinda just about spending time with family but that's about it. We never went to church growing up and most holidays weren't ever a big deal because my dad was a over the road trucker. About the only time I guess I attented church regularly was the three months I was in boot camp and the main reason for that was to get out of the barracks for a couple hours on Sunday and not get messed with. So the religious part of it has never effected my family, guess it was always just about spending time with everyone. Like said though anymore its just another day like any holiday really. Working construction I'm usually not doing much this time of year so csnt even really say I get off work for it.
I agree that Christmas is more cultural than religious for most people these days. For me it is just a time to get together with family and get a break from work.
The Santa Claus we think of today, the one who comes in the night and gives gifts to good little boys and girls got his start around the same time as the start of Christmas being celebrated on December 25[SUP]th[/SUP]. In the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] century, during the same time that Constantine the Great ruled Rome, there was a town in the country of Lycia called Myra. Lycia is now part of Turkey and the town of Myra is where the town of Kale now stands. In Myra there was a Greek Bishop by the name of Nikolaos. Nikolaos was renowned for the miracles he performed and was often referred to as Nikolaos the Wonder Worker. Later, after his death, he would be given sainthood for his miracles. He was also part of the first Council of Nicaea which was the council that set the books of the modern day Bible and signed the Nicene Creed. Anyway, Bishop Nikolaos had a secret side. He had a little habit that he kept secret from his parishioners. At night, he would secretly sneak around town and leave gifts, most commonly in the form of coins in the shoes of his parishioners who left their shoes outside their homes. Thus, Saint Nikolaos (Saint Nicholas) became the basis for the modern day Santa Claus. But how did his name go from St. Nikolaos to Santa? Over the years and through the various languages his story finally arrived in Holland. The Dutch version of Saint Nikolaos became Sinterklaas, which then became Santa Claus. What I find most interesting about this historical record is that Constantine the Great lived from 272 AD to 337 AD and ruled Rome from 306 AD to 337 AD. Saint Nikolaos lived from 270 AD to 343 AD and lived in the eastern region of the Roman Empire. Nikolaos was part of the Council of Nicaea which was commissioned by Constantine the Great to standardize the Christian faith. The first Christian Emperor who helped standardize the Christian faith and set the date for our holy celebration is rarely recognized for his accomplishments and one of the bishops that assisted is well known, but more as the jolly secret visitor in the night than for the miracles that he performed. As Paul Harvey would have said, “And now you know the rest of the story!”
The sad fact is Christmas isn't a religious holiday anymore but a mainstream secular holiday. I mean businesses take the days off and families of nearly every belief structure get together and nearly all of them do gifts....all those things cause the day to be attractive to anyone. I mean depending on your specific case you get a day or two off work, get ridiculous amounts of foods and gifts as well...I mean what isn't to embrace there? The fact that Christmas originated with the Christian idea of it being the day we celebrate the Savior being born is irrelevant anymore in culture to an extent, to which I am disgusted with just for the record. The sad fact is Christmas anymore is just as others have said another day...one which people love because it's a day off work and kids love because it means Christmas Break and presents are here. Gone is the whole reverence and concept of it all in the religious aspect... ...even in churches people are reporting less and less people even come to church anymore like they used to on the day (you know the Easter and Christmas attenders..)... It's sad, but Christians as a whole perpetuate the same idea in a lot of cases. Christian families hang up Christmas trees and decorate their yards in lights and blow up santa clauses...but is there a nativity scene present? Or if there is...why is it put on the shelf along the back wall behind the bookshelf? I know I'm getting to a bigger question and issue irrelevant to the OP's question but it is one I feel any Christian reading this must think about...have Christians allowed Christmas to simply become another holiday?
Why is it sad? Why not celebrate Christmas how you deem appropriate, and not worry how anyone else celebrates?
I know where you are going Ty. But keeping Christ in Christmas isn't really what I am after. That is for another thread. Do raciest celebrate MLK day? Welfare people celebrate Labor Day? Just curious how they deal with how large Christmas is and the fact they don't believe in it.
Christianity is the mainstream religion in America and every business out there is seeing it as a gold mine. The advertisers target the children knowing that most parents will give in to their kids. They start the commercialization of Christmas every year earlier and earlier. This year it was before Halloween. It's a shame. We now return you to your OP's originally scheduled thread.
Christmas is the mother of holidays, and has many secular and pagan traditions attached to it. One could celebrate Christmas with all major traditions and never know that it had any Christian religious meaning behind any of it.
I believe in God, but I do not celebrate Christmas. I grew up celebrating Christmas because that is what we were programmed to do as a family, not because it had any special religious meaning. I am not the type of person that just does things because that is what everyone else is doing. I just cannot do it. That being said I wish people a Merry Christmas if they say it to me, because it is the thought that counts and that is all that matters to me.
