charlesdclimer asked:

I thought I’d share this with you…

7 Reasons for Atheists to Celebrate the Holidays
By Greta Christina, AlterNet
Posted on December 19, 2009, Printed on December 26, 2009

http://www.alternet.org/story/144685/

It’s often assumed that the atheist position on what is politely termed “the holiday season” is one of disregard at best, contempt and annoyance at worst. After all, the reasons for most of the standard winter holidays are supposedly religious — the birth of the Savior, eight days of miraculous light, yada yada yada. Why would atheists want anything to do with that?

But atheists’ reactions to the holidays are wildly varied. Yes, some atheists despise them: the enforced jollity, the shameless twisting of genuine human emotion to sell useless consumer crap, the tyrannical forcing of mawkish piety down everyone’s throats. (Some believers loathe the holidays for the exact same reasons.)

But some of us love the holidays. We love the parties, the decorations, the smell of evergreen trees in people’s houses, the excuse to eat ourselves sick, the reminder that we do in fact love our families and friends. We’re cognizant of the shameless twisting and mawkish piety and whatnot — but we can deal with it. It’s worth it for an excuse to drink eggnog with our loved ones and bellow out “Angels We Have Heard On High” in half-assed four-part harmony. (In fact, when it comes to the holidays, atheists are damned if we do, damned if we don’t. If we scorn the holidays, we’re called Scroogy killjoys. If we embrace them, we’re called hypocrites. Oh, well. Whaddya gonna do.)

So today, I want to talk about some of the reasons some atheists love the holidays, in hopes that believers might better understand who we are and where we’re coming from … and in hopes that a few Scroogy killjoys, atheist and otherwise, might be tempted to join the party. (If not — no big. I recognize and validate your entirely reasonable annoyance at the holidays. And besides, Scroogy killjoys are an important holiday tradition.)

Speaking of which:

Reason #7: Holiday traditions are comforting. The human need for tradition and ritual seems to be deeply ingrained. It’s comforting to do things at the same time every day or every year: things we did as children, things our parents and grandparents did. It gives us a sense of continuity, of being part of a pattern that’s larger than ourselves, of passing along ideas and customs that we hope will live on after we die. For those of us who don’t believe in an afterlife, that last bit can be extra important. And when those customs and rituals are about joy and celebration and people we love and so on, that makes it extra nifty.

#6: The holidays connect us with our ancestors…and with the earth and the seasons. In modern civilized culture, we tend to treat the changing seasons largely as a fashion challenge and an excuse to complain. (Even in San Francisco, where the temperature rarely gets above 80 or below 40, we still gripe about the weather.)

But the changing seasons were a critically important part of our ancestors’ lives; a matter of life and death, watched and marked with great and careful attention. The winter solstice holidays rose up as a way to mark those changes…and to celebrate the all-important imminent return of the sun, warmth and longer days. Celebrating the holidays reminds us of what life was like for the people who came before us — the people who are responsible for us being here.

#5: Presents. ‘Nuff said.

#4: The War on the War on Christmas. Watching Bill O’Reilly and the Christian Right work themselves into an annual lather over the fact that (a) not everyone in America celebrates Christmas; and (b) some well-mannered businesses choose to recognize this fact by using ecumenical or secular holiday greetings…is some of the best free entertainment we could ask for.

Sure, it’s theocratic. Sure, it’s bigoted. Sure, it has its roots in anti-Semitism and white supremacy. But it’s also freaking hilarious. Watching these hypocrites twist themselves into knots explaining why America is a Christian nation and it’s the grossest insult to acknowledge the existence of other religions by saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”… and why this stance somehow isn’t shameless religious bigotry? It’s the best contortionist act in town. And like the circus, it comes around every year.

#3: The holidays connect us with the universe. Axial tilt is the reason for the season! For many atheists, one of the greatest joys of atheism is that it opens up an awe-inspiring world of science. It’s not that believers don’t care about science: many of them do. But the passionate love of science is a defining feature of the atheist movement, and many of us will take any opportunity to gush about the topic ad nauseam, usually in embarrassing, Carl Sagan-esque, “billions and billions of stars” purple prose.

And the holidays are another excuse to go gaga ove

Dizzy asked:

Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate ANY holidays, personal birthdays, or even salute the flag. I know this because I have many relatives who belong to this “religion.” I understand the whole pagan holiday thing, but my question is, how is it idolatry to respect the flag that represents your country? The flag that people have died to defend, not because it is a piece of material with a pattern sewn in, but because of what it represents…your freedom to worship (or not) as you choose, and your freedom to disrespect your country (if you choose–just as I may choose to despise those who would “spit” on our flag, but that’s another story). How is it idolatry to have respect? Just wondering…

Claudia R asked:

The winter solstice is on the 21st of december,and the sun comes back to normal on the 25th of december. This was celebrated bu many people around europe and asia, when they figured out this pattern, whith several traditions and rituals, and observed as a holiday. When the christians were converting the pagans, the made the pagan holidays as christian as could be, thus making the 25th a celebration of christs birth, and easter, originaly a celebration of the fretility god , to the ressurection of christ. Does anyone have more information on some of the traditions and celebrations concerning the winter solstice?

angelpurplewings asked:

fall, spring , winter, summer….any pattern?

r u randy? asked:

I assume that this experiment would include regular meeting days, member volunteer-ism, contributions and the like… i.e., any or all of the details that might reflect or pattern themselves after any typically established modern-day religion. TV broadcasts, billboards, websites, bell towers and official “religious” holidays would all be fair game for this hypothetical question.

Your thoughts please.
Would an annual “Darwin Day” be silly? Would it be silly to support or rebuff political candidates according to their favor?
since it cannot be proved that there is no god, would “Atheism, the religion” not be a religion of “logically reasoned faith”?
Could such a “religion” become an attractive alternative to being “born again”? Would it qualify for tax-free status? Would it offer science scholarships to the needy?