General Chat

Yes, presumably from previous threads!! Christmas - the mass of Christ - it celebrates his birthday. :) Joy

Nicely put Andy lol I said this when the question came up before. I have no belief in any God, Christian or other. However my family do, and so I join them in celebrating - it's tradition more than anything.

Muslims, Buddhists, Hindu, Seikhs, all other religions, as well as non believers are all entitled to the same amount of holidays as anyone else. Luckily none are forced to believe, just to have equal rights to the same thing everyone else living in a Christian Country has. So now minority groups in a Christian Country are not entitled to equal rights??? Pat

Nicely though out and well presented argument David! Do we now take you seriously?

Fred, do you have anything sensible to add?

I think you miss the point David. The celebration of the winter solstice predates Christianity by thousands of years. That is what we are celebrating. The winter solstice is time when we come together to celebrate the fruitfulness of the previous year and hope for similar in the forthcoming year. Nothing to do with Christ or religion, just the belief in the cycle of the seasons and man's efforts.

Andy As a family of humanists yes we celebrate Christmas and Easter for the exact same reasons. As most of the people would be celebrating on a Religious basis it's a very good way of bringing believers and non-believers together. I see absolutely nothing wrong in doing that. My three Children (and one still does) attend a multi-demonational school and they get the chance to celebrate other Religious festivals as well. and I see no harm in that either. In fact life would be a bit boring without I would think. Good Point though Andy Pat x

Hi Andy, i'm with you on this. I'm an atheist and am frequently asked why I celebrate Christmas. I reply that I actually consider it 'Winterfest'--the coming together of loved ones to mark the changing of the seasons. I only call it Christmas cos that's the recognised word for that time of year. I don't celebrate Easter at all, apart from enjoying the long weekend!

Or Easter for that matter. This follows on from an earlier thread where this question was asked. As an atheist from a family of nonbelievers and with a family of nonbelievers I have to say yes, and I don't feel guilty about it. Most of the festivals in the Christian calendar overlay older pagan celebrations which I am entirely in concurrence with. Obviously we don't celebrate Christianity, but the coming together of family and hope for the forthcoming seasons.