Do You Celebrate?
I love Christmas. I know, not all secularists celebrate this holiday. Some choose to celebrate nothing. Some choose the Solstice, with the Solstice tree, a feast, and gift-giving, which you could say was the original Christmas, observed hundreds of years before Jesus was born.
Israel and I both grew up with Christmas. Even though I don’t believe Jesus was born of a virgin, or that he rose three days after his death, I choose to celebrate Christmas because I believe traditions are healthy for the soul. I also recognize the power of ritual and symbolism, which religions capitalize on. What is it about the human mind that is so effected by ritual and symbolism? Christmas is rich with symbolism.
As a child, this memorable holiday provided benchmarks for my life. It added a magical, mysterious element to my world that I would never deny my children. Christmas gave me evenings with my family, playing games, trying new foods, bringing treats to friends and neighbors.
As an adult, Christmas has taught me to be more aware of others. I am not a natural gift-giver. To some people, nothing says “I love you” better than a gift. I am more receptive to gifts of praise! While I enjoy receiving a present, it’s not important to me. This is why, I have also never been good at thinking of what someone else might want. Over the years, because of Christmas, I have worked on improving my gift-giving skills. Preparing for Christmas has taught me to pay more attention to others and the things they enjoy.
I want to extend an invitation to my readers. I am curious to know how many athiests, agnostics, and other non-religious types, celebrate a religious holiday for this season. Whether you know me personally or not, whether you have commented before or not, I hope you will participate and give the following information:
1. Explain your non-belief or beliefs (example: I am agnostic).
2. Tell us whether you choose to observe one of the religious holidays of the season, and which one.
3. Explain why you justify celebrating or not celebrating.
4. Tell us if you have adapted the holiday a certain way to accomodate your secularism.
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June 27th, 2006 @ 11:23 am
I am an agnostic mom that was raised to be open minded and accepting to all possibilities married to an agnostic man that was raised as a strict Lutheran. We have decided and feel good about raising our children as agnostics with the option of deciding for themselves as to what feel right for them. We also celebrate the holidays that Christian families celebrate but take the focus off of the involvement of religion. I think of Christmas and Easter as holidays to celebrate life in general and the families and friends that we are so fortunate to have with us. I also think it’s a chance to celebrate the next season coming up. My mother in law is very unsupportive of our beliefs and how we choose to raise our kids but we have remained tolerant and have kept our mouths shut. It’s very difficult!! It is so nice to reach out and express our feelings on this subject when I live among some very tunnel-visioned and closed minded people. UGH!!:)
June 27th, 2006 @ 12:23 pm
Tina, welcome to my blog! I love it when new readers pipe up for the first time.
I completely agree with your assessment of the Christian holidays. There are enough secular traditions to them that they don’t have to have anything to do with the supernatural whatsoever.
June 28th, 2006 @ 12:07 pm
Thanks! I stumbled upon this site and feel so fortunate to have found it. I need to seek some support from like-minded individuals since I’ve been becoming more sure of myself in my own beliefs. I just had an interesting discussion with my brother-in-law last night and he is a Lutheran pastor. He was actually pretty accepting and supportive. Anyway, I think I will be a frequent visitor. I’m so impressed with the knowledge and intelligence of the many moms that blog on here. It’s very comforting and interesting to read!!
May 15th, 2007 @ 7:50 am
Hi there, I know this is an older article but wanted to comment anyhow. My husband and I are atheists; however, I am also a big believer in the importance of ritual in our lives and the life of our son. We’ve also chosen to celebrate Christmas and Easter in a more secular way, drawing more from the pagan symbolism of light returning to the world, and new, fresh beginnings.
I am trying to come up with rituals to “replace” the church aspect … for Easter, we plant seeds to symbolize new life and a fresh start, and for Christmas, we will take on a volunteer activity as a family, to do our part to bring some “light to the world”.
I love your blog!
November 28th, 2007 @ 9:08 pm
I know this is an old post but I came across it at the right time. I am Jewish and proud of my religion. It is a very big part of who I am. My wife is also Jewish and we are raising my son who is 16 and a daughter we adopted. She is 5. For the past 6 years my son has become less and less interested in practicing our religion. As he matures, he is better able to communicate his ideas and thoughts on the subject of g-d.
He does believe in g-d. He also says his beliefs are a combination of Christianity,Judaism, Buddhism and Hindu. He is completely turned off my “organized religion”. This has been a lot for me to accept but I too remember ‘coming into my own’ and know that it is important for him to explore. I would be more upset if he didn’t believe in any g-d as I feel spirituality is an essential virtue in today’s world.
Our dilemma as a family is appropriate for your post. How do we ‘celebrate’ the holiday season and not exclude my son? What activity or gift could we exchange that would not be secular for him, thus offending him? We also have a younger sibling to consider. One that is excited to be learning about religion and all the traditions that come along with it. It is very difficult to say, Josh isn’t Jewish, but we are.
Any insights would be welcome. I will not be offended as I’ve read several of your posts and understand your beliefs. I love my son very much. I want to support him. I just don’t know how and frankly, even when asked, he doesn’t know how we can support him or how he can “fit” in a social circle that is secular.
February 24th, 2010 @ 7:59 am
My son is agnostic (theist) although he was raised as Christian. We did not take him to church except on holidays and I always answered questions as best I could regarding other religions and even bought books to understand them better myself. He is now a policeman facing serious situations on a regular basis, I told him that even if he does not believe in God, God believes in him. Accepting his view of faith without judgment has made him more acceptable of mine.
April 2nd, 2010 @ 4:06 pm
Is this still an active blog?