Why are Atheists celebrating Christmas & Easter?

[Zurückschlagen]

We all do know that Muslims and Asians do not celebrate Christmas and Easter. Chinese and Russians have their different New Year date too.

Double standarts? Most of them will respond that they celebrate Christmas and Easter because their friends do, but they don't go and celebrate Jew and Muslim holidays, right? But almost everyone around the world is celebrating Christmas.

So if they really don't believe in God, Jesus Christ, Christianity and all that, they have to stop honoring God and his Son Jesus.

When I was a kid I had a lot of Muslim friends but I never celebrated their Muslim holidays.

I stick to what I believe in.

That's my thoughts. Your thoughts?

 

[Radrook]

They wanna have fun.

 

[Yennora]

More than half of my friends are muslims and i only tell them an Arabic expression which is equivalent to "Enjoy your feast", i don't celebrate with them, and they are not bothered by it since they don't celebrate my feasts too yet they say the same expression back, in our Egyptian culture it is like gifting someone something and then they gift it back, but both of us know that double standards lead to a loss in identity, so no one would go for it.
By the way there is a small secret, they celebrate each new year probably it looks like none of them went back in time to see that the "new year" thing is based on Christ's birth.. haha.. the whole world do anyway (except a few countries mostly Islamic)! Glory to our Lord!
Civil calendar - Wikipedia

 

[Wolfe]

Christmas is no longer about Jesus, unfortunately.
Instead of remember our Lord and Savior, we're more focus on the presents.
It's been capitalized, and I bet most people nowadays don't even know Easter is about the Resurrection of Christ.

 

[Zurückschlagen]

@Micopero

One advice, don't ever use "Enjoy your feast" for greeting purposes, because in English, this sounds like, and is often considered, a passive aggressive statement.

"I hope you enjoy your feast, (while you're choking on it) good Sir"

 

[Radrook]

Christmas is no longer about Jesus, unfortunately.
Instead of remember our Lord and Savior, we're more focus on the presents.
It's been capitalized, and I bet most people nowadays don't even know Easter is about the Resurrection of Christ.

Easter? They think it's about bunny rabbits who lay colorful eggs.

 

[Mountainmanbob]

I would rather see them celebrating Christmas than boycotting it.

Didn't vote in the poll because selections were lacking.

M-Bob

 

[Papias]

Umm, because they are both pagan holidays that we renamed? With Easter, we didn't even rename it, but still kept the pagan name. All the popular aspects of both holidays are pagan.

Maybe a better question is why Christians celebrate them? In fact, many of the more literalist Christians don't celebrate them, citing Paul's admonition in Galatians against celebrating pagan holidays.

I think it's great for Christians to celebrate them - I'm just pointing out that it's pretty funny for us to ask why atheists celebrate the pagan holidays that Christians celebrate.

In Christ-

Papias

 

[Wolfe]

Oh my opinion on it.

No they shouldn't celebrate it, because what they're really celebrating is possessions.
Call it something else, don't associate it with Jesus, or Christmas. Never see Atheist celebrating Hannukah (tried my best)

 

[Wolfe]

Umm, because they are both pagan holidays that we renamed? With Easter, we didn't even rename it, but still kept the pagan name. All the popular aspects of both holidays are pagan.

Maybe a better question is why Christians celebrate them? In fact, many of the more literalist Christians don't celebrate them, citing Paul's admonition in Galatians against celebrating pagan holidays.

I think it's great for Christians to celebrate them - I'm just pointing out that it's pretty funny for us to ask why atheists celebrate the pagan holidays that Christians celebrate.

In Christ-

Papias

It's no longer a pagan holiday.

Whether it had pagan roots or not, is still debated, but it's irrelevant.

Enough time has pasted to call them Christian holidays.
The tradition of the holidays, are vastly different than that of the pagan ones that they allegedly derived from.

 

[Wolfe]

Easter? They think it's about bunny rabbits who lay colorful eggs.

It isn't about bunny rabbits who lay colorful eggs?
Golly, that's disappointing

 

[Papias]

It's no longer a pagan holiday.
.

Well, that depends on who's celebrating it, case by case. Isn't this whole thread about how atheists are celebrating them?

Whether it had pagan roots or not, is still debated, but it's irrelevant.

The known pagan origins of Christmas and Easter might be irrelevant to you, but are apparently quite relevant to the many pagans who celebrate them, the many atheists who celebrate them, and the many Christians who refuse to celebrate them because they are pagan holidays.

There are plenty of Christians on both sides - those who celebrate them anyway, despite their pagan origins, and those who refuse to celebrate pagan holidays. Here is one example. Christmas: Should Christians Celebrate It?

Enough time has pasted to call them Christian holidays.
The tradition of the holidays, are vastly different than that of the pagan ones that they allegedly derived from.

Whether the amount of time that has passed is enough depends on the person (and does the amount of time matter anyway?). For Christmas, it's only been around 1,700 years, and for Easter, just 1,200 years. That's not very long considering that Jews have been celebrating Passover based on events they see as happening 3,000 years ago.

More to the point, the holidays are not vastly different from their pagan origins. Nearly every aspect popularly celebrated is the pagan aspect, not the Christian one.

Easter pagan aspects: Bunnies, eggs, hidden baskets, springtime, candy, etc.

Christmas pagan aspects: holly, mistletoe, yule logs, evergreen boughs, a decorated tree, giving gifts, parades, drinking, parties, Santa Claus (modeled after the pagan god Odin), etc.

I guess "keep Saturn in Saturnalia", eh?

In Christ-

Papias

 

[Hetta]

I don't think that you'll find atheists "celebrating" Easter or Christmas. They are taking part in the festivities - the holidays. Do you suggest that atheists be forced to work during the Christmas holidays or prevented from exchanging gifts or buying Christmas trees? (Bearing in mind that Christmas trees are pagan). To my knowledge, atheists don't attend Christmas or Easter church services, don't celebrate the Christian meaning, and they can't be "backsliders" btw, because that term applies to those who are Christians but don't actually live out their Christian walk. Those who have never been Christian cannot be termed as backsliders. IMO, everyone should live and let live. I've never been offended by a Jewish, atheist, or Buddhist person who wished me either 'happy holidays' or 'merry Christmas' and this past Christmas I've been given those greetings by people from many different religious/non-religious backgrounds. I would rather be given good greetings and share communal meals with people who have good intentions and love in their hearts, than sit with those who think themselves better than others *because Christian.* At the end of the day, it's what it means to each individual, and by welcoming others and being inclusive in religious holidays, I believe we are extending love and being like Christ, rather than leaving people out because they shouldn't be "allowed" to take part.

 

[Zurückschlagen]

Easter? They think it's about bunny rabbits who lay colorful eggs.

You see, nothing wrong with the rabbits. But if Atheists were any smarter than this (sorry folks, I dissed you unintentionally right 'naa), most of them would have thought "Hey, Why am I worshipping bunnies, is that the Bunny God? Hm. Something's wrong." But they are more like "Hm, bunnies are so cute. We worship bunnies forever, mmm".

 

[Radrook]

You see, nothing wrong with the rabbits. But if Atheists were any smarter than this (sorry folks, I dissed you unintentionally right 'naa), most of them would have thought "Hey, Why am I worshipping bunnies, is that the Bunny God? Hm. Something's wrong." But they are more like "Hm, bunnies are so cute. We worship bunnies forever, mmm".

I think any atheist participating in such things would not consider himself to be worshipping any god but would be doing it for entertainment value only.

 

[Zurückschlagen]

Would be too bad to do just for amusement purposes, when they stand no ground. Looks to me that they could even worship the Devil if it's for amusing purposes.

 

[Hetta]

Nobody worships bunnies. SMH.

 

[Zurückschlagen]

Nobody worships bunnies. SMH.

You sure, bub?
When Rabbits are Worshipped

 

[ViaCrucis]

We all do know that Muslims and Asians do not celebrate Christmas and Easter. Chinese and Russians have their different New Year date too.

Double standarts? Most of them will respond that they celebrate Christmas and Easter because their friends do, but they don't go and celebrate Jew and Muslim holidays, right? But almost everyone around the world is celebrating Christmas.

So if they really don't believe in God, Jesus Christ, Christianity and all that, they have to stop honoring God and his Son Jesus.

When I was a kid I had a lot of Muslim friends but I never celebrated their Muslim holidays.

I stick to what I believe in.

That's my thoughts. Your thoughts?

Western culture has been predominantly Christian for centuries, as such major Christian feast days, such as Christmas and Easter are largely ingrained in most western cultures; they are religious observances but have also acquired a cultural significance--so even people who are not religious will likely still partake in some aspect of these as a participation in popular culture, but usually none of the religious, or at least overtly religious aspects.

If an atheist wants to celebrate Christmas, it doesn't really bother me, I don't expect them to, but I'm not going to throw a fit if they do either. Christmas has a very specific meaning in Christianity, and that is what I'm going to concern myself with, non-Christian participation or non-participation in the cultural accretions is a non-issue.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Dkh587]

Pagans celebrate Christmas & Easter because they are pagan holidays

Christians celebrating pagan holiday does not change the fact that they are pagan holidays