My husband is not Jewish, but doesn't really celebrate Christmas either because of his religion. But, we exchange gifts (I got mine already as Chanukah was early this year). Most of my friends are Christian and so is some of my family, so I will pretty much celebrate anything.

but I celebrate all holidays for the food .

I like the idea of wishing everyone peace on earth...so I respect that people believe certain things, but I really respect good actions more!

We also love to give each other presents and get together. And Christmas is as good a time as any. I also enjoy Christmas music, oddly enough.

My religious holiday is the day after Xmas sales.

Not for any non/religious reasons, just because one family member is ill, another opted to work for extra pay, two wanted to go celebrate with others, etc. I did put lights up and do some decorating, but I haven't bothered with a tree this year because Travis the awkward tosa inu puppy would either find it terrifying or destroy it.

Same as I did when I was Catholic. Christmas was never a religious event in my family, we never went to church. Family gathering, presents and dinner. All but one of my uncles/aunts can stop pretending to be religious around my grandmother since she died earlier this year, so probably no prayer. Was awkward around our Jewish in-laws and my wife anyway.

Raised catholic. My mom's side of the family is Christmas crazy, but not really overly religious. All of their houses (and mine) look like the north pole threw up on them. Multiple trees in every house etc. I even have Santa hats on my African masks and cow skull. But, it's more about family and good will toward man etc. Love Christmas. I personally think the holiday lost it's religious meaning decades ago in this country...for most anyway.

Last edited Fri Dec 18, 2015, 02:53 PM - Edit history (2)

Why not ... it makes a dreary time of year festive and the kids love it. I enjoy having the tree up, especially.

My parents thought religion was moronic but we did the same thing when I was a kid. It's easy to take the Christ out of Christmas!

to study and compare all religions.
Just another day, but no problem with those that enjoy it.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

It was always a Santa Claus and Snowman holiday. Although we aren't really getting together for Christmas this year as there is a 50th wedding anniversary being observed the first week of January.

But I have no issues with Christmas since I really enjoy gathering with loved ones. An excuse for that is a good thing in my life,

Seriously? Wave a flag and most folks will charge it before wondering if the matador has a sword or not. Smarten up.

The first word is Curious, ...I am non, Christian, I wonder how many others are like me, and what do they do for the holidays. It innocent enough, and no EXPLOSIVE TRAPS ARE BEING SET...enjoy your cup of Eggnog, or whatever you drink, and enjoy some time off.

Take it easy.

Jesus is the reason for the season.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Kwanzaa!

Happy Chanukah!

Raised Presbyterian. Always celebrated a secular Christmas. Still do. Love the holiday. It's fun.

Besides it's Sir Isaac Newton-mas!!! as of December 25th, 1640. And Axial Tilt is the Reason for the Season.

and celebrate a secular Christmas as a festival of goodwill and gift-giving and such without the whole "birth of the saviour" thing.

Ideas shouldn't trump familial links.

Even if there's an atheist Grinch in my heart.

My wife and i both.

Who does not adhere to the concept of a virgin birth, supernatural being and the trinity. I also reject all in the New Testament that is not directly attributed to freedom fighter human being who was the chosen one.

We absolutely celebrate Christmas in our house - I do not celebrate Easter. Again - the trinity.

I don't need the PDR to believe this man was born of two humans, walked this earth and was the epitome of defiance.

I spent a good portion of my childhood doing both Catholic and Jewish holidays (my cousins are Jewish). It was cool.

but not to grownups, and obviously no fairy stories be they Christian or Santa related. It's more so kids get presents when kids expect presents really. Did a tree for a while but too much hassle. For some reason we tend to get Indian food on the 24th but glorifying that as a tradition is a bit of a stretch. Essentially a couple paid days off and a few kids' presents is about it for us. Frankly the whole idea of rote association of day X with activity/focus Y, be the reason religious or secular, is not exactly a persuasive one to me.

Also I'm in New Zealand and it's the middle of summer so it doesn't feel Christmassy. The last thing you want to do when it's 85 degrees out is bake a turkey all morning, eat all afternoon, curl up in front of a fire and drink hot chocolate.

I sent a few presents off to my nieces in October and bought myself a few nice things but that's mostly because I don't have time to shop during the rest of the year.

I think it is nice to have little traditions to mark the changing of the seasons. Otherwise I get so wrapped up in work I lose connection to the natural world and the days all blend into each other. So I mark the summer solstice on my calendar and make sure to buy cherries which are my favorite and are always coming into season. And I have particular jobs I tie to those kinds of "holidays" like flipping the mattresses, going to the dentist, reseasoning my cast iron pans, cleaning and sharpening the garden tools, etc. And then I treat myself when all that stuff is done by going out for a movie or a meal or going hiking someplace new.

but went to church for a couple years. Celebrate Christmas because it's fun and we like it. Even throw a Nativity scene in there because it's just part of it. Myself, I regard the "Christmas Story" and the religious trappings of Christmas as more of metaphor for the good things that Christianity brought about. I also regard Christmas in the "pagan" sense as in the return of the light. The light of Christmas, all of it, is my favorite part of Christmas. That and the religious Christmas music. Religion has inspired so much truly wondrous art.

non-denominational agnostic. Raised a Baptist, stopped going when I got old enough to tell mom I wouldn't go any more.

Joined a church a few years ago, stopped going after a few months.

Basically, I see too many churches as a means to separate and divide people. IMNSHO, spirituality should bring people together rather than drive them apart. In that respect, most current religions are not for me because they seem to lack that essential, basic foundation.

holiday i have no use for anymore...

But I love the holiday season. Cookies, decorations, music, fun with family and friends.

We celebrate Yule. Our rites and gifts, a feast, family and friends.

but unfortunately it went into the general slot..I used to hang out with many Wiccans years ago, and they were totally awesome people. Enjoy your holidays, and have fun!

You can change your vote and it should be no problem!

is a realist and doesn't give much thought to religion although if asked she will say she believes there is a god. Our Christmas is filled with the traditional Christian Christmas. Presents for the kids and grand child. Her and I most generally buy gifts for our home rather than exchange gifts. I'm a non believer so when I want to give someone something I do it irregardless of the time of day or day of year. My Christmas is every day with no strings attached. When the urge hits me I do something for someone or give them something.
No skyguy nor frosty the snowman for this old madokie

If that made any sense that is.

with a hint of pagan tree worshipper thrown in. So we decorate a tree, give gifts, eat well, and welcome the return of the light.

as an atheist than it did as a Christian.

why are we always stuck in "other"?

let me fix this.. ..edited: fixed.

Since Jesus was probably born in March or April.

Christmas is a secular holiday in the US. Santa, lights, presents, snow, etc. lots of non religious people celebrate it. The Solstice is the reason for the season. Lots of Jews and Muslims celebrate Cmas in this country. It is a day off.

for Christmas and for Thanksgiving holidays. I got my duck early this year.. I couldn't wait!

Usually, I drive a couple hundred miles to where most of the rest of my family is, and we gather at my sister and brother-in-law's house. They're pretty religious, but other than a few, surprisingly polite, political arguments, the only mention of religion is the blessing before the food.

This is my first Christmas without my mom though so I'm not feeling it so I'll stay in town and go over to my niece's house with my other sister. There's a bit of a rift between that niece and another one that shows up at the gathering a couple hundred miles away so her family hasn't gone to that gathering for several years. My niece claims that her daughter wants me around for Christmas though, and with Mom gone I don't have an excuse.

TlalocW

Now pretty much agnostic, but I love the whole Christmas story with Jesus and the manger and the Wise Men etc. even though I know it is not entirely grounded in historical reality. Whether or not Jesus was the son of God there are some great lessons in the Gospels (I'm not a fan of the hellfire and brimstone Old Testament stuff). I do have a Nativity scene in my house (and of course a Christmas tree).

Oh and I think going around saying "of COURSE there isn't a God" is not a whole lot different to going around saying "of COURSE there's a God".

But I celebrate Christmas/The Holidays with family and friends.

This is the time of year for tinsel and glitter to help counter the darkness and rain (I live in Western Oregon and the weather right now is grey, gloomy and wet).

of that wet from you, its so dry here in California. We need a good soaking, and its been a while since we did get some rain.. hopefully soon.

Jesus Christ (pun intended) is it EVER going to stop raining?

Yeah, there is a force that created all this but he/she/it doesn't really give a shit about us.

We're a carbon based life form, no more significant to the creator than say, cockroaches.

Btw..love the TARDIS in your sig line. Cute!

Family dinners, decorations, gift exchange, Christmas music in the house, etc, because we were all raised as "Christians" and there is a certain nostalgia factor.

This year will be a little different. We won't be hosting any get togethers because we have a little remodeling going on here at the house and also because my wife is recovering from injuries she suffered in a collision with a runaway shopping cart.

Last year I got my own TARDIS for Christmas, it's a USB hub.

There are a huge number of nominal Christians who when they speak of their beliefs are clearly describing Deism, but almost all of them I've met react in shock and horror when told so. Sure they believe in a universal impersonal creative force who takes no active part in our daily lives but dammit it's a Christian universal impersonal force!

I'm not a Deist. For me it's still a bit too god-of-the-gaps ish, but at least it is a rationally defensible logically sound inference. Nobody can definitively show the precise what or how of the very first instant of the singularity, and both physicists and philosophers go nuts trying to decide if "before the singularity" is even a cogent statement. We are so far from asking the why part or even knowing if THAT's a cogent question that the leap to "well something a bit like a god must have had something to do with it" is at least understandable, even though it kind of flies in the face of Occam a bit. It's when you start definitively claiming that that something a bit like a god cares who you marry or what you do with your weekend mornings that it becomes just groundless nonsense.

Meaning I pick and choose from everyone to suit my beliefs
(In Babylon 5, I'd likely be a Foundationist.)

I celebrate traditional American Christmas (gift-giving, Christmas meal, visiting with family.) I tend to stay home on New Year's Eve (too many inebriated drivers.)

pagan or Wicca? Just wondering .. thanks

Mysticism doesn't necessarily involve the element of worship or devotion to any entity or of any particular thing as far as I understand it.

"Mysticism tends to refer to experiences supporting belief in a cosmic unity rather than the advocation of a particular religious ideology." I "believe" (glimpse / sense / know / grok) in the one-ness of all things....I both revere and celebrate the glory of creation (without giving any thought to a Creator), the cosmos and everything in it (mostly: if I see a cockroach I stomp on it and tell it to go to the light. ).

That said, I love a good solstice bon-type fire, and spending time / eating good food with my favorite people.

My family and I do the traditional Christmas things together, including overeating and exchanging gifts. We play a variety of musical instruments and there's always a session going on, with players joining in and others taking breaks. We play religious Christmas music as well as Irish traditional and bluegrass, and whatever. Last Christmas my middle granddaughter, who'd graduated college with a degree in music, performed O Little Town of Bethlehem on my didgeridoo and received a standing ovation from the rest of us. I gave her my didge as an extra present. I never got the hang of playing it anyway, and she was darned good.

Looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year! Fa la la la laaa!

I consider Christmas nothing more than a nice break in the middle of bleak weather, to rest, relax, and travel a bit.

She knows we're hopeless atheists.

Never found much grace in xtians, personally.

with my son's family. There's nothing religious about it, just family, friends, fun and food. I'm the atheist in the bunch. My son's family is agnostic. My daughter's family is 750 miles away. They do it all, Hanukkah, xmas and Festivus. She bounces between being a Christian and/or Jewish.

Lots of visiting with family and friends. Lots of good food. No religious stuff and we're not particularly big on Santa, besides our dancing Santa.

in heavy metal band themes. Hoping my wife took the hint.

I got my eyes on a Slayer and a Dying Fetus sweater...

This year it will be st my daughter's house. Different family members have different obligations, so we have a Christmas Eve get together and then have a big dinner Christmas day.

Y'all come!

We spend time with our families, eat good food, and drink strong drinks.

grew up christian. family still is. i do believe jesus was an actual person who lived and loved and preached and probably has attained moshka. i believe his birth (even though it was not dec 25) is worth celebrating. i celebrate christmas with family and roll my yule celebration and christmas into one. also recently celebrated diwali.

I lay awake at night and wonder if there really is a dog.

Might be a DUzy there!

Who doesn't like the smell of spruce and pretty lights? A few years ago I gave up my faux celebration because it's too much of a hassle and it costs $50 for a decent tree. I've always wondered if you did Jay Leno-like interviews of random people on the street how many would say Christmas is for celebrating Santa's birthday with presents.

We still have a Yule log and Xmas trees

If alone, I'd watch old Christmas movies, maybe some cheesy Hallmark ones. I've even been known to enjoy some religious ones - cinema is cinema and the themes are rarely strictly Christian (THOSE movies, I'd flatly avoid). No decorations, dinners, or the like and gifts sent to young relative via Amazon. If with family, I'd go through the motions with them, but mostly just look forward to being alone with some movies. With non-Christian friends, I might enjoy spending time learning about rituals related to other holidays at this time of year.

This year I am going to celebrate by ringing door buzzards and writing Merry X-Mass on random packages.

We put up decorations because their pretty, exchange gifts because its fun to watch the people we love open presents, we eat large meals because...we're Americans. Mostly we get to spend time with friends and family.

I just don't celebrate it 'cause I'm often alone (and that's fine with me) so no real need to celebrate anything.

Pretty long tradition in my household, and it's an excuse to relax, drink alcohol, and reconnect.

Although my conservative acquaintances consistently tell me ALL liberals MUST be Atheists, I have never felt that was true. I come from a big family that always voted a straight DNC ticket. However, my husbands family also votes a straight ticket and not a one of them believe in God. 1/2 my family is Baptist, the other half Cherokee/Osage traditionalists, with a few Quakers and a healthy dash of the Native American Church thrown in to the mix. I chose to leave the Christianity behind the day I left my fathers house, at age 17.
As far as Christmas we celebrate small. I change my altar to reflect the season and hang a little mistletoe and cedar on the front door. We make a big fire and celebrate yule with family and friends over a traditional NA meal and give away.
On Christmas day, we party with the Atheists

Soty of the same thing, right?

So Christmas dinner with turkey but no presents or Christmas carols or baby jesus dioramas

They were all clearly outcasts in their high school and were complaining about the way they'd been treated by various Christian cliques.

Conversation rolling, they were talking about a weird kid who wasn't in their group, and it went something like this:

Kid One: "No, he's not Christian. They don't like him."

Kid Two: "He's Catholic. That's some kind of Christian."

Kid One: "Okay. They still don't like him."

I so very much wanted to join their conversation, but I didn't interrupt them, worse outcome be labeled as a creepy old guy, which is how every teenager looks at anyone over 30. Why are you talking to me? Not a parent, not a teacher, not a boss, not a cop... danger, danger, stranger danger!



I remember myself that age, and yes, that "no talking to old geezers rule" did sometimes keep me out of trouble.

I saw the first Star Wars in Los Angeles, the first Saturday. I'd dropped out of high school, which was a Lord of the Flies place for me, where the very worst bullies claimed to be Christian and called me queerbait, and I was still doing okay as an engineering major in college, having escaped the Christian hell so many of them still live in. (I attended a high school reunion once, I've attended a few funerals, and still, as crazy as I am and always have been, the smartest thing I ever did as a kid was RUN, RUN, AWAY!)

The bridges I burnt behind me are all very well burnt, those hurt by the shrapnel of the grenades I threw back at them, still very deservedly hurt.

All my siblings have done that to various degrees, and my parents too.

My parents these days live in a rain forest. They drink and bathe in water that falls on their roof. They buy food from local farmers. They don't go to church.

Anyways, I'm a Catholic heretic. My mom's family is hodgepodge of Catholics, Pacifists, Pagans, and Jews, all fled to 18th and 19th century Wild West U.S.A., escaping troubles in Europe with Protestant Christian authorities, English and Lutheran. My dad's ancestors similar, but mostly with enough good sense to be civil and secular in this "New World."

Except for Christmas with Family. Then all holy hell would break loose.

Christmas in my childhood was a time of Holy Wars and Crusades, never spoken of to anyone outside of family. Blood and tears. People leaving wounded.

My mom as a teen was a Joan of Arc holy warrior sort. She dreamed of being a nun, a sister of extremist religious purity.

Mother Theresa was a mean bitch, but I'm pretty sure my mom could have ripped her a new one. Glad they never met.

As a child I did witness my mom fighting with a Catholic Bishop. Queen that he was, he slapped her. Bitch!

Instantly realizing my mom wasn't the sort of woman who would "fight like a girl," a woman who would might break his jaw and take his balls home as a trophy, he fled.



Before I was born my mom encountered Smoking, Drinking, Leering Priest, with the intellect of a bag of rocks. It was clear to my mom that the church didn't waste it's best and brightest on women, so she got a job in Hollywood, met my dad (both of them artistic souls) and they had plenty of children Catholic style, never hiding their own religious heresies and occasional blasphemy, not from their children or anyone else.

My wife and I were married in a Big Catholic Wedding, we raised our kids Catholic, and I have absolutely zero regrets about that.

Religion is something humans do. It's a traditional art. It's a language. It doesn't have to be rational.

If you know one such language it can help you understand the others.

People judging me by my actions would easily identify me as a "secular humanist," one who clearly values humanity over any dreary and hateful theology. There are more atheists in my heaven than the dreck of religious or ideological Fundamentalism.

If you can't love your neighbor because your imaginary White Rambo Jesus or other spittle spewing ideologue is demanding you HATE HATE HATE, well then, it sucks to be you.

When it comes to things like gifts trees food etc.

I don't go to church.

With eggnog?

this:





lots of Asian bakeries in my neighborhood make this!

Yum!

and enjoy my family. If we can, we go to musical performances (Saw a wonderful christmas orchestra thing up in Indiana a few years ago. Consisted of the local philharmonic and high school jazz bands and such).

I make sure my daughter gets stuff I like to play with - lol, this year it's a PS4.

We'll seek out the neighborhoods with the cool light displays and cruise through them.

I'll have different dinners with my family, wife's family and our kids and their families.

I celebrate the joy of giving and encourage all to give me stuff.

I don't know, and neither do you.

The only thing I like about Christmas is the lights. Otherwise, I wish it would go away, because I don't appreciate having other people's superstitions forced on me. December 25th is just another day to me, except that it disrupts everything, because everything is closed, except for Chinese restaurants. The only good thing about being unemployed and in debt is that I don't have to worry about trying to find gifts for people. I wish I didn't have that excuse, but it is what it is.

You could always celebrate that instead of Christmas.

I always felt bad for people whose birthdays fall on or around Christmas. Most of the time, they get the short end of the stick compared to everyone else whose birthday doesn't fall on a big holiday. It's all about the Baby Jeebus, and their day is an afterthought.

I will definitely drink a Happy Birthday toast to our mom next week!

I do send Christmas cards but usually I work through all holidays.

Was a pagan, and some of it still lingers (I call it a Yule tree). I put up a regular tree this year, with rustic sort of decorations, have a garland on the front door, and that's about it. We'll have a big dinner and celebrate axial tilt. More daylight is coming!

Last year I had a pink tree with Barbie ornaments (those little dolls from the happy meals). Sometimes I've only set up a little tree on the kitchen island. Never any religious stuff, except when I do the pagan thing. I do have a little bees wax angle a friend gave me, which goes up. It was blessed by her priest (Eastern Orthodox), and she's a believer even if I'm not.

On the 26th I'll be enjoying a medium-sized get-together with some good friends

I was, after all, raised Catholic.

Most cultural things are fine as long as they don't get too screwy.

Fortunately, both of my jobs afford us (workers) a 4-day weekend this go-round, and so i will be home from the 24th-27th, enjoying the company of family and friends, listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller, making and sharing delicious foods and treats, and just enjoying not having to be at work.

Oh, and yes... As a matter of fact, in keeping with the winter holiday season, there's a lovely, decorated tree in the living-room at present, and assorted winter greenery here and there, along with stockings hung up... each with a family-member's name inscribed in silver paint-pen.

Just because i don't believe in any given mythology, it doesn't mean i can't enjoy the beauty of the trappings...