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Shufflingdead > Articles > Extracurricular
Secular Christmas
The same call is made every year it seems “put Christ back into Christmas!” Well, I welcome a secular Christmas; it can be a fun time for us non-believers as well. Do not fret Christians, you can keep your holiday, but I think I’ll borrow the non-religious bits for myself.
In my childhood I was wrought with guilt over celebrating Christmas. Being an atheist, I wondered what I was doing celebrating the birth of some dude’s birthday whose religion I wanted to have utterly nothing to do with. It was greed that kept me coming back though, a deep seeded lust for Lego and chocolate. Now I see the error of my ways, a great Christmas can be had, with the only connection to Christ being an unfortunate parallel in name.
Just as Halloween was usurped from Pagans and turned into a fun time with virtually no religious connotations, so too can Christmas be converted. The secular pieces are already there: Santa Claus, gift exchanges, food gorging, Christmas trees, singing, and gaudy decorations are already integral Christmas traditions. Just make sure to put something other than an angel or a star on top of your tree, sing Frosty the Snowman instead of Oh Holy Night, and you’ve got yourself a secular Christmas.
There have been many cries that Christmas has become too commercial as well, and while I think the gifts and everything else are an important part of a secular Christmas, there is still room to celebrate family and togetherness. These things are universal, and I see no reason to stop celebrating them just because I’m kicking Christ out of my Christmas. Even we heathens can appreciate peace on Earth and goodwill toward men, despite the religious origins of that phrase.
I suppose that there are other holiday time religious traditions that could be latched onto, but Christmas is already so prevalent, and filled with so many non-religious traditions that, aside from an over-used Seinfeld reference, it’s the perfect holiday to abduct. Hanukkah intrigues me, in later iterations secular Christmas could even come to include eight days of gift giving, but such a commingling of traditions will take time to develop.
I would like to thank Christianity, a couple thousand years of intertwining traditions, and sheer corporate voracity for secular Christmas. It makes sense for a religion to celebrate the birth of its icon, though I’m not entirely sure what all the other stuff is really for, other than to just have a good time and make retailers a lot of money. It’s this other stuff, with all its good times and over spending that I’ll be borrowing.
Some might accuse me of waging that fabled “War on Christmas.” I’m not attacking Christmas though, just proposing to borrow it for me and my atheist cohorts. Christians can keep Christ right there in Christmas for themselves. Indeed, the existence of a secular Christmas might even guarantee that it retains political correctness. Allowing retailers to exclaim “merry Christmas” without the fear that they are appealing only to Christians at the exclusion of other religions.
Do not shy away from Christmas like you were Scrooge McDuck, my non-Christian brethren. Instead, embrace the glory of gifts, food, and family. Celebrating for the sake of celebrating can be fun.
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