I'm an atheist and I celebrate all kinds of holidays. Because campy traditions are silly and fun.

I've never met a pro-lifer that didn't celebrate their day of birth instead of their day of conception.

Most Atheists use it as a gift-giving holiday.

I've met very few people, Christians included, who actually celebrated it as the birth of Christ. They just do gift exchanges, too.

I have celebrated Hanukkah with a Jewish family once. That was very interesting. My father dated a Jewish woman for about a year or so. Very religious. Never tried to convert us. They had some interesting ways about them. I was like 10 or 11, I don't remember much. I remember potato pancakes, I remember they got lame presents every night for seven days (or nine? Whatever it is). It's not like multiple Christmases. Whole different holiday.

We mainly use it to exchange gifts.

Did the celebrate the birth of christ, or were they celebrating a day off work to be with their family and exchange gifts as a way of strengthening familial and social bonds?

I celebrate Christmas in the sense that I get together with family for a good meal and exchange some gifts, but none of us spare a thought to baby jeebuz or any of that jazz.

Also, I'm Norwegian and I seem to recall that jule celebrations were a thing before christianity forced Thor & Co. to step aside.

Hello.

Also meet more people of various backgrounds.

I've never met a loud and outspoken Christian that was really Christian.

Christmas predates Christianity in my culture. We just didn't call it Christmas.

Define celebrate. Do they go to church? Do anything religious on those days?

And I've met very few Christians, if any, who actually follow all the rules in the bible

Its part of my culture but not part of my belive.

Do you mean Saturnalia?

Hi. I'm an atheist that doesn't celebrate Christmas. You are probably from a part of the world where there is a Christian majority. Honestly I'm assuming American lol

Celebrating cultural traditions doesn't necessarily have to involve religious themes.

Xmas was commandeered by christians but we have been celebrating Winter solstice for a lot longer than there has been christians on this planet. (same goes for most other 'christian' holidays)

I don't celebrate the birth of any fictional character, but I still celebrate the holidays in general, they mean different things to different people and there's nothing wrong with that. It should be about spending time with your loved ones and showing your appreciation. It should be to find a little bit of peace and relaxation this world with those you love, and taking a break before starting out on a new year with new problems and challenges.

Well yeah why not. The holiday was a pagan holiday long before the Jesus thing anyway. Besides the idea of gathering with your family to share meals and exchanging gifts because you love and care for them is not strictly a Christian thing.

Most Christan holidays are co-opted pagan celebrations. Easter is the celebration of spring hence the chicks and bunnies and eggs, all symbols of new life. Christmas and the tradition of bringing evergreens into the home are the winter solstice celebration. Christians can't steal peoples holidays and then complain that non-christians celebrate them.

Celebrating these holidays without being Christan is actually standing up against thousands of years of forced conversion tactics.

“Celebrate” is doing a lot of work here. What are we supposed to do? Go to work?

On the flip side I’ve never met a loud and outspoken Christian that didn’t celebrate Christmas.

You know, since it’s a stolen Holliday used as a yearly excuse for a capitalism orgy.

I'll be your new person to meet for today.

I'm spiritual but still atheist and my family has been agnostic atheist for 3 generations. Back in the 80's my grandfather started celebrating the winter solstice because he wasn't happy celebrating holidays for a religion he didn't agree with. He picked it because it's the longest night in the year and that's a good reason to give a gift.

40 something years later, I'm raising my kid to celebrate the solstices and the equinoxes. Winter is a quite calibration of your closest people and you exchange gifts that will help them through the next year. During summer it's a celebration of the people you know and everyone gets together and brings everyone they know to eat and party with the goal of meeting some one new. Both equinox are a celebration of the community and we go out to do community service.

That's 4 generations of non Cristian celebration.

I'm no expert, but I think Santa Claus isn't exactly a biblical figure and neither is the Easter Bunny. These are normal holidays around here, but you'd be hard-pressed to find many children who know any of the christian stuff.

Also, I think Christmas was actually built on top of the prior winter solstice celebrations. It's not like anyone knew the exact date of birth for a random guy from hundreds of years ago.

I don't care what holiday is it, as long as you make it an official holiday that has legally mandated paid time off... 😏

Pretty sure Jesus’s birthday isn’t the first and only mid-winter celebration in the entire history of humankind. Most people are just happy to get the solstice out of the way.

What are your views on atheists eating Easter eggs?

Christmas is now a secular holiday. It was here before Christians anyway.

Saturnalia Gang rise up! Our time is now!

Eh, whatever religious significance it ever had in the West is long gone, but it's still a nice occasion to meet up with family, break bread and share gifts. I'm not much for rites and celebrations, to a point my wife hates, but I see the value of it (and in sharing with your loved ones, ofc) even if it's completely separate from religion.

Atheists here who's favorite holiday is Christmas.

I do kinda wish it had a different name, and kinda wish it was on the winter solstice; but as long as no one wants to go to church, read the Bible, or reinact the nativity; it's a fantastic areligious holiday to enjoy with loved ones.

Most Christians I know only pretend it's a religious holiday while they enjoy family, food, and gifts. Though some actually go to church, and I kinda feel bad for them.

Christmas is a pagan holiday co-opted by Christians. Christmas is most definitely a secular tradition in the US and there is nothing unusual about an atheist celebrating it.

What is unusual is Christians trying to bring Christ into the celebration when the timing just doesn't make any sense. Was he actually born during this time? Where does he fit in with Santa Claus? Why do we bring a tree indoors? What about Jesus equals buying gifts to give to loved ones?

Clearly Jesus doesn't belong in Christmas no matter how hard Christians try to pretend he does.

I have, including myself.

It's still a public holiday where I live, so it's a convenient date for visiting family for a few days. But apart from some joke decoration (like a single bauble on a tiny potted citrus tree) there is nothing Christmassy about it.

I don't most years, unless a friend really wants to do something with me for it in which case I might go along for their benefit. Not really a holiday person in general though.

What do you mean with celebrate? I mean, i get free from work but hardly celebrate anything (although maybe slightly at the winter solstice, when the shortest day had happened, happy that the days will get longer again)

We call them Christmas and Easter, but they're really just secular holidays for the family to get together. No religious aspect whatsoever, but great getting together.

Typical war on Saturnalia bullshit.

I don't celebrate christmas. There, now you have.

I'm not loud and outspoken, but I don't really celebrate. Though in my case I grew up JW so I never had the habit. I've heard arguments from outspoken atheists that religion doesn't get to claim holidays, because you don't have ro believe in something to enjoy the festive aspects, plus those holidays were stolen or merged from various religions anyway.

Im an atheist that doesn't celebrate. I don't do holidays and haven't with my kids since their birth. Everyone is over consuming.

Nor do I want to contribute to the ignorance of religion.

Idc if everyone wants to pretend its not a religious holiday, the Christians around here foam at the mouth at the chance to spout their nonsense. Christmas lights didnt go down until recently.

Religion has caused so much harm.

Well it is the most wonderful time of the year.

Just about every culture has a winter celebration. Religious or not, a large portion of the population is struggling in the cold. The party around the solstice gives a distinct turning point in the year as the days get longer. So why not take advantage of the existing merch, the existing day off work, and the spirit of your friends and family and partake? Going with the flow and pretending to celebrate a holiday in a religion you think is fake anyway is easier than having the same conversation over and over with family. And don't underestimate the power of marketing, consumerism, and the lingering imperialism. I've been to India and many people expressed their wish to visit New York City at Christmas. It permeates local culture, it broadcasts globally.

As others have said, you're showing a small world view and admitting your sample is small. Christianity creates atheists that celebrate Christmas. Judaism, hannukah. Modern non-religious cultural holidays, the new year. Traditional religions, some combo of the solstice and moon phase. Even those of other faiths that live in areas dominated by Christianity celebrate Christmas, heathens and pagans alike.

Hello. Allow me to introduce myself. 👋

I don't really celebrate it. Not because I am an atheist, tho. Because I am poor. 😩

I've never met a protestant that wasn't into a catholic saint's day at least once a year (valentine's day)

I've never met an Asatru who wasn't a Norwegian guy named Bjørn with extremely long naturally blonde hair who loves Iron Maiden.

Sample bias is a thing 😉

Beyond its religious context, it is one of the most widely-celebrated and practiced social gathering events, and a massive economic driver in many local economies. It would be strange to not celebrate it for the social aspect, even if you don't practice the religious aspect.

How can you be sure?

When you meet someone you judge to be loud and outspoken in their atheism, do you add them to a list, find out where they live, and then spend your Christmas checking what ever one of them is doing on that day?

Sounds like you haven't met very many of them.

Did they haul out a nativity scene? Go to church? No? Then it was a cultural celebration, not a religious one. Nothing hypocritical about that.

Might be a good time to remember that Christmas has adopted many pagan traditions.

Happy Saturnalia.