“The familiar proverb that captures this requirement is, ‘Ours is a government of laws and not of men.’ The liberal project is threatened whenever that formula is reversed, whenever the state’s generality is at risk of being eroded by the particular beliefs of men. Substance, then, is the chief danger to the liberal state, and the chief form of that danger is religion, both because of the categorical demands it places on its adherents and because it refuses the formal constraints that keep substance cabined in the sphere of the private.” By Stanley Fish, NYTimes today.
From R. Elisabeth Cornwell (Washington Post, Dec. 2011)
When people find out I’m an atheist, the question often comes up about what I do during the Christmas holidays. There is an assumption that atheists don’t ‘do Christmas,’ so they are surprised when I say how much I love it.
Most atheists grew up in religious households, and most of us grew up with celebrating religious holidays. We have childhood memories of Christmas or Hanukkah, family meals, holiday cheer and the quirkiness of our relatives. While we might make noise when religion attempts to break through the wall of the separation of church and state, we are not in the habit of kicking Santa in the shins, tearing down creches, or, like the Grinch, stealing the Christmas stockings from the mantle. I admit I have known atheists who grow quite surly and Scrooge-like at any suggestion of Christmas merriment. But historically most of that sort of opposition to Christmas and its symbols has come not from atheists at all, but from rival religions. Most of the the atheists I know revel in the season as a way of celebrating family and friends, which really is the modern meaning of Christmas.
Some Christians have accused me of being hypocritical for celebrating a Christian holiday. However – and perhaps this is from my background in anthropology – celebrations are a natural part of human culture, and Christians simply appropriated local celebrations to suit their own peculiar beliefs. Christmas is only ‘Christian’ because ancient winter pagan celebrations were incorporated by the Church.
The Christmas tree, which became a part of English and American tradition through German influence is a recent tradition. The English took on the German tradition of the Christmas Tree during the Victorian era under the influence of Prince Albert. Americans, on the other hand, were likely influenced by the Prussians during the American Revolution as well as the many German immigrants who came to the fledgling nation. But evergreens have been part of human celebrations at least as far back as the Egyptians as a symbol of the triumph of life over death. In pre-Christian Britain, the druids placed evergreens outside their door to symbolize the coming of spring. Christians adopted the symbolism so readily that they use palm leaves to celebrate the ‘triumph’ of Christ’s rise from the tomb at Easter, and then use those same palms as ashes to mark the cross on the forehead of Catholics throughout the world to signify the beginning of Lent the following year.
Feasts have been part of human culture since long before we worshipped a monotheistic god. It is a deep-seated part of our social nature, and humans are arguably the most social animals on the planet. Eating together, breaking bread whilst telling stories about ancestors, about hunting, battles, and travels, were part of everyday life for successful tribes throughout human history.
Music too has its role in the universal human experience: singing, drumming, and dancing were part of the celebration – whatever particular gods or goddesses the people worshipped. Long dark winter nights would have lost their gloom with the warmth of a fire and voices raised in song. Worship has nothing to do with our love of music; it is in our genetic heritage – it is an intimate part of our social mind that induces bonding and fellowship.
Celebration is not owned by any one culture and especially not by any one religion. It is part of our humanity.
I was raised in a mainly Christian culture, and my traditions are influenced by a peculiar blend of American, Scottish and German heritage. Some traditions sprang up out of the circumstances of living in Los Angeles – we always had grilled hamburgers on Christmas Eve because it was warm enough and my mother wanted the kitchen to herself to prepare the Christmas feast. Now that my family live in Idaho they still maintain the same tradition, with my father often grilling as the snow falls, a long way from the 80 degree December days of my Southern California childhood. I do wonder if my young niece will carry on the tradition of Christmas Eve burgers (with green chilies) with her family – and what will she say when her children ask how the tradition came about.
Families and friends are what create the celebration of the season, and especially in the US where we come from every corner of the world, where cultures freely mix, and traditions ebb and flow. We can see how celebration is truly a human phenomenon, independent of religion. I feel no sense of hypocrisy because I enjoy the many threads of my familial past. Nor do I shy aware from singing the familiar and much loved Christmas songs that I sang for years in choir or at home. Silent Night still can bring a tear to my eye because it recalls memories of childhood. And my sister, niece and I will suddenly start singing ‘I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas’ to set sail in a sea of laughter. Why should religious indignation take that from me? Celebration, despite their protests, does not belong solely to the pious.
Christmas is also a time to remember family and friends who are no longer with us. They stay with us in loving memory, and we celebrate how much richer our lives are because they were a part of us, shaping us, and making us better for knowing them. And so we hand down stories to our children of grandparents, aunts, uncles and others who they shall never know, but ought to know about. Such stories were told by our ancestors as far back as language has existed. Embellished with each new story teller – and after all only the best stories survived, so they had to be wonderfully repeatable tales. Thus legends of celebrations grew, of myths and magic, and of wonder. And yes, this too is a part of our cultural heritage for which we should be thankful.
Like many of my Christian friends, I am not overly fond of the commercialization of Christmas. I bristle at seeing decorations any time before Thanksgiving and this year I’ve been particularly annoyed with a car advert that has hijacked one of my favorite secular holiday songs. However, I let all that fall away and think about being with my family and spending time laughing, telling stories, and watching the joy of Christmas shine through the eyes of my niece Quincie.
Christmas belongs to anyone who wants it, and just because I gave up believing in a god doesn’t mean I gave up believing in the love and joy of family. I did not give up the joy of celebration with my abandonment of the absurd. So to my religious and non-religious friends, I wish them all a Merry Christmas or a Happy Hanukkah from the heart and I hope they take it with the true spirit with which I give it – that of the spirt of humanity – something we can all celebrate.
Note: this was originally posted in the Washington Post in Dec 2011
Enjoyed this very much. Thanks for posting it John.
I have to admit that I also assumed that most atheists don’t celebrate Christmas. I think, in my case at least, that comes from hearing media reports about atheists putting up billboards like the one that LibDem mentioned in the other article and from seeing news clips on t.v. where atheists are talking about celebrating the winter solstice at this time of year rather than Christmas.
I’m sorry that the author of this article (and those who feel likewise) has been made to feel that she can’t celebrate Christmas if she doesn’t believe in God, or believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah. I think that if we who call ourselves Christian make someone feel that way, then we are not properly imitating Christ. Personally, I think that if an atheist chooses to celebrate Christmas, even if it’s for some other reason than one that is Christ-centered, it’s a positive sign that a seed has been planted in that person. The hope from a Christian point of view should be that at some point, perhaps, that seed will grow in the future. And it just might – if those of us who are trying to live a Christ-centered life give a good witness. If we give a poor witness, that can have disastrous results. Harping on someone for being a hypocrite, rather than thanking God that an atheist is still connected to Christmas in some way is not giving good witness, IMHO.
I would like to correct at least one statement from the above article that I think is inaccurate. The author’s statement that “Christians simply appropriated local celebrations to suit their own peculiar beliefs”. I think the tone of that statement sounds a little sinister. It is true that Christians did (and still do in some parts of the world) incorporate the local traditions of any particular culture when they attempt to Christianize an area. This is done generally as a function of evangelization to demonstrate to those who have never heard the Gospel proclaimed, that they need not abandon, nor betray their native culture and customs in order to become Christian. Christianity generally tries to marry a cultural identity with worship in Christ, rather than attempt to suppress it. The command from Christ is “Go out and preach to all nations”. It is supposed to be peaceful and inclusive. Jesus did not command us to go out and conquer all nations. But maybe someone out there with more mission experience than me can address this better than I am able to.
Then the author goes on to say “Celebration is not owned by any one culture and especially not by any one religion. It is part of our humanity”. I would agree with that, but I’m sorry that the author has somehow acquired the impression that Christians feel that only fellow Christians may celebrate Christmas. It’s common at this time of year to hear Christians openly discussing “the real meaning of Christmas”, namely, Christ. I think that most of us do that in order to remind ourselves and our fellow Christians not to get too caught up in the celebrations and commercialization and forget the One whose birth we are celebrating. Hence, the slogans like “Jesus is the reason for the season”. I think these are advertised more to target lapsed Christians than they are for atheists. I need and welcome such slogans and take them as reminders to me to check myself this time of year so that I keep THE ONE as #1.
It sounds to me like the particular atheist who authored this article feels slighted by Christians. That’s on us. As Christians, we can and should be doing a better job of imitating Christ in our lives. If we did, people who have never known Christ, or who have stopped believing in Him/worshipping Him as God would see the joy that comes from following Christ. How can we witness joy when we’re busy making personal attacks? Maybe atheists would be less militant and aggressive toward us if they could plainly see in us the extraordinary joy, love, and peace that only comes about when one lives in full Communion with the Risen Lord.
Merry Christmas to you all and to your families. May the Blessings and Peace of Christ be upon you.
Christians in Rome appropriated Saturnalia to celebrate the birth of Christ, Newcomer. You have really mis-characterized what the author has actually said.
John,
I’m not an expert on Roman or Greek mythology, but my general understanding of Saturnalia is that it was a celebration of the ancient Roman Empire during the winter solstice. There is some evidence that some of the activities that took place as part of the week-long celebration by the Romans were changed when the Romans were conquered by the Greek Carthinians. Then sometime during the 300′s A.D. when the Romans were Christianized, the Christians did align their celebration of Christmas with the celebration of Saturnalia of the Romans. But as I explained in my above comment, this was (and still is) a common means of evangelization by Christians in order to incorporate the customs of a culture that do not violate the tenets of the religion. Saturnalia also involved games of chance but notice that that custom was left behind by Christianity.
I wasn’t trying to mis-characterize what the author said. I was trying to explain the flip-side of the coin and counter what came across to me as a negative undertone to the author’s comments. Why does the author use the term “appropriate” in the context of Christians’ desires to “suit their own PECULIAR beliefs”? To me, that choice of words carries a negative connotation that may have been true in past Ages when all religions fought “religious” wars. But I do not think that it is correct to use it in a contemporary context as pertains Christianity. The author begins by using a negative slant when discussing the past but then carries that negative slant forward to the present by stating that “celebration is not owned…especially by any one religion”. Christianity continues to evangelize today, but not in some negative way or by sinister means. And I’ve never heard of the Pope or some other Christian leader declaring that atheists have no right to celebrate Christmas because the celebration belongs to Christians. That’s also a mis-characterization on the author’s part. Now, perhaps a certain Christian individual(s) expressed this to the author. If so, that was unfortunate and not a good example of living out one’s faith. But to me, that doesn’t justify knocking the whole of Christianity as having dark motives or desiring that atheists not celebrate Christmas. That’s a mis-characterization as well. I was only attempting to point it out.
Once again, I agree with LibDem, I enjoyed it too. Thanks for putting this on your blog John.
John,
That’s quite an article in the NY Times that you linked to.