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.

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

In my (very personal) experience, people who boast about how rational and science-oriented they are tend to do some pretty irrational things, such as believing in amulets and marrying.

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?

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

Happy Saturnalia.

Hello. Allow me to introduce myself. 👋

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?

Get back in the shower and keep thinking, surely you have the imagination to understand why atheists (and other non Christian groups) celebrate Christmas. This is not a deep thought and kinda makes you sound like a dumb cunt tbh.

I can imagine there being a correlation, because there’s no reason to be outspoken, if you’re not embedded in a context that would push religion onto you, which includes celebrating Christmas.

I had a friend in university, whose parents immigrated from a secular region of East Asia, who was equally as atheist as I was. But while I arrived at that position after years of learning about Christianity, as well as peer pressure and self-reflection, she didn’t go through any of that.
She couldn’t have an opinion about Christianity to be outspoken about, because Christianity is just a random fandom as far as she’s concerned. She’s not particularly interested in it, and that’s all there is to it for her.

And then, yeah, while I’m obviously much more outspoken than her, I’m not outspoken against doing a celebration in winter. Because I’m embedded in this Christian context, my parents want me to visit for Christmas, so I guess, I celebrate Christmas. ¯\_(⊙_ʖ⊙)_/¯

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

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.

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.

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.

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