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On Christmas

Happy Human

One of my myriad duties at the AHA is maintaining our Facebook page. Normally this isn’t very difficult; I try to post twice a day and check the page at the same time. The holidays, however, have been tricky.  I’ve happily plugged the humanist holidays—HumanLight and the winter solstice (although what makes the solstice a specifically humanist holiday, I’m not sure)—but totally ignored the major holidays, Christmas in particular.

Talking up the humanist holidays is easy; but ignoring Christmas is really hard. The simple fact is the vast majority of our members celebrate Christmas, albeit with all the necessary disclaimers: secularly, culturally, etc. So while I’m busy plugging a worthy holiday few have heard of (HumanLight is on the same day as Festivus and more people are familiar with that) AHA members are preparing for Christmas.This was brought home today when members reacted negatively to a “Happy HumanLight” post.

I get that people come to humanism for something different and that some feel berated by “Merry Christmas” and “the Reason for the Season.” But the AHA’s decisive and deliberate silence on the topic is not a good status quo; we clearly aren’t adequately and accurately representing the views and practices of our membership. We are, instead, actively ignoring the elephant in the room.

Now we can’t run around saying “Merry [secular] Christmas;” we would look confused. How then to straddle the line between being a Grinch and being sensitive to nontheism? I guess this is the quandary retailers, governments, and everyone else faces at the holidays. Who knew we would face it in the secular camp too?

I get it, we’re humanists and it would be inappropriate for me to post “Merry Christmas” on our Facebook Christmas morning. But I can’t ignore it any longer. So I will say it here, in a personal capacity: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.

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This entry was posted by admin on December 23, 2009 at 1:25 pm and is filed under General. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
  • http://www.onlineguitarcoursesreview.com/ Olga Ramirez

    Fanaticism should be the enemy and balance our goal. Ignoring something doesn’t make it go away. Who are we to say it even needs to go away. Why can’t we just accept there are those who believe differently than us.

    Whether one believes in Christ or not, the concept of self-sacrifice and unconditional love are certainly worth celebrating, which are integral parts of what history says Christ was about.

    Do you (meaning anyone reading) wear green on St. Paddy’s day, do you drink a cerveza on Cinco de Mayo, do you hide eggs for your kids at Easter? For most of us the lines are blurred, as you alluded to.

    So I say we should wish folks a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Mardi Gras, Super Cinco de Mayo or what other holiday we feel like participating in. We can have fun and BE who we are rather than preach what we think others should be.

    Cheers,
    Olga

  • Joyce.N

    American culture and Christianity as well as Christian traditions goes side by side for many years. It somehow makes it a part of the human social orientation that’s really hard to shake off even if you wanted to.

    I have a very Christian family and there was a time when I chose to ignore Christmas and not take part in any of the traditions. I remember posting angry shout outs on my facebook account about how Christmas should not be enforced by parents so when a child chooses not to participate, it wouldn’t be so hard and seemingly sad. I felt sad even if I logically know that Christmas no longer have a real meaning to me anymore.

    Then I realized, it’s just a holiday. Whether I follow tradition for its intended “supposed” reason (which is the birth of Christ, essentially) or celebrate it for the sake of tradition and social norm (my social norm) either way, it does not really matter.

    I agree with you on not on this. A lot of people celebrate Christmas not for Christ and they are Christians themselves, so why do we bother thinking about it too much? I say just have fun and be merry.

  • http://doorcanopy.org/ Joyce.N

    This depends on the main motivation of the employees. When I begin looking for a job, normally it’s because I have exerted all efforts and options in my present job with considerations of my personal relationships in the office.

    A personal relationship with the employer or with co-workers is a huge factor in making these decisions. I agree to what you said that you cannot counter offer with money if that is not the reason why the employee is leaving.

    On the other hand, if I know I am a valuable employee, and I think I deserve a raise, I will simply ask my boss for an early appraisal when I get that offer from another company. I don’t think it should be viewed as something negative. You simply know how much other companies would pay for your work. Some employers accept this as a legitimate bargaining tool, but some really don’t.

    Great ways to prevent good employees from looking work elsewhere is strengthening your relationship with the employees and give proper reward or recognition. Build a positive culture and better communication in the office and concentrate on retention efforts especially with valued employees.

  • http://www.supersmartads.com/buyads.php David

    Some celebrate thinking it is Christ’s Birthday, some celebrate knowing it is just a secular holiday that benefits the merchants.

    Others don’t celebrate, some knowing it would not be the right time of year for Christ’s birthday.

    So a wide variety visit your blog. I can see the delimna.

  • http://www.transcapitalpro.com Nick

    I agree with Olga – “So I say we should wish folks a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Mardi Gras, Super Cinco de Mayo or what other holiday we feel like participating in. We can have fun and BE who we are rather than preach what we think others should be.”

    I have a Jewish friend who insists on receiving “Christmas” cards, not “Holiday” cards. His attitude is basically “It’s Christmas, get over it!”.

  • Natalie Sera

    Well, I was raised Jewish, and never celebrated Christmas in my life, and I don’t particularly like being wished Merry Christmas, because it is exclusive. Even worse was when my son was small, being asked, “What did you get for Christmas?” to which the answer was NOTHING. That is a totally rude and insensitive question in a nation that has so many religious (and non-religious) minorities. You can’t take the Christ out of Christmas (nor, in my honest opinion, should you), and there are those of us who don’t choose to honor that particular man, nor the Pagan traditions that have grown up around the holiday.

    A MUCH better solution is Happy Holidays, which includes everyone, because most people have a holiday around the same time. It’s inclusive and offends no one but the Fundies, who are crazy, anyway.

    And no, I don’t intend to “Just get over it”. I reserve the right to be who I am, and don’t want a majority culture forced on me. For those who choose to participate, it’s one thing, but not everyone so chooses.

  • Francis

    Christmas is a holiday with a name that associates it with one of the many man-god figures of the ancient world, but it is not just a Christian holiday. It is a solstice holiday that belongs to all peoples of the northern hemisphere.

    Christianity was a late arrival in celebrating it. For centuries the Romans had celebrated Saturnalia, and Vergil wrote about it before Y’shua was born. There was gift-giving and serious partying and cheery songs about the impending birth of a boy destined to be a king.

    The religion of Cybele was well established in Phrygia, and its holidays were retained by some of the Christians after Paul had established his church there. He writes disapprovingly of this in his Epistle to the Galatians 4:10.

    The consort of Cybele was Attis, the virgin-born Redeemer and Mediator, Son of God, born December 25 then crucified and resurrected at Easter. This Phrygian religion took hold in Rome. The Christians learned that when you can’t lick ‘em you can join ‘em, so they adopted these dates as Christian holidays.

    Whether Attis of Phrygia, or Y’shua of Galilee, or Mithra of Persia, or Dionysus of Greece, these man-god figures are all manifestations of the original Savior and Mediator, Osiris of the Nile.

    Christianity got the Eucharist from the Egyptian religion and Christmas from the Phrygians. No matter what name is attached to Christmas it is not Christian in origin and does not belong only to them. It is the property of us all.

    If the name “Christmas” has become attached to it, that does not mean that Christians have any special right to claim our holiday. Our attitude should be that of a courteous host: “Welcome to our party, guys. Better late than never.”

    The dumbest blunder Humanists can make today is to say – Oh, it’s a Christian event so we must ignore it or set up a rival holiday which we will call Humanlight or whatever. This response is like that of the peeved kid who says if you don’t let me go up to bat next I will take my ball and go home.

    It’s our holiday, folks, and there’s no need to get your knickers in a knot if most people now call the holiday by the name the late-coming Christians attached to it. We can be gracious and let them call it whatever they like. It is no skin off my nose. I don’t know a better name for it and it doesn’t bother me to wish you a Merry Christmas.
    .

  • Natalie Sera

    It’s just that I don’t wish to celebrate holidays honoring Pagan gods any more than I want to celebrate holidays honoring Christian gods. I don’t see any difference.

    One reason for the difference in feelings may be that most of you were raised with Christmas, and it has treasured emotional memories and connotations. For me, it has none of the above. It was the loneliest day of the year for me, because my mother wouldn’t let us go to our friends’ houses to play. She didn’t want us to bother their families. I STILL don’t like Christmas, but have a dear friend who invites me out to dinner on Christmas day every year as a way to ease the painful feelings.

    I would rather celebrate Humanlight or the New Year of the Trees than a holiday that honors gods, even if they’ve been forgotten. I think being a non-theist extends to Paganism as well as Christianity.

  • Francis

    If you us the words “Thursday” or “Saturday” you are acknowledging gods – Thor and Saturn. It’s not really of much importance.

    As to calling yourself a “non-theist,” that is foolish indeed. That is terminology coined by your enemies in order to make it appear that their position, theism, is the norm, the default, so they can represent you as being a mere dissenter on the fringe of society.

    The word “atheist” was invented specifically to belittle you, like “bra burner” for feminists and “nig…” for African-Americans. Clergymen, not atheists, coined the word “atheist.”

    If you use their language, you are surrendering to their claim that the world is divided into theists and nontheists. That makes sense ONLY if you concede that there is meaning in “theos.” I do not so concede. I do not accept categorization according to THEIR way of dividing the world up.

    Are you a trifonderist or an antitrifonderist? Obviously, unless the pseudoword “trifonder” means something, that isn’t a real question.

    I don’t know of anything that can be either asserted or denied which is a “trifonder” – or a “God.” Every time you let them call you an atheist or a nontheist you are empowering them by reinforcing their allegation that there is some actual possibility being referred to. You are reinforcing their delusion that god-talk is meaningful.

    So far as I know, ALL god-talk is meaningless noise. To deny implies that assertion is possible and can mean something.
    .

  • Natalie Sera

    Well, I could do it like they do in Hebrew: First Day, Second Day, Third Day, etc. But for the sake of communication, of course, I use the Pagan god-names for the days.

    And I’m curious — if you don’t want to use the words “non-theist” or “atheist”, what do you say when you want to talk about religion? Or do you avoid such talk altogether?

  • Francis

    I talk about religion as I would talk about other derivatives of “ligare” (to bind or bond) such as “legion” or “ligament” or “league.” And like a baseball LEAGUE, a religion is a human creation.

    I have neighbors who are priests and friends who are university theologians and enjoy their company and observe that they don’t talk about this “God” thing half as much as my atheist friends do.

    I think theists and non-theists are two sides of the same coin. They both assume there is something there to talk about and it matters.

    The theists bolster their mental framework by reinforcing their professed belief in a “God.” The atheists bolster theirs by denying it.

    Free people have enough interest in “Gods” to think about it for oh, about twenty seconds a week. Their mental activity is enriched by more interesting topics and they just don’t have any need to either assert or deny metaphysical postulates about ghosts.
    .