Christmas: non-Christians and atheists...Do you 'celebrate'?

[nothing2lose]

Genuinely curious to know how, or if, people celebrate Christmas if they are not Christian.

If you don't celebrate it, how do your kids cope seeing their friends so excited?

Like I said, I am just interested - probably because I am nosy

(Wanting a friendly, respectful discussion please )

[luna moth]

We never did before. Our DD loves trees and tinsel and we thought we might get one. We're not sure what we're going to tell her just yet, but it will be as factual as we can make it.

We have presents. We have a tree. My brother is coming and we will have a big lunch. I guess we're treating it kind of like a folk tradition, the reasons for which are outdated, but the celebration remains.

I can't say much as DD is still little. Ask me when she is talking

[PumpkinZulu]

Yep. We just celebrate the 'commercial' Christmas. Presents, big lunch, family. When I was younger we went to Mass. I think Mum raised us Catholic as an obligation to my dad. None of us identify as Catholic now. When DD is older I might take her to a Mass, so that she can understand the religious significance behind the commercialised Christmas we celebrate, just so she knows it's original meaning. But to me Christmas is a time to celebrate the year that has been, catch up with family, eat and share gifts.

[Epacris]

Oh yeah baby!!! (we are atheist)

We have a tree, decorations, lights, presents (way too many), Santa, massive lunch, the works. For us Christmas is a social institution, it’s all about family (and friends too) and an important punctuation to the year. My Mum likes to make snow scenes. She builds a little village in the snow on the fireplace mantelpiece. I know it sound a bit tacky but it is actually absolutely beautiful, a work of art.

[Trillian]

Oh yeah baby!!! (we are atheist)

We have a tree, decorations, lights, presents (way too many), Santa, massive lunch, the works. For us Christmas is a social institution, it’s all about family (and friends too) and an important punctuation to the year.

This is pretty much us as well.

[Novella]

We celebrate christmas as a special time to catch up with family and friends as this is the tradition I have always grown up with. We do the Father Christmas thing, tree, the girls are so excited.

We do talk about the religous aspects but more in a some people believe xyz and leave it open for them to make their own decisions. I think it is a good chance to discuss some of th ehistorical aspects of christmas and what it means to different people. We have discussed Jesus with DD1 and have talked about him as a historical figure, I find discussing God more difficult as I am an atheist, but I explain my understaning of what christians belevee as I would discuss other aspects of different religions with the girls

I would also be interested to hear how families who dont celebrate cope through the christmas season as its rather difficult to escape from

A bit off topic but DD's young kindy teacher passed away recently and that bought up some discussions regarding heaven, I explained what some people believe and DD was also able talk to my mum who is christian about her beliefs. We tend to have a 'some people think/believe this some people think that' discussions often, she hasnt asked yet who is right. Maybe as a child she can accpet that people can have different beliefs without having to have a 'correct' belief

[Phteven]

We join my family every couple of years for presents and so on.
When we don't join my family it's just another day, albeit one that everyone has off, so we often get together with friends for lunch or summat.
This year I was going to celebrate by catching up on maintenance at my holiday house in a leisurely kinda way but my ILs have invaded it. Yes, I'm bitter.

[Saffy]

yeah ( athiest here) we go the full shebang with tree, presents decorations, cards, big chrisse dinner, mince pies etc. Its a celebration of family and friiends as others have said.
None of my sisters or I have kids so no explaination needed at this stage!

[krysalyss]

We aren't religious and have always celebrated christmas. Growing up, the only people that I knew who didn't celebrate xmas were from a non-christian religion (JW) but everyone else did. It wasn't a terribly big or multi-cultural school though either.

[Sopdet]

I celebrate the pagan holidays. I got phone calls from my family for Litha this year, will hear from them again on Sunday. Wasn't until my brother married a Catholic woman that we did the whole birth of jesus thing, a the joys of being both pagan and jewish

My kids will be the same, celebration of the pagan holidays and the understanding of their Jewish heritage as well.

[[M]umma[M]ia]

Just because you dont believe or follow a religion, doesnt mean you dont believe in Santa

[LuluHB]

We do the whole thing too. Definitely a celebration of friends and family, and either celebrating the year or just celebrating that its over! DD1 goes to a Christian kindy (DD2 will next year) so we also have discussions about it being the day Jesus was born etc. When they are older I will be more open about my beliefs while encouraging them to walk their own path, but in the meantime it is our choice for them to have a Christian education and so we support what comes with that. I am not religious at all, but there have been times when I truly envy the faith of those that are.

I have a friend who doesn't celebrate Christmas at all, despite her family doing so. She spends the day at the beach each and every year. It does annoy her that she is constantly told that effectively she is an idiot for not being involved, that you don't have to believe in God/Jesus etc - just enjoy the day. I think that however someone's views may differ from our own, we should all respect the right of others to act in the way they choose if it does no harm.

[Teeki]

We aren't religious - DH and I are more spiritual without subscribing to a particular religion. We do celebrate Christmas though, we were both brought up with it. My Mum was brought up Christian and so told my brother and I about the Christian meaning behind it, but it was still all about getting together with family and friends for us, rather than Jesus. We would see family members who lived far away and we never saw otherwise, so it was always a fantastic day

Now, it's more about family & friends than ever. After having close family members pass away close to Christmas, it's really become a time of reflection and... I dunno... kind of like family bonding or something? So we do a big meal, and gifts, and it's just a whole load of fun

At the moment DD is too young to understand anything, but we'll explain the different meaning behind the holiday, and how for us it's about family and showing appreciation for each other. We will have Santa, because it was such a magical time in my childhood. Nothing over the top, just something for her to get excited about. I'm already looking forward to next Christmas when she'll be a little older and the entire family (both sides) are coming to us so I can host it!

[Lenny]

So nosey!!!

We didn't bother really until we had the kids. Then we embraced it a bit more. So, yes, we celebrate. We don't discuss any of the origins or beliefs just yet, but it will come eventually.

In the past when i lived near my maternal grandmother i'd go to church with her. She's lovely and she enjoyed it so much. She came to christianity late in life herself.

[Astrid]

Non Christian spiritual with pagan leanings here (if that even makes sense, I suppose noob pagan).

For me these days Christmas is just a nice time of year for family and friends to get together. We do the whole tree, presents and meal thing. It is exciting for the kids and that makes it exciting for us. It is also a cultural thing for me, I grew up with it (mum was a lapsed Catholic) and loved it as a child. Hated Christmas for quite a few years, not much fun when the only family around have the most boring Christmases ever.

The girls as they get older will learn about all the different parts of Christmas, the Christian side, the non Christian etc As I learn more about my spirituality I can see how I celebrate this time of year evolving.

[Ginger]

absolutely! we love the whole santa thing, and the food and the presents and the tree. i agree with PP that it is a great time to appreciate and catch up with family.

[onthefly]

Christmas has always been family time for us. When we were kids we did presents & tree etc. then just family time with lots of food. now we're back to tree etc & presents for the kids. No Santa here because we are obviously total killjoys and want our kids to grow up like justin beiber.

it's not like it's a traditional christian holiday anyway, you know.... they just adopted it.

[RockingBaker]

We go for the family aspect, tree, presents, santa and lunch with loved ones. It works for us.