Answer 35

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Question 35

What do different atheists do on religious holidays? I.e., do you observe them and ,if so, how?

Party out, visit friends, overeat, get drunk, that sort of thing. For the benefit of those that like to make a religious occasion out of it, I'm noticeable by my absence. (Erikc #2)

I observe the holidays but have my own "traditions".......

*Xmas - giving and receiving gifts, going to Carols by Candelite and it wouldn't be xmas without watching National Lampoon's Xmas Vacation....

*Easter- gorging oneself on chocolate and watching The Life of Brian.....

But if you meant do I observe them in any religious way then the answer would be not at all. (Natalie #328)

Depends on the holiday. Don't observe Easter at all. Observe Christmas and Thanksgiving as secular holidays. On Christmas we exchange gifts, have a tree, that sort of thing. Thanksgiving is a chance to gather the family and eat a great meal. (George Ricker #146)

Christmas - christmas tree with sweets on it, pesents, big dinner with at least one fish-based course on 24th; visit relatives, friends (exchanging presents) on 25th and 26th. Easter with hiding painted eggs for children and Swedish dish; traditional barbecuing excursion with family. Pentecost: just a long holiday. (Daneel #323)

My mother was raised catholic and has degrees from Mount Saint Mary's in California. But we never went to church and I was never indoctrinated formally in any way. My father was raised Protestant. My inlaws are agnostic bordering on mild atheism.

We still celebrate christmas with a tree and everything but there's no prayers or other distinctly religious rituals. For me it's a just a good time of the year to get together and spend some time away from the rush of life and talk and stuff. My parents may still be thinking of it as a religious holiday but they don't seem to need to make an overt show about it. (Dan Talso #236)

My birthday is on December 22nd, which also happens to be the Solstice (Summer back home in NZ, Winter here in the UK), so I always take leave around that period, and my partner and I celebrate Solstice, rather than Xmas. It helps that there are loads of public holidays around that period, easing the load on my annual leave!!.

Easter: - just another long(er than average!) weekend.

At the end of the day, I don't begrudge anyone religious holidays, because it means I get paid for enjoying myself - can't be bad. (Adam Cheney #1099)

Christmas & Thanksgiving are generally taken up with family gatherings (they're all catholics). As an atheist of Irish descent, I'll be spending this St. Patrick's Day as usual, getting plowed on homebrewed ale and cursing that stupid bastard Patrick for xianizing Ireland in the first place. (raven1 #1096)

Haven't gone to Midnight Mass or Easter celebrations in years, and I have absolutely no desire to ever go again. Ever. But, there's other kinds of celebrations I wouldn't mind going to. A year ago (December '96) there was a Winter Solstice celebration in Vancouver, with parades and songs and dances and bonfires. I would have *loved* to go, but alas! my plane left for Ottawa two days before.

Now, last December, my Wiccan twin brother invited me to take part in a circle he was leading (his first time as leader, actually). He and his circle get together every full moon. It was... December 13th, I think. This one also doubled as a solstice-ish celebration. I really enjoyed it. (Nicolas P. Demers #155)

My family and I celebrate Easter and Christmas, but I see them more as an opportunity to be with family, and to give my kids gifts, of course. I don't treat either as a religious holiday, only a special time for family and friends. I also celebrate Halloween which although originally a religious celebration (not Christian) isn't really treated as such in this country any longer. Christmas is treated with the traditional tree, turkey and lots of gifts, not to mention the anticipation my kids have waiting for Santa Claus. At Easter we have ham, and Easter baskets, an egg hunt, and the Easterbunny's foot prints sprinkled in powder sugar to "prove" that he had been there; Oh we also dye eggs. Halloween is a fun day to scare the pants off of people and to dress up; this is my favorite holiday of all despite the lack of gifts. (Chani #1118)

Any excuse to have a party, right? Afterall, the origins of many of the major holidays were really just people wanting to party. The "excuse" to have a party became a many layered trapping of political/religious crap, but, really, people just want to have a party. Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick's Day (BIG party day): they're all fun. I feel absolutely no shame in not believing in the religious aspects. Its still fun to eat, get drunk, dance, give and get presents. My advice is to have a blast.
I race sail boats and I belong to a yacht club. There is a tradition with yacht clubs to have an "opening day" each spring. It's full of silly traditional trappings but also a big festive party. If you viewed sailing as a religion, opening day would be like Easter/Passover/Beltane (whatever you favorite flavor). It's all the same. So just relax, have a rum punch and smile. Enjoy the company of friends. We're celebrating each other, not some fairy tale. (Lee Locke #893)

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