Do you attend holiday gatherings?

[DrillQuip]

Do you attend holiday gatherings with family or do you sit them out? And how do you typically respond to people who wish you merry christmas and the like?

[muffinpants]

I have never sat out on a holiday gathering with the reason being my atheism. Now, if I have an excuse to not attend one, I will by all means take it up.. but only cus I hate spending time with family. I tend to look at christmas as more of an american thing than a religious thing. Pretty much every religion has a celebration for the winter solstice anyways. Even when people say 'god bless' I just respond with a 'yeah, you too!' cus I know they are just trying to be nice and what not.. I'm not gonna try and ruin their kindness just cus we believe different things. But yeah, I'm pretty much one of those inoffendable atheists. Just do what ya want and don't try to press your beliefs on me.

[Arch]

I haven't seen my parents since December 1984--it was around the holidays, but it wasn't officially Christmas yet. My brother lives in another state, and we're not exactly warm toward each other. So, no, I don't spend time with my blood relations at this time of year.

I do go to a friend's house. He's a gay man who offers his hospitality to other gay men for Thanksgiving and Christmas and the occasional "just because" gathering. That's my family now.

When people wish me a merry Christmas, I generally respond with "Happy Holidays" or the like. I don't want to come off as a grinch, and I'm certainly not going to explain myself. The Christmas engine is too powerful in this country. And since I do go to my friend's house, I sort of observe the holiday--but it means something different to me.

[Emily Aster]

I still go to them to see the family members that I actually like and every single year they try to get me to go to church. I don't know how many times I have to tell them I'm an atheist before they get it.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

  The only gathering I attend is a skype or phone chat with my children who are overseas...

Otherwise I don't attend any gatherings, it's normally just me, the beach and a book...

But I do wish others 'Happy/Merry Xmas' because it's their special day [be it stolen from our Pagan past]...

Metta Zenda

[suzifrommd]

Do you attend holiday gatherings with family or do you sit them out? And how do you typically respond to people who wish you merry christmas and the like?

Well, my family and I are not Christian so our gatherings are not this time of year. My father's side of the family are very close knit and my parents set a very high priority on staying in touch. After they died, my wife and I have tried to continue that tradition, though this year, with all the transition stuff and my wife in school we've done a little less of it.

[eli77]

Of course. Almost my entire family is atheist. Doesn't mean we can't still carry on our own traditions. Christmas and Hanukah (I'm half Jewish) have nothing to do with religion for me, and everything to do with spending time with the people I love.

[Shantel]

Do you attend holiday gatherings with family or do you sit them out? And how do you typically respond to people who wish you merry christmas and the like?

I'm always a cheery person so Merry Christmas gets the same response from me just as does Happy Holidays or Happy Chanukah, why be a sourpuss? The seemingly mandatory family get together usually turns into a stressful clusterf**k because invariably someone will have to create some kind of unwanted drama. "We can choose our friends but we're stuck with our family!" I just have a few drinks and white knuckle my way through it all and think about what the initial intent of the holiday is all about.

[LilDevilOfPrada]

If i do attend a event like christmas I say "merry coka-cola day to all!"

[Victoria L.]

Well, we don't typically have big family gatherings. A lot of my family lives so close together that we see each other a lot. However, I'd gladly still attend such events. I still celebrate Christmas and likely will for the remainder of my life. The origin of many of Christmas's traditions are rooted in Pagan celebrations of the winter solstice, so I celebrate the winter solstice.

If people say Merry Christmas to me, I say the same thing back or "Thank you". It doesn't offend me at all. The only thing that bothers me is "Jesus is the reason for the season" and stuff like that (because take a history lesson, geez!). Even so I generally wouldn't say anything. I'm not out about my atheism anyway.

[Felix]

I love all holidays and that I've come across and celebrate most all of them most of the time. Things like Mardi Gras and Divali and Day of the Dead and Veterans Day are hard to drum up as much excitement for in the area of the country I live in at the moment, but still we try to at least take notice of special days.

I've not bothered to sort out which ones have religious underpinnings and which don't, as even the most sacred tend to be pretty drenched in secularism.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

Atheists shouldn't begrudge the followers of the Abrahamic religion their 'holy days'... After all, the week has 7 days, only 3 of which are special for the religious, and we get the whole 7 ...The majority of days of the year have an atheist stamp of approval 

Metta Zenda

[Gewaltraud]

My biological father was a pastor and I had Christianity shoved down my throat since birth. I had huge Bible verses memorised at age two and was pretty much abused by religion all my life. I have three sisters, two of whom are still Christian. My mother still believes and my biological father is still insane as far as Christianity is concerned. Because of this, I still celebrate holidays with my family when I can. Xmas is a must, birthdays are obvious and on Easter, we get a bit of chocolate, but that's about it. Those are really the only holidays we celebrate, apart from Thanksgiving or unrelated holidays.

[Adam (birkin)]

Whatever the Christians may say, Christmas is a secular holiday now. I don't think I'd ever join my family at church, but I just think about what the holiday is meant to represent instead of a religious interpretation. I enjoy the music for the singing and the instruments. I enjoy the hustle and bustle, the cold weather, the chance to wind down, the good food, the exchange of gifts and getting to see people I don't normally see. If I don't attend Christmas this year, it will be because my aunt doesn't want to ruin her precious children's lives by telling them that I am transgender.

[Calder Smith]

Yes, I still do.

I celebrate Christmas with my family and I don't have a problem with it. Christmas doesn't have to be about God. In fact, Christmas isn't even a Christian holiday; it's Pagan. I never really cared for Easter and like Christmas, Easter is becoming secular as well.

[Arch]

I celebrate Christmas with my family and I don't have a problem with it. Christmas doesn't have to be about God. In fact, Christmas isn't even a Christian holiday; it's Pagan.

From what I've read, it's a combination holiday that incorporates a number of different traditions, including paganism and Christianity.

[FalseHybridPrincess]

Yes I do I love my family and when we gather we always have fun...I wish I ll be able to be with them after transition too

[Tossu-sama]

The only holiday gathering we have is Christmas but I can always say I celebrate the original pagan version of it. Besides my family isn't religious or anything, they just haven't got around to resign from the church like I have.
Christmas celebration is more like a tradition or a habit than celebrating someone's birthday that even wasn't in December, lol.

[randomdude5]

I don't care much for Christmas, never mind Easter.

My dad is extremely religious, he goes to church every Sunday, and my parents often go see my uncles for Christmas, and even though I wouldn't care about spending Christmas alone I sometimes go just because, but I don't see it as a religious thing at all. If someone says merry Christmas though, I'll usually just say you too. I don't say Happy Holidays, because I grew up always doing Christmas, so it just stuck.

[Ev]

As what is essentially a de-facto atheist who shuns all concepts of "holy" teachings...you can be "good" and not have to throw in "holy" to describe pleasing and constructive things...I find the word "Holiday" too close to "Holy Day" and thus do not celebrate them.  All these "X-Mas" coats of paint and the attempt to re-claim Holidays for the pagans is like two people fighting over the love of a dead cat.  Kind of pointless and empty.  So, I call them "Hallow Days."  I grew up in a religious/patriotic family and never felt right celebrating them, but I was forced to.  I was not okay with that, at all...still am not.

I do, however, celebrate birthdays as I would rather celebrate the birth of a loved one than some historical or religious figure that really I have no emotional/personal connection to.  I am not a big fan of July 4th or patriotic "hollow days" because, in part, I am a war-time vet. I find the "celebrating" of war and dying for one's country to be downright morbid.  I was one of those who almost made that sacrafice and I tell you what: no amount of hot-dogs and fireworks can ever make that bloodbath "feel right" to me.

St. Patty's Day is celebrating the removal of Pagans from Ireland.  There were no snakes in Ireland that I know of, but I am under the impression that the serpent was a pagan symbol.  Why would I drink to the death of a bunch of Druids (people) again?

Columbus Day?  Please...that guy thought he was in India...and we gave him a Hollow Day? 

I do also celebrate equinoxes and soltices because they are the birth of new seasons, and Halloween as it is the one day out of the year where I actually decide to dress as a normal person. 

I also will sometimes just throw in a random feast for good measure.  I may even get a turkery for the family in October, so we don't have to fight the Hollow Day Commercialzed crowd.  Make my own Celebratory Days if I'm not happy with what we got, right?   No need to get in a fight over them with others.

HOWEVER, I am NOT going to advocate that these "Holy Days" be voted off the calender or tell people not to celebrate them, or that they remove the nativity scene from their front lawns/private property.  As long as you don't force me to do these things, we are going to be JUST fine.