BFF 100 Celebrate like an Atheist!

In my last blog I got a little heavy explaining how and why I became and Atheist. Giving up a deity to worship and ask for assistance is a difficult change.  It can be a little lonely when you realize you are on your own.  But all is not doom and gloom. One of the best parts of Atheism is the holidays.  Yes, I celebrated the holidays.  They mean something a little different to me.  Let’s start with the big ones.

 Christmas:  The Christian Christmas marks the birth of the Christian messiah.  The month of December also marks Winter Solstice for my Wiccan friends and Hanukah for my Jewish friends.  December for this Atheist means Christmas in the secular sense.  

 Christmas decorations for us include Santa, but no holy family in their crèche. Tree decorations that started as a theme a decade ago have devolved into a mish mash of snowmen, snowflakes and cartoon characters.  These reflect our sacred tradition of getting one new ornament per year, per family member.   Friends and family are welcome to add their own.  The tree stands sacred as a living family history. It’s not uncommon to hear us reminisce about past Christmas’ as we decorate.  The presents, I hold these sacred as they represent our ability to fill our children with delight and restock their toy supply.  The opening of them is a sacred time for me, or at least it counts as sacred after I go back to bed!   The feast; this is the equivalent of my church ceremony.  The meal is our gift to our friends and family.  There is sacredness to sharing this meal, because we chose to spend this time together.  As for Christmas carols,  I am the one that listens to them with the children as we  drive to look at Christmas lights.  I will admit to being a huge fan of the more serious Christian Christmas songs for their drama.  I have always loved singing Christmas music.

  Easter of course is the other big one. While my friends talk about the passion play, Passover, spring solstice, I am gearing up for Easter bunnies, baskets and dresses.  I get to skip over the questions about why we get a basket of chocolate if the lord died but was resurrected.  I get to buy my kids more toys and new clothes, which is stressful enough with out having to explain the religious overtones of the holiday.  Easter dinner is the same.  It’s a huge dinner with friends and family that allows us to celebrate our love for them.

 Birthdays share the same concept.  We shower the birthday person with gifts and love.   It’s the same concept for anniversaries.  Our favorite holiday:  The first day that G is home from work.   These days mean shopping, presents, food, and parties. We prepare for them as laboriously as any other holiday. We accept these preparations as a show of love and celebration of our family. We know that other families, regardless of religion feel the same.  For an Atheist, any day can be a “holiday”.  The sacredness of celebrating our family does not need a specific day.  Every day with my whole family is a holy day.