Dec 24, 2012
"You're an atheist? Oh, you must be lonely and miserable during the
holidays." "No, not at all. I celebrate too." "What? What do you
celebrate?" You know how it goes. People who have never gotten far
enough outside Christianity to look back in and realize that Santa
Claus isn't Jesus and eggnog wouldn't have kept well in Israel just
can't wrap their heads around the idea of secular holidays. They
can't quite figure out how we manage to make festive without the
bible, even though theirs doesn't make an appearance when everyone
is sitting around the Christmas tree. So we're going to help them
out. On Sunday, December 23, at 9 a.m. Central time, we're going to
do a special holiday edition of Atheists Talk. It's going to be all
about what we do, as atheists, as everyone else is celebrating
Christmas or Ramadan or Yule or making a big deal out of Hannukah
for the sake of the children or going out for Chinese food and a
movie. What do you do over these dark days? Do you keep the old
traditions minus the churchy bits? Do you still go to church for
some reason? Does Santa visit? Do you do a big family meal? Do the
people you spend the holidays with know you're atheist? Do you
decorate? If you do, what kinds of symbols do you include? What new
traditions have you carved for yourself? What movies define this
time of year for you? How do you really feel about Christmas music?
What's the most unholy holiday you've ever had?