How do atheists celebrate Christmas? I posed that question to my friend Michael Shermer, the editor of Skeptic, during our recent Cal Tech debate. (My two debates with Shermer will soon be up on the web and I'll link to them on this blog.) Shermer replied that he puts up Christmas trees, and his kids sing Christmas carols--even the religious ones--and he exchanges gifts just like everyone else. Here is a guy who is not a believer but who at least respects what Christianity has done to shape our civilization and our world.
Then there's Christopher Hitchens, whom I've known over the years and like just as much. Hitchens, alas, seems to be letting his atheism get to him. First, the poor man is never seen without a drink. As a wine aficionado myself, I cannot begrudge Hitchens his affection for the spirits. In fact, a priest friend of mine once observed that wine is evidence of how much God loves us. It seems odd, however, that Hitchens feels the need to imbibe even when he's on national television or giving a public speech. If you watch our debate on C-Span or on my website dineshdsouza.com, you'll see that Hitchens reaches for his glass with the same alacrity that fundamentalists reach for the Bible.
Recently Hitchens appeared at a "secular Christmas party" thrown by the libertarian magazine Reason. Many libertarians are basically conservatives who are either gay or druggies or people who generally find the conservative moral agenda too restrictive. So they flee from the conservative to the libertarian camp where much wider parameters of personal behavior are embraced. To the sensible idea of political and economic freedom many libertarians add the more controversial principle of moral freedom, the freedom to live however you want as long as you don't harm others. Hitchens, needless to say, is at home in this group.
Hitchens' contribution to the party was to read an irreverent Christmas ditty by the lyricist Tom Lehrer. Remember Lehrer? He's a bit of a relic, like the Monty Python and the Rocky Horror movies. When I was eighteen and a freshman at Dartmouth I found Lehrer and Monty Python very sophisticated and amusing. Most of us, however, outgrow the juvenile sense of humor that they represent. Hitchens also offered a brief summary of his view that God is a celestial dictator. He portrayed God as a kind of Kim Jong-il and Jesus as a kind of little Kim waiting to inherit the throne. So here we see another portrait of Atheist Christmas: bitter guys making sophomoric jokes and staggering out of the room inebriated.
Yes, I agree that many nominal Christians have also forgotten the message of Christmas. Even so I wonder: what's the atheist equivalent of Christmas? Darwin's birthday? For many libertarians I suppose it's the day they get their tax refunds.
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How Atheists Celebrate Christmas
Posted Dec 21st 2007 2:42PM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Christianity, Controversy, Atheism
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Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 54)
16. Merry Christmas... and may all the poor, hungry miserable people be put out of their misery! AMEN.
pboyfloyd at 4:14PM on Dec 21st 2007
17. WHY would early Christians borrow some pagan holidays/ symbols?
BECAUSE they wished to redefine them.
Thus the winter solstice of the Romans - became Jesus' birthday. The celebration of the bright light - the sun became the celebration of the LIGHT OF THE WORLD.
Thus, the EVERGREEN christmas tree - with its hints of pagan past became a symbol of eternal life...REDEFINED. RENEWED.
TODAY as I write this, some persons in other cultures have CHOSEN FREELY to cast off the shackles of an oppressive belief...and many redefine their bigger holidays in light of the Jewish Carpenter who is renewing their hearts and cultures.
My ancestors gave up Thor's Hammer - tho some of their crosses still bore a similar shape. The CROSS was the "hammer" used by God to shatter all sin...
And a Jewish man (educated in the Greco-Roman culture as well as his own Jewish culture) used the altar some Romans had to "the unknown God" to reveal who that GOD was... and is. and will be.
Some things of meaning - with some beauty and resonance run through many cultures and beliefs. They are hints (sometimes only partly correct) of the truth - which the Jewish Carpenter claims is Himself.
And the Carpenter's axe still divides our history (within a few years to when HE was born).
We return to our oppressive pagan past - at our personal peril. We who are from Christian families have FORGOTTEN what our pagan converted to Christian ancestors could tell us (and what some recently freed cultures could tell us today) the JEWISH CARPENTER can free us...
DNA - a great design at 4:23PM on Dec 21st 2007
18. Dinesh -
How does it make you feel when the rational thought of "drunk Christopher Hitchens" makes more sense than your ramblings in the post above?
Thanks,
Jason
Jason at 4:43PM on Dec 21st 2007
19. Even so I wonder: what's the atheist equivalent of Christmas? Darwin's birthday? For many libertarians I suppose it's the day they get their tax refunds.
----------------------
DD, you WOULD wonder that... With all the crap going on in the world, this is what you spend your time thinking about.
Atheists either celebrate christmas as a secular holiday (which it has mostly become anyhos; most christians are too busy shopping to think about baby jesus...) or they ignore it altogether.
Holiday comes from holy-day, so the fact that you think atheists need holy days is typically narrow of you.
We do however like the tinsel. And the tree. Santa however, kinda sucks. He's a lie to tell your kids to let them know how their life will be... Full of more lies told to you by people in authority. I still rememner finding out that my own mom and dad had lied to me. I was shocked. And I've met other people that feel the same. It's hardly a good way to get your kids to trust in you. Just a thought...
Brian at 4:59PM on Dec 21st 2007
20. The writer of this blog needs to relize. People who arent christians dont have to respect what Christianity has done to shape our civilization and our world.
allie h at 4:37PM on Dec 21st 2007
21. Dinesh, you have to bring up Hitchens' drinking problem because it's the only way you have to discredit him. You can't focus on debating his arguments, obviously, because if you did, you'd lose.
On a separate note, there's no reason why an atheist can't enjoy Xmas. Jesus, by many guesses, was born sometime in the Spring, not winter. The Christmas tree dates back to pagan ritual -- as do the concepts of a virgin birth (see the legend of Horus), the three wise men, the star of Bethlehem, the birth in a manger, etc. In other words, Xmas is not exclusively Christian. It is also a cultural holiday.
Stefan at 4:37PM on Dec 21st 2007
22. My ancestors converted to christianity for a myriad of reasons, many of them unknowable. Many would have been forced, many would have held on to some of their ancient beliefs, many would have embraced the power a new belief system would have given them in their community. There were as many reason as there were people.
Since it's Christmas, this Agnostic would like to give Christianity credit for something good. In the world my ancestors lived in, Christianity offered a reasonable and non-violent alternative to Weregild.
Bear in mind, this was all in their heads, both Weregild and Grace, and many of them went on to kill in Jesus' name. So go figure...
Ryan Anderson at 4:37PM on Dec 21st 2007
23. What does it MATTER how someone celebrates this time of year?
I know a lot of people complain about America, but the beauty of this country is that we have the FREEDOM to celebrate however we want to. Sure, there are those on both sides of the fence: "Put Christ back in Christmas"; "The word 'Christmas' is too religious" - but when it comes down to it, we're not being forced to celebrate how some government edict tells us to. I would hate to live in a country where I was legally not allowed to celebrate Christmas how I and may family wanted to. When I was a teenager I didn't acknowledge the religiosity of Christmas, but I still have wonderful memories of time spent with my family and, at the risk of sounding shallow, I really enjoyed getting an extra day off work to spend time with my family, since that time was few and far between due to our mismatched schedules.
I think the issue of Christmas should not be what it's named, how it's celebrated, whether or not you have a tree, etc. It should be about bonding with loved ones (friends or family) and doing something good for our fellow man, whether by volunteer or donation basis. If you choose to include a religious overtone to your celebration, fine. So be it. You have the FREEDOM to do or not to do it. And that's what's important.
So to everyone out there, have a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, Ramadan, winter break, or whatever you decide to do! :)
neworleanslady at 4:41PM on Dec 21st 2007
24. If you wish to know the truth about God and Jesus, go here;
http://zeitgeistmovie.com/
Richard at 4:40PM on Dec 21st 2007
25. By celebrating the birth of Dionysis, perhaps?
After all, he was born twice, so we can expect TWICE the gifts, eh? Pretty nifty.
More wine, garcon... before that Hitchens bastard drinks it all. *hic
torquemada at 4:42PM on Dec 21st 2007
26. DNA-beautiful. Merry Christmas to you!
D at 4:43PM on Dec 21st 2007
27. allie h>
christianity has been one means of making it acceptable to not
improve ones lot in life. You can be ignorant and smug, maybe you're
only looking at the high water marks of christian achievements?
Or are you looking at the entire christian picture?
JefFlyingV at 4:47PM on Dec 21st 2007
28. 3. How do atheists celebrate Christmas? From what I can tell, just like they celebrate most days -- by spewing venom into your blog comments.
C. Michael Pilato at 3:48PM on Dec 21st 2007
___________________
A lot of people have already posted basically what I wanted to say, and more eloquently anyway.
However, I would like to ask why Christians seem so fond of the phrase "spew(ing) venom." I looked up the word "venom" and didn't see anything in there describing it as "factual evidence that contradicts supernatural claims," yet that is what brian et al continue to call it. Hmmm.
K at 4:49PM on Dec 21st 2007
29. As an atheist teen who celebrates Christmas, I know that Christmas isn't about alcohol and materialism (at least not in my family). It's not about "respecting how Christianity has shaped our world," either (especially considering that Christmas was a pagan holiday and your idol wasn't even born in December). The holiday is about getting together and surprising one another. It's not about buying each other things. In fact, most of our gifts are homemade.
Why do you write about this using only a couple of people to form an opinion?
Adriana at 4:49PM on Dec 21st 2007
30. In case you don't want to or can't watch the movie that Richard posted, here's the transcript version:
http://zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm
This is a very important treatise that should be seen by all christians and agnostics.
Linda at 4:49PM on Dec 21st 2007