To think people are ridiculous for moaning at the little things on Christmas, forgetting the true meaning?

I'm a an atheist. Feel free to critique in any way you want.🤷‍♀️

100%. Everyone can believe in whatever they want, but the second they start to push it onto others? Big fat no.

As soon as one of them starts a thread to tell us all that we are doing a holiday/whatever wrong because we aren’t doing it the way that they say we we should (based on their religion), feel free to call them out on it.

Do you believe in Santa as well? Same premise - a magical man who rewards you if you’re well behaved.

Legally that may be true but in practice we are a secular country. Its like Christmas, it may 'officially' be a Christian festival, in practice it's a secular festival. Personally I think this is a huge plus point of Christmas, everyone is welcome. If it was still a Christian festival, I think it would have almost died out. I think the solstice would now be as big or bigger.

So really OP, you should be thanking us, Santa really has saved Christmas for you.

Same, they’re all up for ridicule in my eyes.

I'm more than happy to ridicule any and all religions, if it helps?

You’re not going to be able to encourage more people to go to church when they don’t believe in the religion of the church.

I'm an atheist, I go to church at Christmas and love a carol concert. I even used to sing in the church choir. I think you're reading to much into packed Christmas churches.

In both Godspell and JC Superstar!

We're a largely secular society whose institutions haven't caught up yet.

You see, it’s comments like your last that put people off Christianity.

That's like saying I wouldn't get involved in the acting profession or music because of Harvey Weinstein or Gary Glitter. Extreme yes. Not every priest vicar and bishop is a pervert.

Not really. The big difference is that the acting and music professions don't claim to be some sort of moral authority. They don't get automatic seats in the House of Lords, or run schools. It's the institutional coverup by the bishops (cardinals etc) which is so particularly wrong.

Re whether critics of Christianity and its institutions would be as critical of other religions- many of us are, but know less about them.

Jesus was certainly a real person- there is evidence to support this.
I think we can safely assume stories of his escapades and the circumstances around his birth are greatly exaggerated.

I remember being really upset by my presents once and it was a moment of realisation that actually I just wasn't spending money on myself. It was all going on the children/house. I was a single mum and skipping meals and scraping by the pay the mortgage and nursery fees and those presents from family were my one chance of a treat. So when they were ill thought through it stung hard. I would say if you know someone in that situation maybe give vouchers or ask what they would like.

Now I make sure I spend enough money on myself during the year,.and at Christmas, so that gifts from others are just a nice bonus if I like them,.rather than my only chance of a treat all year.

So sometimes the upset over "trivia" isn't really trivia at all. It's a symptom of something bigger

The season isn't about Jesus, get over yourself.

I don't have much sympathy with OP's view, but people saying we're a secular country are just wrong. 26 Anglican bishops sit in the House of Lords, and the King is the head of the Established Church. See 1534, if you need to look up the history (and much of British history since...)

But that’s always the counter argument: the faith is pure, human beings are corrupt.

To me it illustrates the weakness of the core idea, if people who are so close to the faith and have immersed themselves in its teachings for their entire adult lives can fail in such a profound and destructive fashion.

Follow a faith privately, fine. But the structures and forms of religious leadership only seem to lead to abuses of power, whether that is money, control or sex. This has happened again and again across many different denominations, from the Roman Catholics to the Pentecostals. Hillsong? The Vineyard Church scandal? Universal Church of the Kingdom of God? The Jehovah’s Witnesses?

The Quakers don’t have ministers and seem to manage well enough.

Listen to the ‘I was a teenage fundamentalist’ podcast if you want to understand how people can struggle to get free of church groups.

I run a small online group for those who are thinking of leaving or who have left their church, PM me if you are interested.

Christmas is about a fictional character for sure, but it ain't Jesus

@ForVividCoralDuck well personally I can't abide any religion as I think they're all pretty toxic and misogynistic to varying degrees.

My Christmas is related to Jesus in tye sense that I like Christmas carols and enjoy a church carol service, because I've grown up in a culturally Christian country and this stuff is part of my childhood. But for me it's like any kind of folklore - it's stories, not reality.

Continuing to observe the fun rituals and traditions left over from waning religious beliefs has been normal in most cultures, I should think. If I were to go and live in a non-Christian country, I'm sure I'd enjoy joining in with festivals alongside the religious and non-believing locals too. This 'If you don't believe in god you shouldn't be allowed to celebrate Christmas' attitude seems very Britishly puritanical and po-faced to me.

It’s not being mean - but you can’t claim people are forgetting the meaning of Christmas without understanding that Christians co-opted an existing festival and the concept of gifts, eating and drinking and gathering with friends at this time of year has much deeper roots than Christmas.
Nobody has said Christians are wrong just that the birth of Jesus isn’t the only or first reason for celebration at this time of year.

I'm not religious but I have taught my children to be good, kind and caring. I have taught them to give generously and be charitable to others. I think if everyone was more like this the world would be a better place. I do respect people who are religious as it's everyone's choice to believe in what they want. Happy Christmas 🎄