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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Christmas as an athiest

139 replies

Bleakmidwinter1977 · 06/12/2023 15:56

Those of you who are celebrating Christmas, but don't consider yourself to be Christian...just wondering why you do, and what parts you opt out of/in to?

Asking as I'm interested, not because I have an opinion either way.

OP posts:

Nesbi · 07/12/2023 09:07

I’m atheist but culturally Christian (CofE). We don’t actively celebrate the religious aspects of Christmas or go to church, but I’m happy to listen to carols (or even sing along) and I think the nativity is a lovely story.

I think in our Northern climate when winter can sometimes feels dark, dank and endless, having a period where we decorate our homes and streets with lights and look forward (hopefully) to spending a bit of time enjoying food and drink with family and friends is essential. It generally brings a sense of positivity and anticipation that really helps during November December.

In fact January February can often feel like the bleakest months of the year, when you no longer have Christmas as a focus but Spring still feels a long way away.

gannett · 07/12/2023 09:10

cakeorwine · 07/12/2023 08:14

There are some so called Christians who seem to have forgotten the Christmas message. I bet the Daily Mail would hate Jesus and call him "woke".

Show quote history

The origin story for my atheism was being brought up in a church-going Christian family and hearing how people at church talked about anyone "different" - poor, non-white, immigrants, gay. The Christmas story is about marginalised people, people who would be considered outcasts by nice normal middle-class society.

ChristmasSugarplumFairy · 07/12/2023 09:14

Rouleur · 07/12/2023 08:49

That's a pretty simplistic view, especially when you consider that Father Christmas (which is what many people in England still refer to him as) had nothing to do with St Nicholas at all. It was only in the 19th century that Father Christmas and SinterKlaas/Santa Claus were merged and the whole "Father Christmas is actually Saint Nicholas and therefore Christian" thing was invented.

In reality Father Christmas/Santa is as pagan as they come with a veneer of Christian respectability applied by the Victorians. Why do you think he is so often accompanied by evil spirits (Krampus, Pere Fouèttard, Perchta etc)? That's classic European pagan good/evil dichotomy. The elves are just sanitised versions of these evil spirits. Personification of seasons, events and places ("Father Christmas", "Old Father Thames", "Brittania") harks back to much older pagan and animistic traditions.

Show quote history

I'm not English so am I allowed to be simple and patch Father Christmas?
I'm not even Christian, just pointing out that the Christian/pagan/rampant capitalist elements are all rather intertwined these days 😊

Drlate · 07/12/2023 09:14

I have a mega religious family but one half is Anglican (my Gran on that side is a vicar) and the other half Jewish so they obviously celebrate Hanukkah around this time of year rather than Christmas. Weird way to be brought up, celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas but then my parents aren’t practising and swing more towards atheism I’d say.

I’m an Atheist and I have DC so Christmas is about Santa primarily and elves. Presents, decorations, food and fun trips out to do Christmassy activities. We have attended church services before, we went to one a few years ago which combined Christingle with a nativity pass the parcel game and it was great. Whoever the parcel landed on had to get up to the front and read their passage from the Christmas story and place a figure on the nativity at the front. I appreciate it when Christian’s make church fun.

Needmorelego · 07/12/2023 09:54

@cakeorwine the OP has another thread about celebrating Christmas as a Christian.
It's an interesting read (I mean that in a nice way 🙂)

MrsSkylerWhite · 07/12/2023 09:56

Something to look forward to in the bleak midwinter, as people did before Christianity.

ThinWomansBrain · 07/12/2023 09:58

I opt out of the religious bits, opt in to chocolate, mince pies, mulled wine,
cranberries, turkey...

I quite enjoy Carols from Kings on radio 4, especially if I'm driving

ManateeFair · 07/12/2023 10:02

I'm an atheist. I opt into all of it except going to church, although if someone asked me to go to church with them I'd be perfectly happy to do so. I don't have to be a Christian to enjoy a Christian festival. The nativity is a nice story, which I appreciate. And most Christmas traditions aren't religious anyway.

AyrshireTryer · 07/12/2023 10:09

I have been to many a dismal church service around Christmas.
Some where vicars have managed to shoehorn their views in about LGBT people, women not having children etc etc.
Much better to just go to a carol service if you fancy a sing song and avoid any actual services.

Bigstones · 07/12/2023 10:14

gannett · 06/12/2023 16:31

I like parties and gluttony and debauchery and excess, and don't need an excuse for any of those things. At Xmas there are just more people who are willing to join me.

I think we should be friends.

Butterflywings18 · 08/12/2023 22:48

AyrshireTryer · 07/12/2023 10:09

The views of people who can't understand human biology & the attraction between same sex individuals is neither here nor there. The only thing that counts is faith & belief in God. The Church is only a place where those who believe gather & all should be welcome. Ultimately despite the fact there are those who may never understand same sex attraction & I agree its difficult, the fact is God is love & our only judge ❤️

ErrolTheDragon · 08/12/2023 23:06

Midwinter festivals are pretty ubiquitous across various (non tropical) cultures throughout history. The fact that one religion or another appropriates it at various times doesn't mean everyone else has to miss out.

AlecTrevelyan006 · 08/12/2023 23:19

I'm an atheist and I love Christmas. If Christmas didn't exist we'd just invent something else quite similar. It provides an anchor point to the year and is a key part of the golden thread that links people across both distance and time.

MrsSkylerWhite · 09/12/2023 00:02

AlecTrevelyan006 · Yesterday 23:19

I'm an atheist and I love Christmas. If Christmas didn't exist we'd just invent something else quite similar.”

We did. Mid-winter festival was a thing long before Christianity.

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