By សតិវ អតុ
When Revolution occurs, we have to
evaluate our society and decide what stays and what goes. So for us here in the
USA what do we do about Christmas on December 25. It is a festive celebration. I’m
sure many atheists celebrate these holidays as well. Why should we not take
part in such a holiday. After all it is in the dead of winter when we could use
some cheerfulness. And it involves us meeting up with family members and friends.
It is a great time of year. But it is also associated with the Christian
holiday which involves celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. actually the
December holiday that was taken over by the early Christians, when Rome
converted to Christianity. Many of the old symbols are still used—such as
putting a tree in the house and decorating it. And also having some kind of
father character which we now call Santa Clause.
No one is stopping people from
celebrating Christmas, that is the holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus
Christ, despite the fact that that the actual date has never been completely
narrowed down for him,. Picking a date for such a celebration is just fine. It
is symbolic and I have no problem with that. Just let the rest of us celebrate
as we want to.
Some time ago people in this country
realized that Jews don’t celebrate Christmas, so some people began trying to
include Chanukah in these holidays. In some cities
as in New York there are a lot of Jews. There are menorahs and many people say
“Happy Chanukah.” There is also the newer holiday called Kwanzaa. Maulana
Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966, as the first specifically
African-American holiday. According to Karenga, the
name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda yakwanza,
meaning "first fruits of the harvest", although a more conventional
translation would simply be "first fruits".
A few years ago I studied various pagan
beliefs, such as Druidry. Most celebrate some kind of version of the holiday
known as Winter Solstice. I later decided to go back to my traditional humanist
approach to spirituality and I adapted the doctrines of Epicurus.
Epicurus did not deny the existence of god(s) but decided that gods take care
of gods and humans need to take care of themselves. He also told people we
should learn not to blame everything on gods. ‘If your house is crushed by an
earthquake it isn’t the anger of the gods, you built your house in an
earthquake prone place.’ And he didn’t believe in an after-life.
I am a Maoist first and an Epicurean second. I
put more of my energies into my politics that my spiritual beliefs, and they
overlap. Both Maoism and Epicureanism promote focusing
on humanity. Either way, I believe that people come first, not gods and
not the afterlife.
I still like the fall holidays, I still
celebrate Samhain for Halloween and for Christmas I
celebrate Winter Solstice or Yule, which at one time was
also celebrated as Saturnalia. Saturnalia or the solstice was
actually the December holiday that was taken over by the early Christians, when
Rome converted to Christianity. Many of the old symbols are still used—such as
putting a tree in the house and decorating it. And also having some kind of
father character which we now call Santa Clause.
I'm not trying to wipe out Chrisian
Beliefs. But I do not share their belief in Jesus as a devine God-head. So I
have found other reasons to celebrate this holiday. Many athiests have found
their own reasons to celebrate this holiday.:
Recently there was the blog for American Atheists who make the
argument:
"American
Atheists posted new billboards in Memphis and Nashville Memphis
The
Christian campaign’s spokesperson Marshall Hart also accused American Atheists
of “using children” to spread its message, despite using the photo of a
three-year-old girl on its own billboard.
“The
hypocrisy is unbelievable,” said American Atheists President David Silverman.
“Millions of American children are forced to go to church under the threat of
being denied meals, losing household privileges, having their college tuition
cut off, or being kicked out of their homes. Many atheist adults are forced to
go to church under threat of divorce or lose custody of their children. We must
ask the question, who are the real bullies? Those who are unafraid to stand up
for our views on billboards, or those who destroy families from the inside out?”
I like celebrating the Winter Solstice
and I get to do all the fun stuff, such as decorating a tree, putting lights on
my house, toasting with wine, and giving a few gifts to close friends. My
spirituality does not come from a god. It comes from within those who share my
beliefs. That works for me and I plan to stick with that.
SO:
Have a Happy Winter
Solstice! —Or whatever holiday you want to celebrate!
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