How Do You Handle 'christian Holidays' As An Ex Christian/

[Journey]

this is my first time as a confirmed ex christian during a christian holiday and i'm not sure how to handle it. I always did the whole passover thing (seder supper) but including Jesus as the 'passover lamb' etc ... proclaiming songs of his ressurection etc .. my whole family and many associates are still very fundamental, evangelical christians and don't know if I just 'go along with it' for now and be quiet or speak up. Do you still celebrate in any way...as far as dinners etc or just ignore the whole thing?

[Ouroboros]

I celebrate them.

 

I even participate in Christian traditions. If I'm given the chance to be in a celebration of any other religion, I wouldn't mind either. Life should be fun. Enjoy it. Look beyond old religious traditions and just take it for what you want it to be.

[Non-Redneck]

I acknowledge them and celebrate them as a cultural holiday. I don't go to church. I will go to (non-religious) parties and eat out and such.

 

Remember, the Christians stole Easter and Christmas from the Pagans, and a lot of the tradition in those holidays are pagan. So if it helps, you're actually celebrating Roman history, not Christianity.

[Carmen]

This will be my first religious holiday as an ex-Christian as well. I'm still a minor living at home so I don't really have a choice but to participate in all of the Easter traditions. But like the above poster said, you can still celebrate them as cultural holidays. You can also think of them as a just a time to spend time with your family. I'm not looking forward to all of the religious hype this Sunday, but I AM looking forward to spending some quality time with my family and my extended family at our Easter get-together. Just try to make the most of it.

[Astreja]

I've never considered Christmas and Easter to be exclusively Christian holidays, and have celebrated them in a non-religious way I was a little kid.

 

I also celebrate Yule and Ostara (because you can never have too many holidays), and take advantage of the various consumer goodies that just happen to be in the shops around those times.

[lunaticheathen]

I suppose in some ways, it's easier as a pagan to just go along with the holidays, since the trappings are entirely pagan. The only annoyance comes from fundies whining about others "corrupting" their "holy days", which makes me want to ask them to take their Christ out of my Yule. And to give me back my bunny and eggs, and keep their cross.

Anyway, it's best to just focus on family/friends, and fun. Fun is universal, go with that.

[Objet_trouve24]

My new religion has special days that coincide with christian holidays, so I celebrate those now. However, I celebrate christmas as an American/personal tradition (tree, presents, with the added bonus of Santa, which my parents decided to reject late in my childhood). It's honestly not that big of a difference, since my family was never big on holidays at all other than christmas and thanksgiving.

 

My life has had more focus on holidays than less since I left. I also find them more fulfilling overall.

 

Thanksgiving isn't an issue really. We've celebrated at both parent's houses, I don't think his parents said a prayer, and mine did, but they didn't care that we kept our eyes open (I believe in praying with my eyes open and face pointed up, and generally, I pray to the food itself, not to a god, and it's really more a showing of respect for the circle of life than anything).

[JeffXL]

I celebrate any holiday involving food. I utterly avoid churches as well. But the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs, Christmas trees, etc.-- none of them are referred to in the BuyBull.

 

My wife and I are driving an hour (yes, it's worth it!)for Easter brunch.

[Vixentrox]

There is enough secularism or paganism behind the two major Christian holidays to still celebrate without getting caught up in the vileness of Jesus. Other Christian holidays are too minor to give a shit about, even for many Christians.

[ContraBardus]

It's candy, food, and booze babe.

 

Party on!

 

[Vomit Comet]

I got converted at the age of 15, and only my brother and one of my cousins are currently in the cult. So if it's a family thing, it goes no further than food, wine, sweets, and Easter egg hunts for the kids. Along with the usual raucous shit-talking that Mexican families engage in. No sweat whatsoever. Now that my grandma's dead I doubt my grandpa even bothers going to Easter mass.

[shy1680]

I have been a deconvert since 2004 and this is the first year I attended Church on Easter since my deconversion. I attended an Italian Mass, it was interesting and an eye opening experience. Religion is an important glue to holding families together through traditions. Sad to see the parents struggle to hold onto traditions of the old country. From the little bit of Italian I could grasp, the priest was begging families to attend more than just 2 days of the year, Easter and Christmas, to keep the church family going. The church we attended was the center of the family life of the first Italian Americans of Buffalo in the early 1900's. This is no longer true for the new generations. There was less than 100 people in the English Mass and less than 50 in the Italian. I felt really bad for my bf who is second generation Sicilian American and is just realizing his children and grandchildren are not into learning about the Easter traditions he enjoyed as a child, or any of the "silly" Sicilian traditions Grandpa keeps trying to teach them. The blessed cuddura for the children made by a family friend was rejected by the children. The Easter dinner was not made at home with the family gathered, instead they chose to have lunch at a steakhouse restaurant with hundreds of strangers. Once the bill came, the men fought over who would pay and bickered in Italian about the extra coffee ordered. I being the only one at the table who didn't speak Italian could tell from body language and facial expressions, this was only 3 men trying to prove they are the wealthiest of their group. The children played their video games, the adults talked about their last trips to Italy to buy wallets and wine, and Grandpa finally realized these are the Easter traditions of his American family.

[par4dcourse]

Grin and bear it. The food's always good!

[Vomit Comet]

On Easter Sunday I went to a casino buffet with four bisexual chicks. They were talkin' kinda dirty. And then I blurted out "Joseph must have done her in the butt", regarding the 'virgin' question. "Was that sacrilegious?" I asked. "No [VC], it wasn't so much sacrilegious as it was gross."

[HRDWarrior]

If I had kids, I'd still celebrate Easter with the candy, eggs, etc and have fun. Since I don't have kids, I pretty much just ended up ignoring it, although family started calling me to wish me a "Happy Easter." I was kinda wondering why they were bothering - yes, I know there's more to it than the christian traditions, but that's ALL easter ever was growing up (we did get easter baskets and do eggs, but that was secondary to the whole church and jeebus thing - we were in passion plays and everything else, so the candy was more like a payment for all the torture). So I just really didn't feel like calling people and wishing them a happy easter anymore than I would call and wish them a happy monday...for me it was just another day, and if it hadn't been for all the people coming out of the woodwork to go to church I would have completely missed it.

 

My mom got all offended that I didn't call to wish her a happy easter - my thought was, why would I? She's well aware of my lack of religious views, so I would have thought she would make the connection - apparently not.

 

As for christmas, I enjoy the decorations, songs, etc. We've created our own little traditions since we don't have kids, but as a kid christmas was more about family than religion, so that one was easier for me to just remove the religion from it.

[Neon Genesis]

On Easter Sunday I went to a casino buffet with four bisexual chicks. They were talkin' kinda dirty. And then I blurted out "Joseph must have done her in the butt", regarding the 'virgin' question. "Was that sacrilegious?" I asked. "No [VC], it wasn't so much sacrilegious as it was gross."

I thought it was with a Roman soldier?

[florduh]

I concentrate on the food. Holiday or not.

[Snowflake]

I participate in the secular aspects of the holidays. I still have kids living at home, although they are now teenagers, so we do easter baskets with candy, put up a xmas tree, exchange presents if appropriate and have a big meal with family. I try emphasize the family aspect of the holiday gathering.