Christmas

[Suzy]

I like Christmas, but then for most of my family it has never really been associated with religion. It was always a family get-together, a visit to my grandparents, spending time together, gifts, eating good etc.

 

But then I don't come from the same cultural background as most of you. Here in Eastern Europe I grew up with a secular Christmas until the age of 12 when my father went crazy and converted to fundamentalist Christianity and I went crazy too following him.*

 

In socialism we had Christmas as well, and those who wanted to go to church and observe it as a religious holiday, could, but I think most people at the time didn't. It was considered just a nice tradition for family get-togethers.

 

When I was a child I didn't even like the Jesus story, I preferred Santa Claus.

 

* Interestingly though when my father's side of the family and me became Christians Christmas didn't get much more of a religious holiday. The church I was a member of was a fundamentalist church, who were very much aware of the pagan origins of Christmas and the fact Jesus wasn't really born at this time of the year and the reason why it's celebrated then is because of pagan traditions of observing the winter solstice. So because of this Christmas wasn't put on a pedestal in my church. We were allowed to celebrate it in the way everybody else, but we were told not to really give big importance to the religious part. After all the Bible doesn't tell us to celebrate Christmas (unlike Easter) and doesn't give us the exact time of Jesus's birth so God probably didn't intend us to celebrate it. Easter and Pentecost were considered a bigger holidays in my church.

 

So probably this is why I don't mind Christmas even now as an atheist - because the religious streak was never really strong in the Christmases in my family.