You know, for all the shitty parts about Christmas, it still can be fun to give and receive presents, to decorate a tree, make your house look festive and inviting, etc etc.
As I read Jim's post below, I'm glad that I'm at a point with my "spirituality" (nod to Gruss), that I can easily reconcile my faith questions with the simply joys of sharing in a "holiday" with everybody else. Jim, I guess I'd suggest trying not to worry too much about the weighty implications of just sitting back and enjoying the traditions of the holiday that appeal to you. Put another way, don't let religion ruin the fun for you or your family :) On 12/6/06, Jim Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Well... I think it's definitely more the norm now. Over 14% percent of > Americans claim to be "non-religious" (atheist, agnostic, secular or > non-religious). > > I have a similar situation, but shifted farther down the spectrum: > > I'm an "out" atheist and my wife is a non-religious agnostic (so we do > generally get along). I'm not a jerk about things. I don't try to > "convert" people or get in anybody's face... at least not first. At the > same time I'm honest and open about it when asked and don't shy when asked > (as we often are) "What church do you go to?" > > (Since we've moved from Boston to NE PA I think I've been asked that more > in > the past six months than in the previous 30 years.) > > My wife on the other hand is less open and more accommodating. Although > we've never attended church she'll answer "well, we're new here" or (tough > for her) "we're not very religious". She'll then get mad at me (in > private) > if I (good-naturedly) add "...because I'm an atheist and she doesn't > believe > in God". > > Although our kids (our son especially, he's older) get's asked the > question > she insists that we don't "tell him what to say". "Let him decide for > himself" is all well and good but when he asks ME I answer honestly and > that > tends to tick her off. Of course she doesn't really have a better idea so > I > sorta, kinda win that one. > > We've having the "Christmas Talk" (again) this year. My kids don't > believe > in Santa (despite my mother's best effort) and my wife is slightly upset > by > that. > > Personally I have very mixed feeling about Christmas... although it's > become > incredibly secularized it's still fundamentally a religious holiday (and > still the only religious holiday that's also a federal holiday). You can > add all the crap that you like but in this country it's still a Christian > holiday (stolen, as most Christian holidays, from the Pagans but Christian > nonetheless). > > Part of me really wants to vocally denounce it. Another part of me wants > to > watch the kids when they open their presents. It's a dilemma for an > advocate atheist: celebrate just the commercial Christmas? Denounce the > commercialism and embrace the secular values present in the celebration > (goodwill toward men, charity to those in need, etc)? Just boycott the > whole thing on principle? > > She wants to decorate the house (it's our first Christmas in our first > house > so this is the first time this came up). I don't - or at least I don't > want > to decorate it with "Christmas decorations"... but even then I'd like to > find some non-offensive way to make my true feelings known amongst all the > manger scenes in the neighborhood. > > In the end we'll probably do whatever she wants on that score... no matter > how strongly you feel on a topic, no matter how determined you are there's > no escaping the plain simple facts about wives: they control access to the > boobies. > > Jim Davis > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Create robust enterprise, web RIAs. Upgrade & integrate Adobe Coldfusion MX7 with Flex 2 http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;56760587;14748456;a?http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=LVNU Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:221785 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
