Atheism in America: Atheist Christmas?

     Lately I've been seeing a lot of Creationists, be it on YouTube, Faux "News", or what have you, who have been blathering on about how Christmas is a "Christian holiday" or that "Jesus is the reason for the season." Well, first let's look at what Christmas is defined and the history of the holiday, the way the US Government sees it, and finally we'll look at it's place in America and in the lives of Atheists.
     Christmas (originally "Christ's" Mass") is defined as a holiday observed generally on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The date is not known to be the actual bithday of Jesus, and may have initially been chosen to correspond the date of the Roman winter solstice or one of various ancient winter festivals. After recently watching the movie Zeitgeist, though I disagree with much of it, Part One of the movie explains the origins of Christianity. Therein, it explains that the Bible is likely a collection of metaphorical poems and such about that Sun. This would certainly explain the similarities with other religions, and the reason why we see such adaptation as the 25th of December being the supposed birth date of Jesus. Either way, much of the symbols, meanings, and central events associated with Christmas are actually historically known to be Pagan. Basically, Christmas is borrowed from the Pagans.. it's not Christian at all.
     Concerning how religious holidays should be dealt with by the government of the United States, the first amendment (as well as article six of the constitution) signifies this clearly. The first amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of any religion, or the free exercise thereof;" This clearly demonstrates that calling Christmas (as recognized by the United States government) a "Christian" holiday would be in direct violation of the constitution. It is recognized by the government as widely celebrated and thus given special recognition, but the government is still prohibited from endorsing it.
     In America, Christmas is celebrated by the majority of citizens, religious or not. Though, in this we see the ignorance of modern reasons for celebrating, or further the ignorance of those original meanings of the symbols and terms. Though "Christian"-proclaimed holidays aren't the only culprit of this sort of ignorance, they are the majority and should be dealt with accordingly. Still, even many Atheists such as myself see no problem celebrating it for secular reasons. I myself celebrate because I see this time of year as not necessary to appease some sky daddy, but instead as a good idea that we should take time to celebrate our lives and our loved ones. I see it as a fun, modernly altruistic, secular means for just taking time to relax, enjoy life, and enjoy prospering and seeing others prosper from your intentions and actions. I also see it as a time to use the little euphemism the American Atheists plastered all over New York Last year and relish in the meaning of it; it's always good to celebrate our advancements as a society, so let's ditch the myths.
     Regardless of what you celebrate, there is no reason to not just want to give joy and wanted things to loved ones (and there's no harm in loving to receive the same either). Whatever you may celebrate, or the reasons for doing so, I hope you have a happy holiday.. but really? "Christ's Mass"? You KNOW it's a myth. This season, celebrate reason.


What do YOU think about all this?
Feel free to post a comment or email me at SilenceTheIDiots@hotmail.com
I'm also on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/SilenceTheIDiots

Atheism in America: Is America a "Christian Nation"?

     I've been talking with a guy on YouTube the past day or two and he was saying that America is "Christian nation". Moreover, that the founding fathers leaned toward a theocracy not just in their personal desires but as active politicians. I tried to explain that there is a difference between belief and policy, and that the founding fathers built it into the Constitution that there can be no law regarding religion (and thus no theocracy). He sort of disagreed / simply rejected reality and substituted his own.
     Though we eventually ended up arguing semantics and plenty of side issues, his initial point was that America is supposed to be a theocracy, or at least it allows for it. He gave examples from Thomas Paine's Common Sense and The Age of Reason of how Paine was a Deist, and saw monarchies as heathen inventions for power. I agree, but that doesn't mean that he thought America should be a theocracy, and certainly didn't advocate it in policy. Basic logic shows that, through the first amendment to the Constitution, theocracy is impossible in this country because "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The point here is that United States law doesn't allow for theocracy, but that doesn't exactly mean it isn't a "Christian nation".
     I guess it could be argued that the founding documents of this country were based on Christian tenets and that makes us a Christian nation, and I would have to agree in that sense. However, the idea that America is Christian in policy (beyond the simple fact that Christianity is still the majority of the people's religion), and that that is constitutional, is entirely wrong. It may be that the government is corrupt, and certainly there's a case for such an argument, but that could change with some sort of wave of rational thinking.... though I know rational thinking is a difficult topic for the religious.




What do you think about this?
Is America a "Christian nation", or is it secular (in policy)? If SO, is it constitutional?
Do you agree with my opinions? Disagree?


Feel free to comment or email me at SilenceTheIDiots@hotmail.com or on my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/SilenceTheIDiots)