Well, I just experienced anti-atheist bigotry at work today.

[Odin2005]

Apparently my co-worker thinks I'm not allowed to celebrate Christmas because I "don't believe in Jesus." :eyes: Sad thing is that she is no fundie asshole, he is a politically moderate person who voted for and likes Obama. Then she goes on about how us atheists are all hypocrites and other such BS. More proof that us non-beleivers suffer from bigotry from so-called "moderate" and "liberal" Christians as will as the fundies. I'm still pissed off about her comments... :grr:

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. She's a bigot or an idiot, why bother your beautiful mind with her bullshit?

Don't let her rent space inside your head! Get yourself a little Christmas tree for your desk and decorate it with Halloween witches! :)

[patrice]

17. Ooooo, "totally, Dude!" get a little tree and hang all kinds of weird stuff on it:

ankhs and yin-yang symbols and Stars of David and fertility goddesses and crescent moons and . . . . That would be FUN!

[Odin2005]

21. Heh, I work in a preschool kitchen, no desk for me unfortunately...

[Faygo Kid]

2. Sorry for that. Don't blame you for being upset.

Discussions of religion do not belong in the workplace. I'd consider reporting her to your supervisor, and putting an end to such bigotry.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. Are you kidding?

You're letting an imbecile like that upset you?

Give her a candy cane and tell her that Santa is really Baby Jesus.

You'll feel better....................

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Ask her about Japan

You know that after WWII, Japanese started celebrating Christmas--it has become a really big deal, with Santa, etc. And as far as I know, the vast majority of Japanese aren't Christians--they just like celebrating the holidays.

And if that doesn't set her off, tell her you've decided to re-invent Saturnelia. :silly:

[Odin2005]

23. I brought up Saturnalia but she called me a liar.

She kept on going "Christmas is for celebrating the birth of Jesus" over and over again. :banghead:

[monmouth]

32. In that case tell her they're celebrating on the wrong day in the wrong month...LOL....n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

39. You cannot teach the willfully ignorant

but you may wish to have her google "Christmas Japan" and see what she finds out.

[TexasObserver]

49. Get the story of Saturnalia and its appropriation for Xmas by Christians, printed.

Give her a copy of the printed materials and invite her to educate herself, so she'll know what all educated people know - that Christians stole a Pagan Holiday and called it the birthday of Jesus.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Just tell her as an atheist you're free to celebrate any holiday you so choose. You have multiples

to pick from in December, so make sure to inlcude them all in your celebration.

[patrice]

6. So, let me get this straight; if you believe in what "Christmas" is supposed to represent, say,

a celebration of a phenomenon referred to as Love, but you don't believe in what religion is selling, you are not allowed to celebrate Love.

:eyes:

[azurnoir]

7. Tell her to just

"be good for goodness sake" maybe she'll get it maybe she won't

[Ian David]

8. Tell her you'll pray for her.

If you're allowed to.

[Lerkfish]

9. well, that was an idiotic thing(s) to say.

I wouldn't worry about it nor think it represents the totality of thinking of religious persons.


Guess what? at work I was reprimanded by my boss for being anti-Bush. I was told I could no longer discuss politics (even though everyone else in the dept, including him, spoke unfettered and at length). it wasn't fair, either.

face it, workplaces are stupid sometimes.

[MineralMan]

10. I'm an atheist, too, and

Christmas is the best thing Christianity added to the calendar. I mean, presents, food, Santa, and all that stuff. How can you go wrong. Here's an ornament from my front yard, in celebration of this fine holiday:


Santa said: Follow me and I will make you fishers of bass.

[Odin2005]

26. Actually, Christians didn't invent Christmas, it was a rip-off of a pagan Roman festival.

Well, 3 actually, Saturnalia, the birthday of Mithra, and the Day of Sol Invictus. I tried to explain that fact to her but she refused to believe me.

[MineralMan]

30. Yup, but you can never tell a Christian about that...

They just look puzzled and stop listening.

So, I celebrate Santa, burn a Yule Log, eat some lutefisk, and just enjoy. If someone wants to throw a big party and give me presents, then I'm all for it. Good times...

[Odin2005]

33. Lutefisk? Yuck. My mom loves the stuff but I find it disgusting.

:puke:

[MineralMan]

35. It's something of an acquired taste, for sure...

But I like it OK. Lots of salt and pepper and butter. I'm a Norwegian by marriage, so it's on the table at Christmas. I've learned to like it, along with the lefse and other Norsky stuff. Self-defense, I guess.

Still, I cooked last year's Christmas dinner, and made a huge prime rib roast, with Yorkshire pudding. A little untraditional for my wife's family, but boy, did they dig into it.

[knitter4democracy]

53. Funny, I just taught it in Sunday School this last Sunday.

We were going over the Advent Fast and the Feast of the Nativity in my middle school Sunday School class, and it was right there in our textbook that the Church decided to move the Feast so as to take over the pagan holidays and so the Feast of the Nativity and Pascha wouldn't be at the same time. We had a good discussion about it, too.

[Ian David]

11. Republicans aren't allowed to celebrate Labor Day...

... Pacifists aren't allowed to celebrate Veteran's Day and Jews need to remain locked inside their homes at all times on December 25th.

[Meshuga]

18. Well, Jews go out for Chinese food on December 25th

We lock ourselves inside our homes only after picking up our food

[Ian David]

19. Except to go to the movies. n/t

[Meshuga]

24. That too n/t

[Ian David]

25. And to corrupt The Host.

Oooh...

That was supposed to be a secret.

[monmouth]

34. I was always jealous of my Jewish friends, they either went to the movies

or into New York to see a great stage show. Better than the freak show at my house let me tell ya...

[Ian David]

38. Maybe a Jewish screenwriter will make a Christmas movie about your family? n/t

[monmouth]

41. Hopefully I've blocked most of it out.....LOL...

[yellerpup]

12. "Christmas" is a co-opted pagan holiday.

That's what the tree is about. An evergreen tree laden with the last fruits of autumn symbolized the miracle of the season and helped everyone get through the long, cold nights at winter solstice. Jesus was born at tax time, always after the cows, sheep, goats, etc., haven given birth and everyone is 'fat'. That's when the tax man wants his share, and that's when everyone had to travel back to their home base to be taxed. Then as now, tax time is in the spring. 'Splain that to her and see who gets pissed off then...of course, that's not really keeping with the spirit (miracle) of the holiday, but she's asking for it. :hug:

[Odin2005]

28. That is what I told her, she kept calling me a liar.

:banghead:

[yellerpup]

37. Obviously, she is comfortable with her ignorance.

For some reason I flashed on that astronaut who drove from FL to TX to intimidate her sexual rival without stopping to clean out her poop-filled diapers. Hey, if the lady is comfortable wallowing in her own excrement, it's not up to you to change her pants. The superstitious cannot be swayed by logic or truth. Take heart! Luckily, they can't burn us for being right any more!

[Sequoia]

13. Tell her Santa Claus has nothing to do with Baby Jesus.

I like the things associated with Christmas, like songs, real Christmas trees, and good food...especially the sweet stuff. Your co-worker is such a Scrooge.

[HeresyLives]

14. Dec 25 is Isaac Newton's birthday,

under the Julian calendar, which is the one he lived by.

Lots of us science types celebrate that.

[WiMu]

15. You need to inform of her ignorance about the holiday.

1. Christmas is a secular, state sanctioned holiday that till this day still bares the roots of its pagan roots.

2. When the Puritans left England for the New World, they left Christmas behind with them and outlawed it in the New World. There was no real Christmas celebration in America until the retail giants of the 19th century saw it as a great tool do boost their sales at the end of the year.

3. Bible scholars point to the spring, not December 25th as the time Jesus was to have been born.

4. Many ancient Middle East religions have a tradition of a savor God being born around the winter solstice and they almost all predate the birth of Jesus.

It is a wonder how little Christians really know about their religion or its history.

[laconicsax]

55. Don't forget Jeremiah 10:1-5

(1)Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: (2)Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. (3)For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. (4)They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. (5)They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

[Demobrat]

16. Tell her that while you don't believe in Jesus

you do believe in Santa Claus.

[Meshuga]

20. Tell her to give the December 25th holiday back to the pagans

Christmas is a stolen holiday.

You have as much rights celebrating the holiday as she does.

[Kceres]

22. It's none of her business why or how you celebrate.

For cyring out loud. Tell her to find some spirit.

[cosmik debris]

27. Why can't they understand the true meaning of Christmas

[Odin2005]

29. LOL, you owe me a new keyboard!!!

:rofl:

[MineralMan]

31. Ah...I wish I had the stones to put one of those

in my yard. I just have to make do with the Bass Fishing Santa, another inflatable Santa with a sleigh pulled by two flamingos, and a couple of big inflatable snowmen:

[patrice]

44. Very cool Santas and Snowmen, MineralMan!

Really!

:hi:

[jonnyblitz]

42. I want that on a t-shirt!!

:rofl:

[JerseygirlCT]

36. Weird. And totally unnecessary.

What the heck did she think she was going to prove with that?

There's no amount of secular celebrating you could do that could possibly harm her (supposedly) completely sacred celebrations. So why attack you over it? I don't get it.

Sorry about that.

Honestly, I do have some objections to the mass-marketing of Christmas, and even some objections to the slide of the holiday into public decorations, etc. because they tend to dilute the meaning of the day. (I wish our town would knock it off with the nativity scene in the town green, for instance, alongside the other Santa stuff, and just stick pretty lights up everywhere, and I don't think there's much about the Christmas spirit in giving Macy's lots of my money, you know?)

But you are entirely entitled to celebrate whatever the heck you want to celebrate for whatever the heck reasons you want to. Why should that be any of her business?

[edhopper]

40. I don't get how

you are not "allowed" to celebrate Xmas. What happens, Santa and his elves come in and arrest you if you put up a tree?

[WVRICK13]

43. LOL

A Christian upset over an atheist and a Druid/Pagan tree at winter solstice. HEHEHEHEHEHE!

[ZombieHorde]

45. not allowed to celebrate Christmas

Not allowed by who?

[Evoman]

46. How come no one confronts me about anything?

Sometimes I'm just itching for a fight, but I never get it. Even when I tell fundies that I'm atheist, they just take it in stride. The couple of times I've heard people make disparging marks about atheism was when they didn't know I was atheist. As soon as they found out, they either apologize or just back away slowly.

I don't think I'm THAT scary.

[moggie]

47. Think of it as jealousy

As an atheist, you get to avoid the unpleasant aspects of Christianity - fear of eternal punishment, having a cosmic voyeur watching your grubby little secrets, having to listen to a Sunday bullshitter and pretend you approve etc - so it's really not fair if you get to share in the good parts. You should have the decency to be miserable in December.

[TexasObserver]

48. Explain to her dumb ass that Christmas is a PAGAN holiday that Christians stole.

Christmas existed long before Jesus was born, and he wasn't born in December, in any event.

It's the winter soltice celebration that celebrates the death and rebirth of the sun, not The Son.

[PassingFair]

50. There was an atheist contestant on "America's Next Top Model" this season...

who won one of the challenges and the reward
was to do a Christmas photo shoot.

A couple of the girls said that she shouldn't
be able to win because it wasn't a holiday for "her".



My OWN mother drunkenly announced one year at Thanksgiving
Dinner (at MY house), that MY children wouldn't be receiving
Christmas gifts because they didn't believe in "anything".
This was her idea of humor...

I also have X-Mas for my family, where, out of 5 kids,
only one
is a X-tian.

My father
was an atheist also.

My mother always thinks she's being ganged-up on....

[Marrah_G]

51. Ignorance is everywhere. Don't let yourself stress over hers.

[Taverner]

52. Tell her she can't celebrate it either because she doesn't believe in Saturnalia

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6b4130b730/saturnalia-from-gypsyfaerie

[knitter4democracy]

54. I could loan you my Sunday School book on Christmas.

Then again, she's probably say we Eastern Orthodox aren't really Christians either. *sigh* It was right there in my book this last Sunday on what the Feast is about and how it was moved to December 25th and all, and we had a good discussion about how the Church moved the Feast of the Nativity so it wouldn't be at the same time as Easter and would round out the year better, especially considering most people couldn't read and needed symbols to understand the faith, not words.

Anyway, I'm sorry she said something that stupid. I'd get her a candy cane or a cookie and tell her to take it and be happy for the season, no matter what the reason. ;)

[quaker bill]

56. Not all Christians

celebrate Christmas. Quakers historically do not celebrate Christmas or Easter (or any of the other myriad religious holidays) in the manner of most Christians. To the extent Friends find the birth and death of Christ relevant (and some do not), we would find them to be equally relevant everyday.

We do currently make a modest nod toward toward the western tradition of this holiday, as it is always nice to be pleasant to each other. We generally do so in a simple manner that places emphasis on relationships and service as opposed to material things.

[Meshuga]

57. You are welcome to spin the dreidel, btw.

I will provide the chocolate gelt. Unless you want to play for real gelt. :-)

[and-justice-for-all]

58. So you/us are not allowed to celebrate the meaning of a holiday

without the silly dogma? fuck her.

Personally, I stopped celebrating Xmass, because I am not a Xtian. I can give gifts 364 other days of the year and I do not need a ridiculous religious/corperate holiday as an excuse to give a gift. My partner still buys his family a few things, but I stopped.

I celebrate birthdays of people that actually exist.