The Great Google Atheist Christmas Search

[DavidDvorkin]

The latest post on my blog (link below). I collated the search terms used in Google, etc. to find an essay on my Web site about atheists and Christmas.

Most of the search terms are pretty much what you'd expect, but there are some nuggets in there -- e.g., "why dont jews celebrate christmas" and "kick atheists america".

[qb]

1. Great essay! I'm glad so see it is getting so much exposure on the web.

Last month my 7-year-old asked me "Dad, if we're not Christians why do we celebrate Christmas?" I told him that it's not really a Christian holiday (even the Supreme Court agrees with this) and it's just a fun tradition I've celebrated all my life. I'm used to calling it "Christmas" because that is what it has been traditionally called for a long time. I treat the Santa story as silly make-believe fun. I think the rampant commercialism surrounding the holiday is ridiculous, but preferable to the Jesus myth. I would say Christmas in the U.S. has become nearly as secular a holiday as Presidents' Day, in spite of those who try to instruct us on the "reason for the season".

I agree with you that it doesn't make much sense to call it something else just to have an excuse to join in the festivities. I don't care about "taking back" the pagan origins. I'm more favor of taking the whole damn thing over as a secular American holiday.

[Warpy]

2. My all time favorite Xmas tree

was a Hannukah bush that had been discarded 3 days before Xmas. It was losing needles, but we salvaged it and decorated it with "found objects." We didn't have any money for lights, but that ridiculous tree has remained in my memory as the best one I've ever seen. That was also the year of the hot dogs and beans Xmas dinner, best I've ever had, up to the elbows in ink from silk screening seditious posters.