tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781672.post5661412109801710724..comments2024-03-03T21:52:36.774-06:00Comments on A trainwreck in Maxwell: I see the Church of Atheism is starting their yearly war on ChristmasKurtPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12205267944616413162noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781672.post-40897457692697109972011-11-19T18:40:05.225-06:002011-11-19T18:40:05.225-06:00As a non-evangelical atheist, I condemn these peop...As a non-evangelical atheist, I condemn these people's actions.<br /><br />Celebrate the holiday or don't. It's a free country. But going out of your way to ruin the holiday for other people? That's just plain rude.<br /><br />If you're not going to embrace God, at least embrace some common courtesy.Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13130866586868941692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781672.post-28998439800262899022011-11-17T21:53:13.418-06:002011-11-17T21:53:13.418-06:00Yo, Chuckie--
Nice comment; I like how it has no ...Yo, Chuckie--<br /><br />Nice comment; I like how it has no bearing whatsoever on reality. Atheism is a privative category, the "none of the above" of religious belief. It is *not* a "fervent declaration that there is no god". Yes, of course there are a good number of atheists who fit your definition, but many more simply do not believe in your god or any other. That's it. They don't believe in your god. They don't get violent, like religious believers the world over. <br /><br />Yes, some atheists are absolute assholes. And are as irritating as "some Christian sects" (note that you used "some" here, but not with atheists; that is where you went wrong), but frankly nowhere near as dangerous. The majority of atheists are perfectly content to "live and let live", so long as believers don't try to put the law's authority behind their particular belief system, in violation of the first amendment. We (yup, I'm an atheist) celebrate christmas as a secular holiday, a celebration of love for friends and family. Any celebration of that is a good thing. We don't happen to celebrate any of the many religious stories surrounding the solstice (you certainly are aware that the christian tale is but one of many, right?), but have no objection to your doing so. Yes, some atheists do object. Other atheist call them "jerks". But if you want the government to recognize your own particular myth as "the official meaning of christmas", then *you* are the jerk.<br /><br />I love christmas. It is my favorite secular holiday. If we treated it as the religious observance our founding fathers did, we would (as congress did) work on christmas, and prohibit "celebration" of this solemn occasion. Fortunately, the pagan celebrations the christians usurped have survived, and we have christmas trees, mistletoe, holly, yule logs, a feast, gifts, and a celebration of life and love, rather than an "observance" of the birth of a future human sacrifice.<br /><br />Christmas (or Yule, or solstice, or any of the other celebrations of this time) is much bigger, much more important, than the christian myth. Some form of midwinter celebration will certainly outlive christianity, if humanity lives so long. It may even be called "christmas", but like our own christmas, it will have next to nothing to do with the cult of Jesus. I will be much happier if such a celebration survives than if no celebration survives. "Christmas" is far older than christianity, and far more important.Cuttlefishhttp://freethoughtblogs.com/cuttlefishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781672.post-38251323355472620572011-11-17T11:05:46.934-06:002011-11-17T11:05:46.934-06:00Don't believe in religion myself, but I don...Don't believe in religion myself, but I don't see the point in being an asshole about it. I enjoy the holiday season, and see no reason to go around preaching my beliefs to everyone else.BobGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405172215849046373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781672.post-77536584257758989432011-11-17T07:43:05.991-06:002011-11-17T07:43:05.991-06:00Maybe they're just fighting back against the B...Maybe they're just fighting back against the Baptists' eternal war on Sunday beer sales?<br /><br />Trade ya.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781672.post-87937229967691900922011-11-17T07:40:52.229-06:002011-11-17T07:40:52.229-06:00Atheism -a religion characterized by its fervent d...Atheism -a religion characterized by its fervent declarations that there is no God. <br /><br />Its practitioners can get quite violent when faced with the fact that they are worshiping something that can never be proven.<br /><br />Atheists are almost as irritating as some Christian sects in how they proselytize.Chuck Kueckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16105077930739459751noreply@blogger.com