All Blog Posts Tagged 'holidays' (14)

[Note: The following was written when I was an adherent of Humanistic Judaism.  I have since left the movement and revised the post, but the basic ideas still apply.]

 

“Soon silence will have passed into legend.  Man has turned his back on silence.  Day after day he invents machines and devices that increased noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation.  Tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and…

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Every year I have to waste many precious days attending xtian events like Christmas. It's a one big gigantic nonsense. It feels like I was wrong about something, but I'm not, so that's an absurd. Jean Paul Sartre said: "we are nothing and in action become conscious of that original nothingness". My Christmas tree should be labeled: "made of nothingness".

We're a bit far from Christmas time, but somehow the Halloween thread reminded me of this.

 

Every Christmas, my family gathers at my grandmother's house to eat dinner and give gifts. Some of my cousins are a bit...umm...out there, you could say. One of them made a visit with her children, which was a little surprising, since I usually don't see her on Christmas (or any other time, for that matter). My dad has a way with kids, so of course he talked to my cousin's kids and…

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http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/30/dueling-billboards-face-off-in-christmas-controversy/

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-521921…

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I came out to my mother on Christmas. It wasn't planned that way, she simply sat next to me at dinner. I thought I'd be safe at the kid's table. But the number of kids has been slowly dwindling over recent years, as they grow up and move off to the eagerly awaited table of "grown-ups". I saw this opportunity to return to the safety of the kid's table and quickly set my can of Dr. Pepper to claim my spot.

I was more than a little surprised to see my mother sitting next to me when I returned… Continue

Even when I was growing up Christian I always thought, "It's just a day." Sure, it's a convenient time to schedule vacations since most people get the day off and the airlines are running specials. But otherwise, I could have a family get together any other random time of the year and enjoy it just as much.



Now that Christmas really has no meaning for this Atheist, why get the holiday blues?



Partly because this is also when so many other people are going on and on about… Continue

Is it possible to start and run a chain of tax free atheist churchs?



This is something I have wondered about since i jokingly mentioned it in a Stroller Comment in my papers editorial section. www.goupstate.com/stroller I believe a I asked anyone interested to contact father Stump @ the paper. I would like to 1. get some serious answers to this question and 2. have some fun designing our chuch and deciding on our traditions and… Continue

Talking Turkey

On the strange relationship between giving thanks and taking lives



by Ben Popper



I try not to get too friendly with animals I plan on killing. This was my rookie year working at White Gate Farm, a small organic operation in East Lyme, Connecticut. Every six weeks we slaughtered a flock of around 100 chickens. Emotionally this was easy, since the birds had ignored me completely while they were… Continue

Enter my blog's Festivus Contest and win a t-shirt! All you have to do is post your greatest feat of strength and if it is decided your feat of strength out-does the other contestants' you could win a shirt with 'Made of Star Stuff' across the chest! As for my feat of strength? I can drink two martinis at the same time using only two hands!…

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Originally posted on my personal blag, re-posted here.

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We are all very excited about the upcoming holidays. Our presents are packed (and most of them shipped / delivered), the tree and lights are up and decorated, we've made cookies, and we've dove headfirst into the Winter Season media: The Grinch, Bing Crosby, Ultra Lounge, Muppet Christmas, etc.



The thing is, although all of this looks like the holiday we commonly… Continue

By Dale McGowan

Excerpted from Parenting Beyond Belief



One of the questions that came up in the Austin Q&A was the Santa thing -- and it's so clearly in the air, from Friendly Atheist to Rational Moms, that I can't even wait 'til Wednesday… Continue

I posted this on my site recently, and I thought I would share this here and maybe see what the community might be able to add.



With the approach of the holiday season, I’m already hearing the “Keep Christ in Christmas” mantra and the indignant outcries that the big name retail chains are sullying the season by wishing patrons a “Happy Holiday” rather than “Merry Christmas”.



It’s my thought that people should really just get over this, both in the battle for keeping… Continue

I've been inactive for a bit. Atheism sort of took a back seat for a bit. I did some political stuff, tried to keep up with life, etc. Things have quieted down now.



I decorated for the holidays. I love Christmas. For me it has nothing to do with religion, naturally. It's more of a beginning as the days start getting longer again. It's the light returning and the chance to get things right. It's happiness and light, feasting and drinking. My house is always decorated with plenty of… Continue

This post was imported from Livejournal on 2008.07.18



Atheism and Christmas: Should Atheists Ignore Christmas or Celebrate It?



This was a good read. It's inspired me to write about my own personal experience with this. I've been struggling with this a lot in the past 4-5 years.



My family is religious, but not overly so. Methodism is one of most liberal denominations of… Continue