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sevenhelz: hand-drawn picture of a bluetit with its mouth open, "yell" written by the beak (Default)
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not a christmas list

posted by [personal profile] sevenhelz at 11:07pm on 17/11/2006
I've been thinking a lot about the "holiday season" and what I may actually celebrate. You see, I'm an atheist. As much as it is tradition for our family to get together and have a huge meal, pass round presents from under the heavily-decorated tree and eat far too much chocolate, I'm not sure I want to anymore. I haven't felt comfortable calling the gathering Christmas for a long time now, because I'm not celebrating the christian issues, the birth of christ. Nor do I believe in the older religions of england, so I'd rather not celebrate the solstice. It just feels weird, particularly when I'm living with a Muslim, to say, yeah, I'm an atheist, I'm going home for Christmas now. Maybe the term is in common usage but that doesn't make it right.
I also feel weird giving and receiving Christmas presents, and not just because I'm cheap.
The problem is other people. Even if the people around me are atheists or agnostics, they are also in the habit of celebrating a traditional family thingie. If I were to refuse gifts, or simply not return the gesture, I wouldn't make many friends...
I'd like to have something else to celebrate. My birthday is in December anyway, which is one excuse for a celebration, but it doesn't really give me the opportunity to give gifts. So either I celebrate the turning of the seasons, or the New Year... humm.
This could take a lot of explaining.
xx
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There are 3 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

can has cookie?

posted by [identity profile] glitterybint.livejournal.com at 09:45am on 18/11/2006
celebrate the turning of the seasons. Yay! it's going to get light again!

and celebrate your friends and family. For me it's a time to remember that I'm lucky to be surrounded by so much warmth. It doesn't have to be about religion. You can just see it as a winter holiday if you want. although that is touching on a solstice celebration...

*grin*
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can has cookie?

posted by [identity profile] morecake.livejournal.com at 01:38pm on 18/11/2006
I've been thinking about this whole gift issue a lot, especially since I've had to lug all my stuff around to new houses so often. In a perfect world I'd do the 'let's buy each other presents when we feel like it' thing, but in practical terms that tends to lead to upset and people feeling shortchanged etc. So, this year's solution is: ask people to come and spend time with me, have parties, brings cakes, cook meals, drink beer and generally have a high old time. Spend the money you would have spent on a present I could almost certainly live without on a big ol' party, and we'll all have a great time to remember for years. Then, the clutter gets kept down but the photo album gets built up :-)
The alternative is to ask people to give money to charity for me. It's almost achingly middle class and liberal, but can work if they live far away / aren't inclined to party / whatever.
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can has cookie?

posted by [identity profile] sevenhelz.livejournal.com at 05:23pm on 18/11/2006
I like save the children. this year, you can give the children a yak.
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