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 The group American Atheists has placed this billboard in New York City's Times Square.
December 21st, 2013
10:22 AM ET
Why atheists should quit the 'War on Christmas’Opinion by Chris Stedman, special to CNN
In recent years, one organization, American Atheists, has claimed the mantle of prime atheist promoter of the tired “War on Christmas” narrative. This year, they ushered in the season with an electronic billboard in New York City’s Times Square carrying the message: “Who needs Christ during Christmas? Nobody.” The word "Christ" is crossed out, just in case their message wasn't clear enough. The American Atheists maintain that their latest entry in the annual “War on Christmas” saga is a message to other atheists that they are not alone. In a recent Fox News appearance, American Atheists President Dave Silverman said, “The point that we’re trying to make is that there’s a whole bunch of people out there for whom religion is the worst part of Christmas, but they go to church anyways, and we’re here to tell them they don’t have to.” While that intention is important and admirable, very few people—atheist or theist—seem to interpret the message as welcoming to anyone. Many of the responses I’ve seen have been vitriolic and disturbingly anti-atheist. Which raises the question: If the goal truly is to reach isolated atheists, why does the advertisement read as a dig at Christians? A better billboard for American Atheists’s stated aim might read: “Don’t celebrate Christmas? You’re not alone.” As atheists become more visible in our society, the entire “War on Christmas” back-and-forth feels ugly and unnecessary. Worse still, it seems to do little more than offer ammunition to those claiming atheists are just mean-spirited grinches. Bill O’Reilly—one of the major “War on Christmas” soldiers—made that clear when he and I discussed the “War on Christmas” a couple of weeks ago. Let’s not kid ourselves: There is no war on Christmas. We live in a culture that privileges stories of conflict, so it’s understandable that this narrative would gain traction—with or without billboards. Much of this narrative is a manifestation of religious fears about our increasingly secular society, and it reflects widespread anxieties about atheists and religious differences. But it doesn’t reflect reality. Rather, as religious diversity in the U.S. has become more recognizable, Americans have largely broadened their approach to this time of year. According to new data from the Public Religion Research Institute, the percentage of Americans who prefer the inclusive “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” has now exceeded the percentage that prefers “Merry Christmas.” It’s not that Christmas is under attack; instead, our society is becoming better at embracing its religious diversity and challenging the notion that a single majority religion should dominate public expressions of belief. So why does the “War on Christmas” narrative persist? Based on how much play they give it each December, the “War on Christmas” narrative seems to be good for Fox News ratings. And American Atheists has openly admitted that it is good for their pocketbooks, as their talk show appearances bring in a swell of donations. Consider this from a recent profile of Silverman: “Silverman’s notorious anti-Christmas billboards and subsequent TV appearances have breathed new life into American Atheists and are often followed by an uptick in subscribers and donations. ... According to Silverman, the primary objective of the billboards is to get invitations to talk shows.” In other words: American Atheists and Fox News - alongside conservatives like Sarah Palin - seem to have discovered a mutually beneficial relationship. But does this relationship benefit atheists more broadly? Does it accurately represent the sentiments of nontheists in this country? Does it improve atheist-theist relations? Does it lessen the widespread stigma and distrust that exists between atheists and theists, which enables atheist marginalization across the U.S.? Does it invite Christians to think critically about religious privilege? Many atheists, myself included, suspect that there are more effective approaches to tackling these important issues. To start, atheists can build positive relationships with believers to humanize our communities and educate one another about our differences. That’s something that billboards, for all of their flash and fundraising capabilities, likely won’t accomplish. Atheists face real marginalization in the U.S., and it should be robustly challenged. But we also have good tidings and great joy to offer—important contributions to the public square that are currently being drowned out by attention-grabbing billboards claiming “nobody” needs Christ in Christmas. In the spirit of generosity, compassion, and kindness so often associated with this time of year, let’s ditch the billboards and build relationships of goodwill. Chris Stedman is the Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University, Coordinator of Humanist Life for the Yale Humanist Community, and author of "Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious." You can follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDStedman. The views expressed in this column belong to Stedman. soundoff (5,210 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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(CNN) - The “War on Christmas:” what — or who—is it good for?
Actually jews are the main reason behind the war on Christmas and Christianity
🙄
History of christmas customs:
1.Celebrating Jesus’ birthday: “The early Christians did not celebrate [Jesus’] birth because they considered the celebration of anyone’s birth to be a pagan custom.”—The World Book Encyclopedia.
2.December 25: There is no proof that Jesus was born on that date. Church leaders likely chose this date to coincide with pagan festivals held on or around the winter solstice.
3.Gift-giving, feasting, partying: The Encyclopedia Americana says: “Saturnalia, a Roman feast celebrated in mid-December, provided the model for many of the merry-making customs of Christmas. From this celebration, for example, were derived the elaborate feasting, the giving of gifts, and the burning of candles.” The Encyclopædia Britannica notes that “all work and business were suspended” during Saturnalia.
4.Christmas lights: According to The Encyclopedia of Religion, Europeans decorated their homes “with lights and evergreens of all kinds” to celebrate the winter solstice and to combat evil spirits.
5.Mistletoe, holly: “The Druids ascribed magical properties to the mistletoe in particular. The evergreen holly was worshiped as a promise of the sun’s return.”—The Encyclopedia Americana.
6.Christmas tree: “Tree worship, common among the pagan Europeans, survived after their conversion to Christianity.” One of the ways in which tree worship survived is in the custom of “placing a Yule tree at an entrance or inside the house in the midwinter holidays.”—Encyclopædia Britannica.
Northern European.
Africa, Asian, South American, Australian Christians have different traditions.
JW, do you go by that handle because you belong to the " Jehovah's Witnesses"? If so the world is still waiting for at least one of the false predictions of the world's end put out by your organization to actually happen.
False predictions? do you still leave in the 19th century?
It was the 20th century when your organization predicted the end of the world to happen in 1914, 1925, and 1976. Three strikes and you are officially out as the "true and faithful servant".
Christian right-wingers should stop making up stories about the fictional war on Christmas.
Why christmas on Dec 25th?
Since there is no evidence that the birth of Jesus Christ occurred on December 25, why is Christmas celebrated on this date? The Encyclopædia Britannica says that church leaders probably chose it “to coincide with the pagan Roman festival marking the ‘birthday of the unconquered sun,’” at the time of the winter solstice. According to The Encyclopedia Americana, many scholars believe that this was done “in order to make Christianity more meaningful to pagan converts.”
For instance, Encyclopædia Britannica states: “One widespread explanation of the origin of this date is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies solis invicti nati (‘day of the birth of the unconquered sun’), a popular holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer.”
The Encyclopedia Americana informs us: “The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the ‘rebirth of the sun.’ . . . The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time.” Such festivals usually included licentious behavior by their participants, who engaged in unbridled and riotous merrymaking. Significantly, that behavior has been characteristic of many Christmas celebrations today.
The idea, particularly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, that the date of 25 December for Christmas was selected in order to correspond with the Roman festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, or "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun", is challenged today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus#Sol_Invictus_and_Christianity_and_Judaism
"One of the difficulties with this view is that it suggests a nonchalant willingness on the part of the Christian church to appropriate a pagan festival when the early church was so intent on distinguishing itself categorically from pagan beliefs and practices."
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115686/Christmas
Why doesn't the JW website cite the other reasons from the Encyclopedia? Why just the ones that support their belief?
JW's don't celebrate Christmas. They are also at odds with other Christian denominations.
He is not going to post any citations that contradicts his view.
So... whats your point? The RCC already says this..
Oh yeah, MERRY WINTER SOLSTICE you paranoid xian nitwits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus#Sol_Invictus_and_Christianity_and_Judaism
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him, than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
“It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it's the parts that I do understand.”
Mark Twain
A man can no more make real what he imagines than a group of writers 2,000 years ago can create miracles by writing about them.
Thanks for yet more evidence that Lewis is not the great thinker theists like to think he is!
If your "god" was as real as the sun, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
So Christmas was stolen from the Romans. No, wait, it was stolen from the Germans. No, wait, it was stolen from the Greeks. No it was stolen from the Celts.
Make up your minds!
You don't need to get too technical – it was stolen.
Most of what we call Christmas today was shaped by commercialism, like from Hallmark who promoted Northern European traditions at Christmastime.
Not from Pagans or ancient Romans/Greeks.
I'm an atheist. I celebrate Christmas. I just tell people to shut up about Jesus if they get too cultish.
never seen someone more worried about the existence of God then an atheist...
~Blaise Pascale
funny
So very true!!!
Nice try Einstein, but it's not worry. We're sick and tired of YOUR beliefs being thrown in our faces. The real truth is Xians are paranoid and they don't like anyone telling them they're wrong.
...yeah, and they lose sleep worrying about getting trampled in a unicorn stampede. Poor, poor Atheists.
Well, I considered what and why I believed, and did a little research before I rejected belief in god. I've certainly given it much more thought than those christians who believe because they've been taught to believe, or because they're afraid not to.
Never seen people more willing to distort the views of people who disagree with them than theists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus
Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. In 274 the Roman emperor Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults.
274? 200 years after Jesus Christ?
Christianity was still an itty bitty culty committee at that time.
Also, December Christmas wasn't invented yet. It was made simultaneous with Sol Invictus, not the other way around.
Still some big questions about that theory. And it is just a theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus#Sol_Invictus_and_Christianity_and_Judaism
Yes. The Bible doesn't give a birthdate.
That came centuries later.
Why christmas on Dec 25th?
Since there is no evidence that the birth of Jesus Christ occurred on December 25, why is Christmas celebrated on this date? The Encyclopædia Britannica says that church leaders probably chose it “to coincide with the pagan Roman festival marking the ‘birthday of the unconquered sun,’” at the time of the winter solstice. According to The Encyclopedia Americana, many scholars believe that this was done “in order to make Christianity more meaningful to pagan converts.”
"Many Christians think that Christians celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25th because the church fathers appropriated the date of a pagan festival. Almost no one minds, except for a few groups on the fringes of American Evangelicalism, who seem to think that this makes Christmas itself a pagan festival. But it is perhaps interesting to know that the choice of December 25th is the result of attempts among the earliest Christians to figure out the date of Jesus’ birth based on calendrical calculations that had nothing to do with pagan festivals.
Rather, the pagan festival of the “Birth of the Unconquered Son” insttuted by the Roman Emperor Aurelian on 25 December 274, was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians. Thus the “pagan origins of Christmas” is a myth without historical substance. "
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2012/12/calculating-christmas-not-based-on-pagan-festivals/
Sure... Orthodoxytoday is the right source of info...not the Encyclopidia Britannica, nor the Encyclopedia Americana...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus#Sol_Invictus_and_Christianity_and_Judaism
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115686/Christmas
"A second view suggests that December 25 became the date of Jesus’ birth by a priori reasoning that identified the spring equinox as the date of the creation of the world and the fourth day of creation, when the light was created, as the day of Jesus’ conception (i.e., March 25). December 25, nine months later, then became the date of Jesus’ birth. For a long time the celebration of Jesus’ birth was observed in conjunction with his baptism, celebrated January 6."
YOu are copying from the JW website.
I am only acting in self defense in the Christmas war of aggression against all else.
Do Christmas displays really need to be up in the stores in October? I am not asking for a ban on Christmas displays. Just a fair starting time. Like right after Thanksgiving. Or, since the date of Thanksgiving is not constant, how about November 25?
And Christmas music. You can set your radio-alarm clock to wake you to Christmas music, then play Christmas music on waterproof speakers in the shower, while getting dressed for work and certainly feel free to play Christmas music on you car radio as you drive to work. If it doesn't interfere with you work, play Christmas music on your headphones while working and by all means, play Christmas music on your headphones during beaks and at lunch. Then listed to Christmas music on your drive home and keep it playing until you get go to sleep. No need to stop then, keep it playing all night, as long as it doesn't interfere with your sleep. You can start this routing in July if it makes you happy.
Isn't that enough Christmas music? Am I horribly suppressing your rights by asking that you not play Christmas music in the small office I have no choice but to share with you?
75% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. That means that 25% do not. If there are four people in your office, then odds are, there is someone there that is not thinking, "I only get to listen to Christmas music 15 hours a day, I cannot stand the horror of having no Christmas music right here right now."
A few years ago, a major retailer sent out a message to employees that they could greet customers by saying "seasons greeting", "happy holidays" or "Merry Christmas", whichever they felt comfortable with. The company was promptly attacked for being part of the "war on Christmas". They felt that if an employee was a devote Buddhist and he saw an Orthodox Rabbi enter the store, he should be forced to greet the Rabbi with "merry Christmas", or be promptly fired.
So, have Christmas. Enjoy Christmas. I hope it is a great day for you and I wish you peace and good will.
Just leave a little space for the rest of us.
well said, i hate the constant music too, ugh!
I would rather believe in OUR Lord Jesus Christ and be right then not believe and be wrong. Our Lord will be the one to judge and my friends it WILL BE sooner then we think.
Or maybe Zeus feels feels neutral about atheists but condemns to torment those who honor another god. Or maybe we are a lab experiment and those dumb enough to believe the Christian god myth are eliminated while those smart enough to be skeptical are rewarded. You really have no way of knowing the rules of the game and which choice might bring reward.
Or maybe Zeus feels feels neutral about atheists but condemns to torment those who honor another god. Or maybe we are a lab experiment and those slow and gullible enough to believe the Christian god myth are eliminated while those smart enough to be skeptical are rewarded. You really have no way of knowing the rules of the game and which choice might bring reward.
Zeus be praised.
And one could same the same about Lord Krishna, Mithra, Isis, Ra, The Flying Spaghetti Monster etc.
the christians started it by constantly talking about what they don't like in secular society like abortion,gay-lesbian unions,taking back america for jesus,bible not being the center of our government,10 commandments not being followed and other religous nonsense so this is just payback for all the times they voiced there oppostion to everything that goes against what they believe.
The Ten Commandments are the basis of our legal system.
Well, except for the four that violate The First Amendment and the two that are good ideas, but not codified into law.
But, 40% of the Ten Commandments do coincide with laws in this country.
A friend of mine was upset when they wanted to remove the Ten Commandments from a court house. When I was in his home, I noted there was no Ten Commandments on display. So, it is important enough to force Hindus to pass it as they enter a court that is supposed to fairly consider only evidence in evaluating their guilt or innocence, but not as important as the pop star poster in the hallway.
"name" says: "...and it will be sooner than we think." Hmmmm...back in '76, with Hal Lindsey's help, we Jesus Freaks were saying the same thing...
Know Jesus, know neuroses
No Jesus, know peace
Oh...and a shout-out to Josh McDowell for that little gem
poor christians, they comprise a huge majority that feels so put upon by a mere minority of folks that neither believe nor care what christians do and would just as soon be left alone and not be persecuted by christians or the laws they attempt to foist upon us for not believing in their christian god, or any god for that matter. bah humbug or whatever, get a life
Because CHRISTmas without CHRIST is just MAS.... MAS ? What does it even mean ? Right !!! Simple like that 🙂
Except that people celebrate Eater without the goddess and don't even bat an eye. We don't worry about Odin on Wednesdays or Thor on Thursdays. As gods pass into history there is no need to remove their names from the language.
We are left with MAS, which is Spanish for "MORE".
Which is ironically exactly what Christmas has become. It's all about more presents, more expensive presents, more food, more drinking, more excess.
Perhaps we really should remove the "Christ" part of the word, because for most people the "mas" is all that's left.
Christmas, without Christ, is called Christmas.
Christ has nothing to do with it. Dec 25 was celebrated as part of a calculated program to eliminate all other beliefs by placing Christian holidays on the same days as Pagan celebrations. Over the years that meaning has faded to be replaced by a capitalist feeding frenzy.
Merry Black Friday to all and to all good profits.
Christmas and New Year's is a time for merry-making. It rings in a new world, says farewell to the old, and wishes hope for all. There isn't an atheist on the planet who will begrudge anyone for believing that.
(Including those of us who fondly remember our Tooth Fairies, as they leave behind a gold foiled covered piece of milk chocolate.)
Really? I got money. To buy milk chocolate, of course.
The War on Christianity and religion is general is not new:
"The Two Universal Sects
They all err—Moslems, Jews,
Christians, and Zoroastrians:
Humanity follows two world-wide sects:
One, man intelligent without religion,
The second, religious without intellect. "
Al-Ma'arri
, born AD 973 /, died AD 1058 / .
Al-Ma’arri was a blind Arab philosopher, poet and writer.[1][2] He was a controversial rationalist of his time, attacking the dogmas of religion and rejecting the claim that Islam possessed any monopoly on truth."
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/resalat-al-ghufran#ixzz1lI6DuZmZ and http://www.humanistictexts.org/al_ma'arri.htm
Death's Debt is Paid in
Full
Death's debt is then and there
Paid down by dying men;
But it is a promise bare
That they shall rise again.
Al-Ma'arri
Oops, make that "The War on Christianity and religion IN general is not new:
Thank you for celebrating my day everyone!! Why you keep on calling me baby Jesus??
The dates don't add up (take into account movement of the dates relative to the solar year and relative to the calendar due to adjustments to the Julian calendar, the creation of leap-year and 10-day readjustment in the middle ages, and the switch from Julian to Gregorian calendars)
Christmas in the US is no more Christian than Independence day or Halloween – commercialism, materialism and capitalism (our God) has made sure of that!
Why don't you BOTH just shut the h*** up?!?