Atheists for Liberty News - Issue #11

Dec 30, 2022

It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Christmas Anymore…

By Max Carlisle

After a couple years of subdued Christmas gatherings, thanks to Covid-related issues, most of the US is back into the swing of things for the winter of 2022. We’re back to exchanging gifts, singing songs around the Christmas tree, and of course arguing over politics with the relatives that we only see once or twice a year. What Americans are not back to, or at least in fewer and fewer numbers, is praying, attending church, and recognizing the Christian beliefs and traditions of Christmas.

With a Gallop poll now including responses from 2005 to 2019, we see that fewer and fewer Americans consider Christmas to be a truly religious holiday. There are also fewer people overall who celebrate Christmas in any way, although the change in those numbers is much smaller. The bottom line is that while there are still plenty of people who celebrate the holiday, it is quickly losing its status as a religious holiday in the minds of Americans.

Another notable find from the Gallop poll is that this trend towards a less religious Christmas is happening across a wide variety of demographic groups. It is not found just within one age or gender or racial group, but this is a universal trend across all of America. Interestingly, those who identify as non-religious or atheist overwhelmingly celebrate Christmas. The holiday’s historical connection to religion doesn’t seem to bother the non-religious at all.

Many Christian’s are still unaware that Christmas Day, December 25th, was not actually Jesus’ birthday, and that the day was simply chosen as a convenient day of recognition which aligned with existing ancient winter solstice celebrations. Even Christians who are aware of this fact may simply view Christmas as the day that we have chosen to celebrate his birthday, whenever it may have been.

At the end of the day, many of us a re-embracing the value of social gatherings and family connections after being distanced from our loved ones for two years. As we enjoy the company of others through this holiday season you can rest assured that as an atheist celebrating Christmas, very few people, if any, are going to assume you are deeply religious for celebrating it. The real value of Christmas is in spending time with the people we care about and looking forward to exciting and optimistic times on the horizon. We can leave the archaic supernatural beliefs behind and still say “Merry Christmas!”