This is an addendum to the press release about FFRF’s informal survey of nearly 1,600 nonreligious Americans about what atheists (and other nonbelievers) do at “Christmas.” Below is a representative sampling from pages and pages of personal comments. (Note: Some individuals indicated they could be identified by name.)

 

What expresses your feelings about the holiday season? Some of the “bah humbug” responses: 

Although the “bah humbugs” were a minority, they disproportionately added personal comments explaining their answer.

“It’s the most god-awful time of the year,” quipped one FFRF’er.

Stan said he has given up on being part of the “Holiday Industrial Complex” and restricts himself to celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. 

“I post a picture of Ebenezer Scrooge on my office door,” another volunteered.

One FFRF’er said they grit their teeth and “wait for December to be over.” “The whole thing disgusts and repels me. It’s a holiday dedicated to hypocrisy, greed and lies.”

Joked one member, “I’m exhausted. Fighting this war on Christmas is brutal.”

An environmentalist bemoaned the waste of millions of tons of plastic: “We are in a plastic crisis. We need to outgrow our dependency on spending, overeating and getting intoxicated. We all need to relax, stop the light pollution and enjoy the beauty of a dark and quiet winter.”

An emergency room physician writes: “I agreed to work most December 25th days and it’s always the craziest day of the year in hospital emergency rooms.”

Don Ardelle, deliberately misquoting Tim Minchin, writes: “I really dislike Christmas. It’s sentimental and I have all the usual objections to consumerism and the miseducation of children who, in churches and institutions are taught to externalize blame and to feel ashamed and to judge things as plain right or wrong.” Adds Don: ”Unlike Minchin, I quite dislike Christmas songs and white wine, but I love listening to him sing ‘White Wine in the Sun.’”

 

“Look forward to the season” responses:

“The spirit of gifts, of giving and being kind to others is a noteworthy thing and should be the spirit that we carry every day.” 

“I just love that, as an atheist, I get to experience the parts of the holiday I find enjoyable with none of the discomfort I always felt as a child forced to go to church.” 

“I am comfortable that it is a universal secular seasonal holiday and people can celebrate it as they see fit, religiously or otherwise.” 

“I think of Christmas like Thanksgiving — as holiday — I celebrate it as a time when other families/friends come together. I don’t consider it a religious holiday anymore than merchants think it’s religious.”

“The bottom line is to celebrate family and community. Those things are foundational to being human, and can take many forms, some wrapped in religion and some in patriotism and plenty with no excuse at all.”

 

More responses to what FFRF’ers and their families celebrate: 

“I’m happy to go with the flow.” 

I gift memories, not stuff!”

“We celebrate our made-up holiday called Winterium, complete with a Winterium bush that resembles a Christmas tree.” 

“We get together family for what we call Mythmas.” 

“Christmas is just a placeholder for the holiday. Giving is more important than acts of obeisance to a nonexistent deity.”

“The best parts of the holiday are all of pagan origin. I’m happy to share Yule and Krampus with people of all religions or no religion!” — Mike Leibensperger.

“Amazing to me that ancient Roman influence carried this far into the future. They reset the human calendar. Extraordinary influence/power on/over the human species.”

“The exclusion, pressure to celebrate a Christian holiday, results in a feeling of loneliness.”

“I don’t feel alone because I’m a nonbeliever. I know there are others. But when I see large family gatherings, couples, children, etc., that’s when my living alone makes me feel more alone.” 

“I prefer Nature’s calendar to capitalism. I refuse to participate in a system that sees me as a commodity to be exploited.” — Matthew Bryan Elliott.

“I celebrate a good life every day of the year.” 

“I’m the refuge for those escaping family drama.”

 

Funny responses to how FFRF’ers celebrate:

“At a gathering, a minister told my 4-year-old daughter, ‘Bless you, my child.’ Her response was, ‘I didn’t sneeze!’ I was quite proud.”

“When greeted at Easter, our daughter cheerily replies, ‘Happy Zombie Jesus Day!’ So far no one’s punched her. (They wouldn’t dare!)”

“When my younger son was about 5, he misheard the word ‘solstice’ for ‘salsa.’ So twice a year on June 21st and December 21st, we celebrate ‘Salsa Day’ by going out for Mexican food.”

“At an ‘inclusive’ sing-along, before we were asked to sing ‘Silent Night,’ one guy boasted that he would be ‘belting it out.’ ‘Belting out’ ‘Silent Night.’ Count on a sanctimonious bible thumper to be unintentionally comical.”

“My first son developed an interest in dolls when he was about 4 when his mom was pregnant with his younger brother. For Christmas, we put an antique doll from my mother’s collection in a little crib and left it under the tree. Our son had been trying to make sense out of the whole Santa/Jesus thing. So he wakes up that morning and we hear the thunder of little feet running into the living room. Silence. Then more footwork as he burst into the bedroom and exclaims: ‘Santa brought me the baby Jesus!’”

One mother recalled that when her daughter was 3 or 4, she pronounced, “Emmy and Daryl don’t believe in Santa Claus. But I see him everywhere.”

 

Members write about being freed from dogma during the season:

“I was baptized Catholic, confirmed Protestant and married a Jew. I don’t believe in anything but science, but I don’t mind what others choose to believe in. That has made my relationship with my spouse last a long time.”

“After a long journey and transition, my family no longer recites a prayer before our large family holiday meals.” — John Sutton

“My strict Seventh Day Adventist mother raised us not to believe in Santa Claus. This year my Christmas tree is decorated exclusively in Santa Claus/Father Christmas ornaments, which feels like an act of rebellion long after my parents are gone, while at the same time it feels like I’m staking out some childhood wonder that I never got to experience.”

“I am proud to be an apostate, godless Infidel. Being a freethinker is hard work as we do not accept anything based on faith. We think for ourselves using logic, science and rational thinking that is not based upon fear and punishment. We interact with people, animals and the environment with the same compassion, love and empathy we would hope to receive.” — R. Scott Buel, Freethinker.

”I mostly keep my unbeliefs to myself and avoid as much as possible all the religious activities.”

“I do my best to keep things to myself because if you don’t you may have to listen to a rant and howl from some deluded believer.”

 

More on what other activities/traditions do FFRF’ers engage in at Solstice time:

One member recommends listening to “The 12 Days of Christmas Song” by Bob and Doug, Cheech and Chong and watching Stephen Colbert explain the House Speaker’s beliefs via a Jurassic Park parody (Oct. 30, 2023).

It’s no surprise that music figures in responses, such as those who love (and hate) “The Messiah,” and someone else who gets a kick out of making money as a nonreligious musician by playing religious songs on Christmas Day.

“We go to see the Boston gay men’s chorus. A great mix of traditional music from many religions, plus a campy spin on the whole Christmas thing!” 

Nature, such as taking a “traditional hike on the 25th,” received mentions, including making Winter Solstice bonfires and going to the zoo!

“On Christmas Day, we often go bird watching if the weather is nice.” 

Someone else posts the ten commitments on social media while another likes more traditional board games. A few “gamble at the Casino.” And then there were ubiquitous mentions of “eating Chinese food and going out to a movie.”

 

More comments on how freethinkers and non-Christians are treated at this time of year:

“Yes, definitely as an outsider.” 

“Explicitly Christian proselytizing in work breakrooms reminds me of the pain caused by my religious upbringing as a child.”

“I don’t really advertise my atheism. I live in the South.”

“I was once asked to say the ‘blessing’ before Christmas dinner. That was awkward, but also a bit comedic (‘Dear baby Jesus …’).” 

Another cited “the subtle social pressure of assuming I believe in ‘God’ and expectation to go along with religious activities.” 

One member laments, “Sitting there trying not to roll my eyes whilst others are praying before family meals” and another that “Carols are played in the workplace. All day long.”

 “The whole thing annoys the shit out of me. Yes, I am the Grinch,” writes one frank FFRF’er. 

“I just think it is all TOO MUCH,” says another. 

 

More on what freethinkers say when store clerks or others wish them “Merry Christmas.”
“When the debate arises I’ve been known to reply ‘Happy Christma-Kwanz-Anukka-Saturnali-Estivus,’ followed by ‘Life is short, celebrate them all!’”

One member recounts buying some expensive shoes in a specialty shop and wishing the clerk “Happy Holidays.” She recalls: “She leaned across the counter into my face and LOUDLY said, ‘Merry Christmas! What’s wrong with that?’ You could have heard a pin drop, it got so quiet. I said something about being polite, not knowing if she was Jewish or Muslim and not wanting to assume she was a Christian. After paying, I walked toward the door to leave and the male owner shouted ‘Merry Christmas!’ Have I burdened them with my purse since then? That’s a hard NO.”

“Tired of the persecuted Christian act, I’ve retorted, ‘When has anyone ever denied you the right to say Merry Christmas?’”

FFRF thanks the nearly 1,600 members who took the time to share what they do (or do not do) at “Christmastime.” It is clear that whatever they do (or don’t do), they are using their critical thinking skills to good purpose.

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