(Apologies to Shane McGowan of The Pogues for stealing the opening line of his song Fairytale of New York for my title.)
If you’re reading this, it’s Christmas Eve. Transparency: this blog post was previously written and scheduled for release today. Normally I wouldn’t mention that, but it’s relevant to this topic. Why? I’ve struggled for days to figure out what to write here.
I want to write something pithy, something profound. I want you to walk away from this post with a thought or a tear in your eye or a laugh in your throat. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m the one to write that post on Christmas Eve. I’m a celebrant by habit, not belief. I’ve been fighting the commercialism of the holiday for years and have written about it that way a couple times. I’ve been a longtime Scrooge, and only recently come to realize what this holiday should be about for me… or really not for me.
I googled like mad looking for a topic – atheism and Christmas, people who don’t celebrate Christmas, divorced parents and Christmas. Nothing really pressed my buttons. However, it did reveal that there’s a pile of Christians who don’t celebrate Christmas. This includes not just the Jehovah’s Witnesses,who only celebrate a dinner in remembrance of Christ’s death, but a lot of folks who realized that much of what we celebrate today is a combination of Catholic church invention and appropriation of pagan holidays to make Christianity easier to swallow.
Many Christians don’t celebrate Xmas. They realize much we celebrate today combines Catholic church invention & pagan holiday appropriations to make Christianity easier to swallow. Share on XIn fact, after I wrote that last paragraph, I started another topic, and decided not to go down that road, either.
Rather than pity or profound or tear-jerking or laughter-inducing, I offer you this:
Merry Christmas to all you celebrants, and to all a good night.