(Originally posted on this blog December 18, 2008, lost & recovered on January 9, 2009.)
For the past – what? three? five? – years, the Christmas season has been accompanied by protests over its very existence. Atheist are offended by the very celebration of “Christmas.”
They’ve tried to change the name of the celebration.
They’ve tried to remove all symbols of the celebration.
What they’re actually trying to do is remove CHRISTIANITY from the face of the Earth! Well, I don’t have time to go into that here and now. Let’s suffice it to say, “Go ahead and make a bigger fool of yourself.”
I just want to add my 2¢ to the current topic…
Why are Atheists attacking Christmas? Because they don’t believe in God, much less his son, Jesus.
And they are perfectly within their rights to believe or not believe as they choose. After all, this country was started by people seeking refuge from persecution – especially religious.
Remember, in the Motherland they were actually killing people for not believing, or at least practicing, the state-endorsed religion. In some countries Protestants were being executed (sometimes officially, sometimes not), in other countries it was Catholics, in others Jews. That’s why the Third Article of the Bill of Rights states:
“Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the rights of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.”
Do I REALLY have to explain in modern terms what this means about the freedom to worship, or not worship, as the individual, or group, wishes?
What Athiests seem to forget is that their rights end where they infringe on the rights of others.
Christmas is a Christian holiday. It is also commonly celebrated by non-Christians because it’s FUN! You like fun, don’t you?
Yes, our modern-day celebrations have borrowed some elements from other religions and festivals. That doesn’t mean that us Christians don’t keep in mind the Reason for the Season, nor the Christian symbolism of those borrowed secular elements.
Nobody’s telling Jews not to celebrate Hanukkah.
Nobody’s telling Africans not to celebrate Kwanzaa.
Nobody’s telling Muslims not to celebrate Ramadan. (Before anyone comments, yes, I know it’s not necessarily celebrated in December!)
Yet it’s perfectly alright to tell Christians that we can’t celebrate Christmas. It’s perfectly alright to trample all over the individual and collective rights of Christians that are supposedly protected by the Third Article of the Bill of Rights, just as everyone else’s is.
So… If YOU don’t want to celebrate Christmas, don’t. Nobody’s forcing you to.
You can celebrate the “Winter Festival” if that’s what you want it to be. And you can celebrate it in any way you like. Well… as long as your celebration is a peaceable and lawful one. No human sacrifices or public orgies – both of which would violate all sorts of city, state, and federal laws! 
Hey… go jump in an icy lake if that’s what you feel like!
But stop trying to infringe on the rights of Christians by telling us we can’t celebrate Christmas! If someone tells you “Merry Christmas,” take it for the good wishes that are intended and get your panties out of a wad. Don’t you think Christmas is stressful enough without you adding to it by taking offense with well wishes?
