LifeIsBrief Posted November 17, 2013 Posted November 17, 2013 I wanted to write a long piece, and link to a bunch of articles when I wrote this... but I find myself lacking the motivation lately. Why don't Atheists have an awesome holiday in which robot dragons shoot fireworks out of their mouths above giant waterslides? Call it "Dragons, Fireworks, and Waterslides are Awesome"... Day. Aren't we completely free from the argument that hedonism, or aesthetics, are evil? If there was a Dragons, Fireworks, and Waterslides are Awesome Day... Wouldn't it be even more popular than Christmas? Discuss.
powersquash Posted November 17, 2013 Posted November 17, 2013 I believe it was the show "metalocalypse" that portrayed the effects of this quite well. It was a "church" that was mirrored by a real church. Where one said "in gods name, amen." The atheist one said "in absence of gods name, amen." Or something to that effect. It was quite a funny episode. It showed how, if treated like another religion, even the absence of religion can be a religion, as mind-trippy as that sounds. Not to mention Christmas began as non-religious
Mike Fleming Posted November 17, 2013 Posted November 17, 2013 "We need to remember the true meaning of Christmas. The birth.... of Santa." Paraphrased from Bart Simpson. It's just the Winter Solstice festival really. The Christians just adopted it. Perhaps the reason they struggle to remind people of "the true meaning of Christmas" is because Jesus is simply not the true reason.
Wuzzums Posted November 17, 2013 Posted November 17, 2013 This TED talk by Alain de Botton talks about this. He argues for applying religious tactics to atheism/science. How we should celebrate great minds/ideas in the same way we celebrate fictional stories, to underline their importance and make them known worldwide. How instead of praying we teach our kids how to recite useful things like laws of motion or logical fallacies, and so on. I'm all for it.
tasmlab Posted November 18, 2013 Posted November 18, 2013 I imagine it would be hard for any logicky atheist to devise traditions and be able to recommend/do them with a straight face. But then many/most adopt the existing ones without a problem. For example, my family is going to erect a dead pine tree in our living room next month and hang glass balls on it and then sneak presents under it while the kids are sleeping. For moderate Christians, we really only have Christmas and Easter as religious holidays. In the US, our holidays include Presidents day, MLK day, veterans day, memorial day, independence day, and labor day - all government-bred holidays. Could non-statists come up with a holiday? (the leftovers: mothers day, St. Patricks day (religious?), fathers day, halloween, thanksgiving) Halloween isn't a bad secular holiday.
Wesley Posted November 18, 2013 Posted November 18, 2013 The first thing to realize is that atheists are not dogmatic in their holidays. Not all holidays are celebrated by every atheist. Atheist Holidays Celebrated by Some in Calendar Order: New Year's because atheists use the same calendar as religious people. Daylight Savings Time is the worst day of the year for the "spring forward". You lose an hour! National Day of Reason because the state made a National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday of May. This is the same day. Only it isn't ridiculous pleading to non-existent beings. Shark Week occurs in Late July of Early August every year. The atheist version of Holy Week. Daylight Savings Time for "fall back" is my favorite holiday. You get an extra hour! Festivus is Christmas for the Rest of Us! For those who do not like the classic "Santa and Jesus" Christmas, they can trade in that tree for a Festivus Pole. Many of the traditions of Christmas are still carried over to Festivus. Most of all, we all know that really
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