Both Christians and atheists take this issue far too seriously. Both sides feel like the other is encroaching on their freedom and happiness. Both need to shut up and celebrate. Or not. Whatever makes them happy. As long as they both shut up.

And for the guy mentioned in the article who could get fired for being an atheist, he should do it, and then sue his employer. Hayley’s right – that has absolutely nothing to do with this time of year.

Knowing Hayley definitely helps one to read this post differently. But I’m glad she’s had this experience, as she now knows how a simple, innocently written jab can go so, so wrong.

I think, in the end, the point of her post was that people need to chill out — we all think we’re the persecuted ones regardless of where that persecution comes from and what time of year we face it.

We screwed up by using a generic term (atheists) to represent a small minority. So we sincerely apologize for that gaff.

I did not intend to belittle the situations of those who risk getting fired for being atheist or the man who lost custody of his children. I think it was rather inappropriate, and belittling, to put those stories in the same article as one in which some complained of stores playing Christmas music. Getting fired or losing custody of your children are serious issues that have nothing to do with this particular season and shouldn’t be lumped in with those whose only complaints are musically or awkward-family related.

I mainly wrote this post (in misguided jest, apparently) because after reading the article I found it funny how similar our Christmas experiences were, and thought it interesting that those quoted felt like they were the only ones being put in awkward situations. I apologize for trying to make light of a sub

But this time of year, all of us believe differently from some of those we love, and everyone has family situations they have to tip-toe through to avoid conflict. That one man has problems with his mother this time of year? He should try sitting down to dinner with one of my uncles.

So, to sum up:
– I’m sorry. I originally intended to poke fun at the Church of Christ more than atheists with this post.
– I didn’t think about atheists believing that those who celebrate Christmas are propagating destructive beliefs. I can see how that would change the way you look at the season.
– Having said that, I think that the majority of people around the world do not celebrate Christmas for any religious reason. To most, it’s entirely secular, even though some may attach religious meaning to it.
– I understand how “Merry Christmas” could offend atheists, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims, and think the people who insist on “Merry Christmas,” like Fox News, should get over it, too.
– The post will be edited to be directed to “those angry atheists in the article who complain about music and annoying family members,” as should have been done originally, and not all atheists.

I don’t celebrate Jesus’ birth during Christmas, but I celebrate him nonetheless. I’m sure if you asked an atheist what annoys him or her about Christmas, it wouldn’t be “These Christian people are getting the dates ALL WRONG!”

So on the flip-side, when we hear them complaining, perhaps we should just “get over it” and realize we can’t empathize with their position. At all.

I think most Christians realize that Jesus did not happen to be born on the winter solstice, I’ve never heard of any experiencing stigmatization as a result of this.

In other words, Christians conspicuously celebrating Christmas may seem slightly naive to you, but to the Atheists in the article, they are propagating destructive beliefs. This is where phrases like “shoving it down our throats” come from.

I think a better comparison would be Christians who become upset when they are asked to consider that other people have different beliefs than them. Saying “Happy Holidays” is touted as persecution http://tinyurl.com/y9tr4k8 , the conservative Christians at Fox News have coined the phrase “War on Christmas”. To these people, it is a big deal that they are being asked to be less invasive in their methods of celebration. Their obstinance itself seems to illustrate the very perspective some of the atheists in the article took issue with.

However, since the opposite of “Christian” isn’t “atheist”, but rather “non-Christian”, a term which encompasses a majority of the world, I think we should try to be prudent this holiday season. For Christians, displaying mangers on Main St. seems to fly in the face of the actual event, and is likely to be taken as combatant. For non-Christians, “Merry Christmas” isn’t a big deal, focus on the semantic not the syntactic. For you, Hayley, using phrases like “you atheists” is a little off-putting as it paints with a very broad brush (for example, you are incorrectly including me in the group you are criticizing), combine that with the somewhat sarcastic tone and flat dismissal of points-of-view completely foreign to you, and your post does little to put concerned atheists at ease. A positive, understanding attitude would have done much more to calm the people you are writing to, saying “get over it” only fans the flames of unease that you are telling them to get over.

The earth is a very small corner of the universe, it is important that we consider the effects of our actions, and the perspectives of other people in our society.

Here is a nice list of holidays celebrated around this time http://www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice.htm which illustrates why we should all realize that the season isn’t about just us, and try to all enjoy it with mutual respect.