How's that? I've always thought that was the distinction between the two...
Yule have to explain that one to me. Like vegan versus vegetarian?
Spoilers THE ORVILLE S1, E12: "MAD IDOLATRY" - SEASON FINALE
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How's that? I've always thought that was the distinction between the two...
Yule have to explain that one to me. Like vegan versus vegetarian?
Atheism isn't a belief in the absence of a god. This was said quite a few times in this thread by various posters.
If you know for a fact they don't celebrate Christmas yes it is.
I'm an atheist (although I will confess to having gotten presents this time of year, we just call them solstice presents), and it really annoys me when people wish me a Merry Christmas. I understand nobody means anything bad by it, but it just feels to me like people are completely ignoring the fact that there are more beliefs out there than just Christianity, or that it's the only one that matters.
The one that really bugs me though is when people say God bless you, or God loves you. I don't believe in God and I don't want or need his love. I don't like the idea of people just assuming that I have to believe in God. There are a lot more religions and beliefs out there than ones involving the Christian god and a lot of Christians need to recognize that fact.
That's an arguable assertion.
Agnosticism accepts that the existence of God or gods is a hypothesis of some interest because belief in them is widespread or traditional. That is not necessarily so. "God" is a concept for which there has never been any evidence, in the scientific sense.
It's kind of like saying that expressing uncertainty about the existence of the elemental aether - because at one time smart people "believed" in it - is a superior position (scientifically, logically, intuitively?) to simply seeing no reason to assume it exists.
I mean, I'm not agnostic about Bleem; I don't see a reason to be agnostic about God.
Agnosticism accepts that the existence of God or gods is a hypothesis of some interest because belief in them is widespread or traditional. That is not necessarily so. "God" is a concept for which there has never been any evidence, in the scientific sense.
It's kind of like saying that expressing uncertainty about the existence of the elemental aether - because at one time smart people "believed" in it - is a superior position (scientifically, logically, intuitively?) to simply seeing no reason to assume it exists.
I mean, I'm not agnostic about Bleem; I don't see a reason to be agnostic about God.
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Except that a Christmas Tree is already a Pagan symbol, or a Christian symbol appropriated from pre-christian practices.
And? It is also a commercial symbol used to mark out a period of time on the calendar wherein we are urged to increase our typical spending habits in order to participate in the exchange of commercial products to ostensibly express our affections (with an implied correlation between the intensity of the affection and the expense of the product relative to our capacity to purchase it). Not much religion there.
A Christmas tree can certainly be a religious symbol but it is not necessarily one. Intent is critical, as is context.
How far does this logic go? If I put a Confederate flag on my house, am I not, despite my "intent," being a racist asshole?
Depends on how the symbol is interpreted. A swastika to western eyes is a symbol of hate, but a symbol of good luck representing the Four Winds in eastern traditions. Symbols are funny things. People should be mindful that some things don’t hold the same meaning to everyone. Projecting certain subjective interpretations on others doesn’t always work out for the best.
You jumped the rails, there. Your "logic" has nothing to do with what I just posted.
However, if we wanted to try a parallel with that ridiculous example: the colors and symbols of the Confederate batlle flag were taken deliberately and directly from the national flag of the United States of America. No matter what the intent was, or wasn't, this does not make the Confederate flag a United States flag. Not even a little.
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I'm fine with people wishing me a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Joyful Kwanzaa, Joyeux Noel, Upbeat Solstice, Above-Average Day Off Of Work, or a general Happy Holidays. They're being nice. I reply "Same to you." Religion is your own business, unless you use it to define the law or otherwise hurt other people. Same thing when people tell me that the gods or goddesses bless me. They're wishing me well according to their own beliefs. There's nothing wrong with that.
I really don't think so, but I think I have a better one anyway, because there are certainly many, including Supreme Court Justices, who argue that the phrase "one nation under God" does not violate the prohibition against endorsement of religion because the notion has been largely secularized. It has never been adjudicated upon by that court, but it seems there is no inclination (less now) to remove it.
Having the flag does not make me a citizen of the Confederacy or my house Confederate territory, which would be the plainest meaning. However, it would show how I align with certain practices and traditions.
And I have never claimed a tree makes atheists religious. What I am saying is that the tree has meaning, just like the Confederate flag, that cannot be dismissed out of hand, or that should not be dismissed, like "one nation under God." We are aware of what they represent, and engaging them are, or should be, choices we make positively. Any person who takes on these practices is engaging with tradition that cannot be taking completely out of context. I think that it is disingenuous to say that these symbols are innocent of meaning.
Again, for the umpteenth time, it does not make the person religious. What it means is that they are engaging with their religious traditions, taking ownership of them, and making choices about the positive things they represent. It is recognition of the porousness of the definition of atheism, and that it is not some sort of straightjacket might restrict one or, on the other hand, subject one to a set of logic games about what belief is supposed to be
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My personal "religious tradition" is that I loved Christmas trees as a child. When my parents had very little money, my Dad made ornaments for the tree from scraps of fluorescent signage plastic at his office, heat-shaping them into little curved and corkscrew shapes and hanging them by fishing line from the tree branches.
I've got three of those ornaments decorating my home this year.
Merry Christmas.
I've got three of those ornaments decorating my home this year.
Merry Christmas.
And on that note...
Merry Christmas! God bless each and every one of you!
Merry Christmas! God bless each and every one of you!
And Jesus is kinda bent, that the Celebration of his Birthday didn't rate his own Holiday and Traditions, but, instead of putting even a moment's thought into it, they shamelessly slapped his name on another Holiday, complete with a Pagan Tree Celebration.
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I never said that a tree is specifically Christian (indeed, I wished someone above a Good Yule).
Umm...yea, that would be that whole recontextualizing that Religious Practice you are engaging in, when displaying a Christmas Tree in your home