As a non-believer, I find myself faced with many challenges this time of year:
Do I go to my friends' Christmas Concert at their church? What to do when people at work give me Christmas presents? What to say when people say "Merry Christmas" and my first thought is "FUCK Christmas".
I hate to be a faker, but I also hate to be an angry bitch.
Suggestions?
1
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5 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.People say & do these things, (I put up extensive cheery decorations, send secular cards, etc etc) because it is a grey, short-daylight, depressing time of year & it helps! I keep those cheery decos up until mid-January, or until they get dusty.
People have been celebrating the solstice for millenia before gawd co-opted it!
Assigning a day to some gawd or other and letting it get to you is just silly, you get back what your in, period!
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Aug 29, 2020
0
You are obviously not a non-believer or it wouldn’t affect you so deeply.
You are not responding, you are reacting to what sounds like a difficult experience for which you blame religion, not the people/events that caused it.
Perhaps addressing it now may help for future Christmas periods or you will be driven by the same angst which, as it is only 01 Dec, will affect you for at least 10% of your life.
Doesn’t sound healthy. Try and address your troubles with Christmas not the ideas that Christmas and it’s attendant baggage exists.
Geoffrey51
Level 8
Dec 1, 2019
2
If we could only hear people’s voices, and not see their physical presence, we might judge their age only by the sophistication of their worldview. Since our bodies mature at a more reliable rate than our psychology does, I think it’s not unreasonable to view a person according to their psychological maturity, and treat them accordingly.
So the question becomes... how would you respond to a five year old who invited you to a Christmas concert, or approached you with a cheery “Merry Christmas!” You could say “Bah humbug! you’re old enough to know better!” Or you could show compassion for their lack of sophistication, and demonstrate yours by focusing only on their well-meaning intentions.
If you suspect their intentions are not the best, you still have the option of modeling compassion for them as you might for any misbehaving child.
In the final analysis, it might be said that the person who is least troubled by the encounter might have the more functional worldview.
skado
Level 9
Dec 1, 2019
2
Exactly!
I think ex-christians have an anger period that they hafta get through before they can just move past it. The sad thing is when people get stuck in the anger phase. I see a lot of them on here.
IMO if they all read Juval Harari ("Sapiens" ) their anger period would shorten. you hafta learn that religion is just a tool and I feel sorry for most of them and even envy a few who can be so secure in their ignorance.
@JeffMesser Very sound counsel I would suggest. Also most of the religious people I know are lovely and many atheists are arseholes.
It’s not a religion thing it’s a people thing.
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