Naturalistic Humanists who wish to continue celebrating some of the holidays they grew up with should feel comfortable in doing so. Feasts, fasts, and many other traditions should be welcome. Some holidays can be adopted to be consistent with and supportive of Naturalistic Humanist values.
Christmas is a prime example. Of all religious holidays, Christmas lends itself to re-interpretation particularly well because it is itself a re-interpretation, mash up, and best of many earlier traditions. If we consider its true origin, Christmas is neither about crass commercialism, nor is it about a supernatural birth of a deity…Christmas is far bigger and older than Christianity.
Long, long before anyone ever heard of Jesus, people all over the world knew that the Christmas time of year was special. The holiday occurring on or near the winter solstice – the astronomical event marking the shortest day and longest night of the year, most recently known as Christmas, has been observed by ancient people on every continent dating back as far as 10,000 years!
The Christmas time holiday observance originated when humans began to notice the behavior of the heavens at the time of the winter solstice marking the turning point between days that were darkening ever earlier and the days that began getting longer. The winter solstice was immensely important because people were economically dependent on monitoring the progress of the seasons. From a naturalistic perspective, reaching the tipping point in the earth’s rotation around the sun, when the world quite literally begins its move toward more light than darkness, is a moment bursting with hopeful symbolism and a great reason to celebrate. Like earlier traditions, a Naturalistic Christmas declares victory over the darkness and hope for a better tomorrow.
As it is, Christmas is a composite of many western and near eastern traditions and practices deliberately designed to transcend cultural boundaries. In trying to create a holiday that was universally appealing and irresistible, and to facilitate the participation of the widely different groups of people that the church wanted to assimilate, early church leaders appropriated many unrelated practices and traditions from the religious and spiritual traditions which Christianity sought to replace and made them part of Christmas. The result is that today’s Christmas celebration is essentially a pan-regional, multi-generational, best of traditions past collection; and that’s part of why Christmas appeals to a diversity of people. Today if Naturalistic Humanists could, adopt some of the existing holiday traditions to make them their own, it would help attract participants.
A Naturalistic Christmas can celebrate our persistence over darkness with festive lights and with a tree that survives all winter long. We can also demonstrate our joy and affection for all of those who have made the year better for us, by gift giving, sharing special experiences such as a holiday party, and by visiting family, neighbors, and friends and inviting them into our homes.
At gatherings we can reflect on the year past and make projections about our hopes for the future. Some may want to enjoy a meditation together. And singing Christmas songs with the group is always a delightful experience
To honor the ancient astronomers who first observed the winter solstice and began the epic journey of trying to understand our universe and our place in it, a Christmas celebration can also be a wonderful occasion to discuss our pursuit of space observation and travel.
Children
The most significant expression of Christmas being about a hopeful tomorrow is the way the holiday can be predominantly about children. Like the Christian Christmas, a Naturalistic Christmas considers our real hope for a better tomorrow to be embodied in a child, but not just one child – all children. Now more than at any time in the past, among the children of today are those who could potentially move humankind permanently out of the darkness to an age of unprecedented universal happiness, joy, and empowerment for all.
At Christmas time we do things for our children that we never do the rest of the year. We dazzle them with wondrous, magical looking displays and bring an ambassador from the outdoors, inside, in the form of the Christmas tree. We can provide special experiences like going to see Santa, and we shower them with presents that we say have magically appeared. These traditions convey how truly magical and wondrous life can be. Rather than talking about fulfilling careers, happy marriages, or other aspects of a satisfying adult life, and rather than trying to explain quantum mechanics, Christmas conveys the joy and magic which life can bring on a scale accessible to the mind of a child. Some families who feel strongly about not encouraging magical thinking at any age may choose to omit references to Santa Claus, or to emphasize that Santa Claus is only a pretend idea that we can imagine.
Encouraging, nurturing, and pampering our potential deliverers should lie at the core of a Naturalistic Christmas celebration. We should think of the children around us today as potentially becoming the messiahs of tomorrow. Imagine a nativity scene where instead of baby Jesus, everyone is gathered around a representation of your children, or lacking your own children, your little sisters or brothers, or your siblings’ children, or some of the children who live on your block, or in your community. The family, the wise men, the animals, the villagers, the shepherd and Sheep, could all be gathered around little dolls or photos, or something which would serve as representing the children. A little playful customization could be made with characters from South Park, Star Wars, Marvel Comics, Barbie or anything else that appeals. Celebrating children is not a very far stretch for Christmas which in most secular homes is what Christmas has been primarily about for well over a century.
In addition to giving gifts, we could celebrate our young with special activities including each adult offing every child present an observation about a special attribute they have noticed. This activity could be focused on adults as well.