It’s a lovely time of year, for the most part.  There’s snow on the ground, lights on the houses, joyful music and a sense of good cheer and bustle in the community.  Almost every religion has a holiday coming up, to be celebrated with tradition and family and friends.  You can feel the holiday spirit in the air!

But therein lies a bit of a dilemma for those of us who don’t believe in a religion.  All around us are celebrations in the making – all of them centered around beliefs that we don’t share.  What’s a nonbeliever to do?

We could, of course, stand by our rational tenets and insist that there’s nothing in the month of December that’s worth celebrating any more than any other month.  But let’s face it – humans are social creatures, and everyone else around us is getting ready for the biggest celebrations of the year.  We don’t want to just sit around and watch everyone else have a great time without us!  Why should the theists have all the fun?  Besides, it’s no fun being the Scrooge at the office party.

On the other hand, how do you celebrate the birth of Christ when you don’t believe in the little tot?  Can you celebrate the miracle of God granting light over seven days when you don’t believe in the God who’s granting?  And what about the winter solstice, the ancient pagan holiday that it is?

The real question, then, becomes "What do we celebrate?”  And that’s not an easy question to answer – seriously, we’ve been trying for years!  It depends a lot on your specific beliefs and how comfortable you are “sharing the turf” with the theists.  

One of the easiest answers to this question, if not necessarily the most stalwart, is to celebrate Christmas like the secular holiday that it has largely become.  While Santa Claus does have religious roots, so does human society, and you might say that the jolly man has come a whole lot farther in distancing himself from his origins.  And again, while the Christmas gift-giving may have arisen from a religious background, we can hardly argue that giving gifts nowadays is about as American as the proverbial apple pie.  My husband and I jestingly refer to Christmas as “Capitalism Day,” poking fun at how much December 25th is about consumerism and materialism rather than a newborn child.

On the other hand, celebrating Christmas along with everyone else can feel a little like obediently standing up and bowing your head during the benediction at a graduation ceremony, or meekly accepting the religious holiday stamps you’ve just been handed at the Post Office.  You don’t believe in it, so why are you going along with the motions?  

So we turn to some alternative celebration options.  The winter solstice, usually landing on December 21 or 22, is the shortest day of the year (in terms of daylight hours).  That’s easily a good enough reason to add some cheer!  Additionally, the day has some scientific significance, providing the extreme rationalists among us an excuse to cut loose on this day rather than any other.  And celebrating the solstice is catching on among some nonbelievers.  According to ReligiousTolerance.org, there has been a recent increase in solstice observances by atheists in the U.S.  For example, American Atheists and local atheist groups have organized celebrations including the Great North Texas Infidel Bash in Weatherford TX; Winter Solstice bash in Roselle NJ; Winter Solstice Parties in York PA, Boise ID, North Bethesda MD, and Des Moines IA; Winter Solstice Gatherings in Phoenix AZ and Denver CO: a Year End Awards and Review Dinner (YEAR) in San Francisco, CA.

If you’re more of a calendar-date person, there’s a significant one coming up that you can’t miss – the end of that calendar on your wall!  New Year’s eve and day are celebrated with large parties around the globe, often with exciting bonuses such as countdowns and fireworks.  You can’t beat that kind of background for a celebration, no matter what your beliefs.  

A growing tradition among younger people is the Seinfeld-inspired holiday alternative "Festivus."  Reader’s Digest writer and editor Dan O’Keefe evidently created the holiday, which was incorporated into a Seinfeld episode by his son Daniel O'Keefe.  The celebrations, usually held on December 23, include the unadorned aluminum Festivus Pole (You can get yours here!), the Airing of Grievances over a celebratory dinner, and the Feats of Strength, in which family members wrestle the head of the household to the floor.  It can also involve wine, cookies, and there have even been references to Festivus Miracles.  Allen Salkin, author of Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us, estimates that the number of Festivus observers in the U.S. is in the tens of thousands.

Of course, if you’re looking for a truly unique holiday, you can always help me celebrate my birthday.  It lands conveniently on December 21, and has always been overshadowed by that pesky religious stuff.  Plus, I can be relatively easily proven to exist, there's none of this prayer mumbo jumbo.  Just send good wishes, holiday cheer and iTunes gift certificates  to Lyz@SecularStudents.org - and responses are guaranteed!*

Happy Holidays!

*I cannot be held responsible for unfulfilled unreasonable requests.