Why I Don't Celebrate Christmas

(Image Srouce: RareBirdFinds)

I do not celebrate Christmas.

People are generally terribly shocked when I tell them that I do not celebrate Christmas. “You don’t celebrate Christmas?! Isn’t that sacrilege?” Such exclamations often come from both my Christian and non-Christian acquaintances. I guess part of their distress is the fact that I am Christian. That is another topic altogether – I seldom call myself “Christian” as I do not associate with the typical Christian. Nonetheless, the people that know me know that I believe in God and believe that Jesus Christ is God Incarnate. Now, if you believe that Christ is God in the flesh, then I guess you qualify as Christian. This is a bad assumption, because a study of the Bible would show that demons also recognized Christ as the “Son of God,” and one wouldn’t be so quick to call demons Christians. Although some “Christians” may act more demon-like than Christ-like, so I guess it could be difficult to determine what a Christian really is; hence my own aversion at labeling myself Christian, apart from the fact that I hold some peculiar believes that are not held by Orthodox Christianity. For one, I keep the Sabbath.

But I digress… Back to me not celebrating Christmas…

To understand my reasons for not celebrating Christmas I think my previous digression was not completely off the mark because there is some confusion with the term “Christian.” Typically, it can refer to at least two things. First, it could refer to people that try to follow the teachings of the Christ, hence the term Christian. Second, it refers to a cultural heritage – usually of European descent.

Most people that call themselves Christian fall into this latter category. Christianity is part of their cultural heritage and with it comes certain traditions like celebrating Christmas and Easter, and going to church at least three times in their lives (when they are “hatched, matched, and dispatched”), and so on. These “Christian”-traditions are usually bastardized with other (pagan) traditions which also flow from their European ancestry. For instance, Easter is celebrated with eggs and bunnies – symbols of fertility, which were part of the pagan European fertility cults. And Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, the birthday, not of Jesus, but a day of festivities for various pagan (Sun) deities. December 25th was fixed on the Julian calendar as the winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere) for Europe. The Church of old, which was emerged in pagan traditions, incorporated the pagan sun-worship holiday and made it a “Christian” holyday, and dedicated it to the birth of the Christian Deity. Other European winter-symbols associated with Christmas, but not of Christian origin, is the Christmas tree, mistletoe and snow.

So why don’t I celebrate Christmas?

Well, firstly, I don’t keep Valentine’s Day, neither South Africa’s Braai Day (BBQ-Day). If I’m not going to keep secular commercialized celebration like Valentine’s Day or Braai Day, why should I keep another secular commercialized holiday? Did I just call Christmas a secular holiday? Yes, I did. This brings me to my second point. Christmas has no Biblical foundation. There is no certainty on which day Jesus was born. In fact, it is most unlikely that Jesus was born in winter; as the record states, the shepherds and their flocks were outside in the fields, which would place the setting in time in late spring or summer. Furthermore, even if the day of Jesus’ birth was revealed in Scriptures, the Bible still does not call on us to celebrate or worship His birthday. The Christian has been given three Biblical sacraments to keep: baptism, communion, and the Sabbath. Any additional ceremonies are, just that, additional – and are probably unbiblical.

It is not that I dislike Christmas, I merely do not think of it as a special spiritual season, like most people do. I don’t spend much money on Christmas gifts (I'm not intending to buy anything this year) and I don’t expect people to buy me stuff either. And most of all, I don’t think of Christmas Day as a holy day. By not keeping Christmas I’m not trying to make a point. I don’t condemn other people for celebrating it, whether they are Christian or not. I would occasionally buy people something (for their sakes, rather than mine) and I won’t refuse a gift given. There is an intrinsic joy in giving, so I won’t spoil it for people that wish to do so.

Living in the Northern Hemisphere now, I can see what the fuss is about. The Christmas lights are beautiful and charges the air with a festive spirit. But so do the lights during Buddha’s birthday and I don’t celebrate his birthday either, although I do enjoy the lightshow.

In South Africa Christmas has a similar function than Thanksgiving in the United States. It is a time for family to come together and enjoy each other’s company over great food. Enjoying food with loved-ones is a wonderful thing that I do enjoy too.

So while I don’t celebrate Christmas as a holy (or even special) season, I do enjoy the moments of spending time with loved ones. And while I don’t believe in Christmas as a truly “Christian” event based on the Christian Scriptures (i.e. the Bible), as a Christian, I guess it is neat that non-Christians can learn about our Deity, whose message was Love, Peace, Joy and Forgiveness to all.At least that is the original message of Christmas, if you are able to get through the commercial clutter and Santa Clause.