Every year about this time, there’s discussion about religious Christmas displays, the use of “Merry Christmas” instead of the more generic greetings, and associated subjects. A lot of that discussion seems to center around the thought that all non-Christians object to overt Christianity, and want to “take Christ out of Christmas.”
Well, some do; there are always two-legged fruitcakes walking around. But as a Pagan who used to help noderate a large Pagan forum, and who is married to an atheist, I can assure you that not all of us are unsympathetic to the Christian viewpoint.
First off, most American Pagans started off as Christians, so we were raised with it as much as everyone else was. We may have thrown off the religious aspects as such, but I can assure you a lot of us still use “Merry Christmas”, love the traditional carols*, and have no objections whatever to creches and similar displays. We may send out more generic cards, not all of which say “Merry Christmas”, but that’s more to avoid hypocrisy than out of a serious objection to the Christian viewpoint. (Yes, there are exceptions, but I’m talking about the majority.)
For a lot of Pagans, particularly the Celtic or Northern European-oriented ones, the religious celebration takes place on the solstice, as the Yule vigil. But Christmas is still pretty well ingrained, so the secular celebration takes place then — you know, gifts, football, big meal … all the family things. Christmas trees are great, the decorations are beautiful (well, most of them; some people do go overboard!), the “Merry Christmas”es are welcome and happily returned.
My husband, in fact, gets irritated if he’s given one of those “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” greeings in a store. He doesn’t show it, but later I get the grumblings of, “It’s Christmas, dammit! Why don’t they say so?”
So if you don’t know for sure that someone would object to something specifically Christian, try it — you might be pleasantly surprised. And if you’re in one of those work-every-day jobs, a Pagan co-worker just might be willing to trade Yule for Christmas off, especially if they don’t have a family (see above).
*For some reason I don’t understand, there’s a major aversion to “Little Drummer Boy” … but most of us still love the ones we learned in childhood.
-Empire1
