A Christmas Message for non-religious people in Devon from the Devon Humanists

By PRSD, on Friday, December 25, 2009

By now we will have heard the annual call to arms: ‘Put Christ back into Christmas!’

However, Christmas has long been both religious and secular – a jumble of ancient customs and more recent inventions. Even the name of the holiday shouldn’t discourage anyone from becoming involved. Although Christmas was named after Christ, we daily use words that have lost their original religious meanings. For instance, Wednesday was originally ‘Woden’s Day’ while March was named after Mars, the god of war.

For thousands of years in Europe, in Scandinavia and around the Mediterranean, communities have celebrated life in the depths of winter with eating, drinking and other pleasurable pastimes.

While the mid-winter festival is now divided into two parts – Christmas and New Year – it used to be a single event. It was based around the time of the shortest day when, more than at any other time, humankind’s precarious survival depended on the vagaries of nature and our own resourcefulness.

Early Christians just adopted the old festival. It’s highly unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25, and the Church didn’t even celebrate Christmas until the fourth century as it disapproved of the festivities enjoyed by pagans at that time of year. ‘Traditions’ like Santa Claus, Christmas trees, cards, gifts and turkeys are all fairly recent.

Indeed, perhaps Christmas has now returned to its roots, as a time of indulgence and hope for the future.

While many of us regard the festival as a time to enjoy good food and drink with family and friends, others see the commercialisation of the season as wasteful, or even as an over-extended, expensive event that fails to meet unrealistic expectations. Nevertheless, there are plenty of good traditions and habits that remain – the gift giving, the lights, the parties and the tidings of peace and good will.

For those of us who aren’t religious, there are many non-Christian elements in Christmas to enjoy. At least in Devon, we have the means to create a sense of inclusive community and recognise our freedom from want and hunger, so that everyone has something to celebrate.

The contentment or joy doesn’t have to be restricted to people of certain faiths. While many of us no longer believe in the existence of a God, that shouldn’t stop us from enjoying a mid-winter festival.

Devon’s Humanists send you, and all people of goodwill, their very best wishes whatever your faith or beliefs. May the year ahead bring greater happiness and mutual understanding to all.

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