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Nov
23
Atheists – how do you feel about nativity scenes on display this holiday season?
Filed Under Help4 Going Green
Nativity scenes are everywhere right now, from private yards to town squares.
Do you feel differently about Christmas lights? Lights are celebrating the same holiday but it seems that the nativity scene is found more offensive than lights.
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30 Responses to “Atheists – how do you feel about nativity scenes on display this holiday season?”
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they dont bother me
i think some light displays are nice but those inflatable things are tacky
They don’t have them in public places where I live. They are in everyones yards and my neighbor has a ginormous red cross on her house.
They don’t “offend” me as much as I find them kind of sad and superstitious.
On the plus side, my friends “do up” a Nativity scene with a theme every year. They have a LOT of action figures. Last year it was Final Fantasy 7. Kadaj got to be “baby Jesus”.
christmas lights are a waste of resources and a safety hazard too.
Hello, Kirk:
In my atheistic days, I was never offended by anything religious, I just thought myself above “superstition.” However, I found myself caught up in the spirit of the season,and enjoyed it very much.,
My atheism was not so rock solid and I always knew that if there was a God, then He would be just and I would serve Him unflinchingly. At age 33 He revealed Himself to me, and He is Lord and master of my life. Yes, I serve Him unflinchingly, and He has never forsaken me; I never want to return to my B.C. status.
Also, there is a Bible code that proves Jesus is the Messiah, among other things. See: http://www.abiblecode.com
Shalom, peace in Jesus, Ben Yeshua
i like christmas. some displays with inflatable santas can be really tacky, but the christian element does not bother me at all. it has less to do with being atheistic than being overtly (and overly) anti-christian. the two are not inherently the same.
A quaint representation of a mythological event. Most public displays are rather tacky though.
The fact that it is a christian holiday?
Christ Mass the original terminology, Nativity deriving from the latin word, meaning the birth of christ. It is part of our national heritage and being English. So no people should no be offended. Christmas orignally is a christian festival, although aspects of it are paegan.
I am not myself a christian, but i repsect there religion and beliefs, as i would any other religion.
Believe it or not, I have no opinion about them at all. They don’t affect me at all. It’s just a couple of statues and a few light bulbs. If it makes someone happy – fine.
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it doesn’t bother me at all, it’s their religion, they can celebrate it all they want, i don’t really care, as long as i dont see any sign that says “GOD IS REAL YOU F***ING ATHEISTS! BELIEVE IN GOD OR YOU WILL GO TO HELL BECAUSE IT IS CHRISTMAS EVERYONE SHOULD BELIEVE!” and… i don’t think i’ve ever seen one sooooo Im good!
Christmas is perceived as more of a secular commercial holiday with shopping, gifts, sales, (and decorations including those lights). The nativity scene on the other hand implies none of that and is strictly a religious decoration. I don’t find it offensive but I don’t find it pleasing to the eyes either. Though I do find it amusing that some get stolen every year lol. Ironically I would also think this would be a variation of thou shall not worship false idols or something like that…..
It doesn’t bother me at all.
Doesn’t bother me. It looks kind of lame (it’s the LEAST Christmasy thing you can possibly display other than a pumpkin with Gilbert Gottfried’s face carved into it), but…eh. Doesn’t rile my feathers.
Nativity scenes do not bother me one iota.Each to their own.l am an atheist and this is what my life is about ,freedom of speech.You do what you want and l will do as l please.!!!
The energy drain contributes to Global Warming.
how do you feel about reading science books which say man evolved from apes and not just hey presto man,and no i dont find the nativity scene offence i believe in free will to believe in what ever one wants .
I think they’re FUNNY.
What better way for christains to announce their absurdity!!! I don’t object at all, even when publicly funded. The yule trees are funded and I am very entertained by their artistic merits. A good laugh is good for the psyche! Party on you wacky crissytains!
i spray paint there faces
Where I live, it is becoming fashion to decorate houses and gardens more and more every year. Some villages look really radioactive! The good thing of it is that people walk around in the vening and start talking to each other, something they had forgotten dince the beginning of the TV era. The crazy thing of course is that it is turning into a contest to see what village can get on TV with the biggest and the greatest.
Offensive, no. nativity scenes are an icon from our past. There are many paintings and folk stories with nativity scenes.
But I read that in the US truthseekers asked to remove a nativity scene from the public park. Since this was not allowed, they erected a big sign: Imagine, no religion. The christians got upset. What a pity.
Lights are Teutonic/Nordic in origin, from other beliefs, so keep on feeling smug.
Lights are nice, blow-ups are usauly tacky, I don’t mind the nativity scenes.
I think they look nice, but it’s a farce in that all the characters are white!
I have no problem with Christmas decorations, just with the people who try to exclude everyone else from this holiday season and put up creches on public land not for the joy of their religion but rather to try and mark their terriotry like a wolf urinates on trees to mark his.
Name is not a issue, the vacation is important. The money is not a issue, the use of money is important. the event is not the issue, the created of the event is important!
I really don’t mind them. I can appreciate them for what they are …little pieces of art. Where I live in Spain, the ton squares have not just the nativity but the whole village! There’s smoke coming from the chimneys and animated figures…. very nice to see and appreciate the work that has gone into it.
As for the lights, I put lights up in the garden… not too many but enough to make it look cheerful.
I’d draw the line at singing carols of course.
I love all the expressions of the real Christmas. The lights, the Nativity scene, the music. Everything. I’m not an Atheists. I’M A CHRISTIAN and proud of it.
And what we do here on earth to celebrate Christmas is nothing to what HEAVEN will be like.
Don’t bother me any. Good for target practice.
I have nothing against nativity scenes being on display from a personal point of view. However, I take issue with them as government decorations because of the alleged separation of church and state we claim to believe in in this country.
I would have no problem with them at all IF government displays were also put up for non-christian holidays as well, in order to represent the beliefs of the other 75% of the population.
I’m an atheist, but I believe that everyone has a right to believe what they like, no matter how dumb it is. If my tax money must go for religious holiday decorations at the courthouse, I would like to see as many religions as possible represented equally. As long as they are not, I do not appreciate my taxes being used to represent the religious beliefs of only one segment of the population.
Muslims, Jews, Wiccans, and Hindus, as well as anyone I may have missed, should be equally represented by my tax dollars at government buildings during their respective holy festivals.
The traditions of the vast array of religions are so rich and varied that I would be delighted to see them displayed proudly by the government.
-SD-
They are fine in private yards – to each their own. They are not okay if paid for with public funds or on public land.
Keep them off government grounds. There is plenty of room elsewhere.
As long as they are on private property, I remain neutral about them. If they are on public property, and the symbolism of other faiths is also on display nearby, I remain neutral about them. If I see one all by itself on public property, I view that as a violation of the Establishment clause, and take appropriate action.