I'm actually the tiniest bit torn on this one. For a lot of non-Christians from Christian (particularly non-Episcopalian Protestant) backgrounds, the insistence by people in other religions that Christmas and Easter are not our holidays comes across almost as an accusation that they're gasp celebrating a Christian holiday. I've certainly had atheist and pagan friends from Christian backgrounds feel extremely uncomfortable with that. Because (much of) Protestant practice in America has spent a few hundred years believing that it lacks ritual and that ritual practices are Papist, the idea that Protestant rituals exist is already uncomfortable for a lot of people. And while non-religious people raised in non-Christian religions or in Catholicism often understand that you can be non-religious while happily participating in cultural rituals, that's a more alien idea to many non-religious Americans raised in Protestant culture.
HOWEVER. Any empathy I have for the neighbors goes to shit when they insist neighbor hide Easter stuff in her own yard. That's not even cool if it has nothing to do with religion, but once you throw in a religious holiday that happens at the same time her own kids will be celebrating a different holiday that will disallow them from eating the candy themselves?
no subject
I'm actually the tiniest bit torn on this one. For a lot of non-Christians from Christian (particularly non-Episcopalian Protestant) backgrounds, the insistence by people in other religions that Christmas and Easter are not our holidays comes across almost as an accusation that they're gasp celebrating a Christian holiday. I've certainly had atheist and pagan friends from Christian backgrounds feel extremely uncomfortable with that. Because (much of) Protestant practice in America has spent a few hundred years believing that it lacks ritual and that ritual practices are Papist, the idea that Protestant rituals exist is already uncomfortable for a lot of people. And while non-religious people raised in non-Christian religions or in Catholicism often understand that you can be non-religious while happily participating in cultural rituals, that's a more alien idea to many non-religious Americans raised in Protestant culture.
HOWEVER. Any empathy I have for the neighbors goes to shit when they insist neighbor hide Easter stuff in her own yard. That's not even cool if it has nothing to do with religion, but once you throw in a religious holiday that happens at the same time her own kids will be celebrating a different holiday that will disallow them from eating the candy themselves?
Flames. Flames on the side of my face.