It's common for conservative evangelicals to complain that "militant" secularists are perverting the "true" meaning of Christmas. Is there even such a thing as a "true" meaning for Christmas, though? Conservative believers certainly seem to think so and appear to get very upset at the idea of others investing Christmas with any "unauthorized" meaning, but what do they think they can do to stop it?
A forum member writes:
Being a fairly new atheist (and the only atheist in my family), I've found myself recently thinking a lot my about participation in Christmas. However, an article by a fundamentalist Christian helped me make a decision. The writer urged his readers to return to the true meaning of Christmas.
I realised that this is exactly what I should do: return to the true, original meaning of Christmas. A meaning older than the word Christmas itself. So this season I will be spending time with my family, bundled up against the cold, celebrating the best times of the old year and the hopes of the new.
How did you celebrate Christmas? What do you think the "true" meaning of Christmas is... or is that actually the wrong question to ask? Perhaps there is no single "true" meaning out there, just whatever meaning we assign to the days based upon what we as individuals value? Add your thoughts to the comments here or join the discussion in the forum.
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