text: atheists and christmas? i am the only atheist in my christian family of five, should i celebrate christmas with them? none of my other friends, so it's not like i could go to an atheist party or anything like that. also, is there any specific holiday only for atheists? i feel left out! i'm an atheist, and i celebrate christmas.  it may interest you to know that christmas was originally a pagan holiday, not a christian one.  pagans celebrated it as the solstice and as a tribute to the evergreen tree (which mysteriously stayed green throughout winter).    i believe that the romans called it saturnalia, and the pagans in britain called it yule.  i first learned about this from my high school english teacher, and i was much more comfortable celebrating christmas after i learned it.  the link below has some interesting info.  (naturally, pagans are usually not atheists, but i find paganism less offensive than i do christianity, since pagans do not seek to force their religion on others.)  christmas today is part pagan (christmas trees, mistletoe, etc.), part christian (nativity scene), part german (santa claus), and part downright commercial.  i personally don't mind celebrating it, and of course, am free to choose whiat i include in my celebration.  i buy gifts and admire others' christmas trees (though i don't put one up myself, mostly because i travel to visit relatives at christmas), but i don't attend church or nativity plays.  i don't think it would be very friendly of us to have a holiday that was only for atheists.  i'd rather have a non-religious celebration that simply didn't make requirements regarding its guests/celebrants beliefs.  my friend's brother is having a festivus party (based on george's dad's invented holiday on "seinfeld"), and some people have solstice celebrations.  some solstice celebrations may be pagan in nature, but they need not be;  the solstice is a legitimate astronomical occurance.  then there's new year's eve, which is also non-religious.