When I sat down with my staunch Christian Grandpa and asked for his opinion on non-Christians celebrating Christmas I expected something like, “People these days!” or “It’s not right for non-Christians to celebrate a holiday designated for believers in Christ.”
But to my surprise, he responded with those four words:
“To each his own.”
Although Christmas is a holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, it is a celebrated for different reasons. Christmas embodies spiritual meaning, and not just for followers of Christ like myself. That is the beauty of Christmas: everyone celebrates it in a meaningful way.
Christmas began as a Roman Pagan holiday called Saturnalia that took place from Dec. 17-25. During this time no one could be punished for crimes such as damaging property. In the 4th century Christian leaders transformed Saturnalia into Christmas. They celebrated Masses to commemorate the day.
Today, Christmas is still associated with religion, but not for everyone.
When I asked people to define Christmas, many replied, “Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.” I went on to ask these traditional people what the three most important aspects of Christmas was to them and only Carole Beauregard, grandmother of ten and mother of three from Clifton Park, NY, and Kathy Gooley, mother of three from Hopkinton, MA, replied with solely religious responses. Kathy’s first response was, “reflecting on my faith and the birth of Jesus.” Gwen Guthrie, grandmother of nine and mother of three from Chappaqua, NY, responded with a more general answer, “Sharing the love, sharing our faith, and sharing with family and loved ones.” Walter Kuehn, father of four and grandfather of many from Vergennes, VT, told me that his most important aspect was talking with family and celebrating when Christ was born. He made a point to say even though Dec. 25th was not the exact date Jesus was born.
It is important to understand when analyzing these responses Gooley, Beauregard, and Kuehn all grew up in traditional families in traditional towns where almost everyone went to church every Sunday. Today the towns they live in are less conventional, but the three of them still hold an importance to the Christian meaning of Christmas.
The less traditional Christmas in which families exchange gifts, eat together, celebrate one another, without any religious component has become more and more popular. When I sat down with brothers Will (18) and Jack (15) Bullion it became evident, although while technically Protestant, they did not attach any religious meaning to Christmas. Living in Wellesley, MA they are surrounded by a Catholic majority. Christmas is special to them both. They both value getting together as a family and giving and receiving presents. Will said, “I don’t think God would oppose others giving each other gifts and coming together in celebration.” Jack agreed, although he did say that Christmas should have a deeper meaning for people of the Christian faith.
Probably the most interesting background I learned of was that of Katie Gonick who is Jewish but celebrates Christmas as well for her grandmother. Every year she goes to Long Island to celebrate with her mom’s side of the family which she describes as, “Italian and Catholic, so we have a pretty traditional, but secular celebration.” This year will be different because her grandmother recently passed away. Katie explained, “Since my grandma died I’ve been really sensitive about maintaining [the importance of Christmas] for my family, even though it’s not my holiday. I still hold on to happy memories though. We’ll see what happens this year.” Unlike Christmas to Christian people, Hannukah to Jewish people is not the most important holiday of the year Katie described it as, “pretty irrelevant in Jewish tradition.” Similar to Christmas, Hannukah is a time in which families come together. Katie thinks that coming together is “especially important in our fast-paced lives.”
Hana Dollar, who identifies as an atheist, described Christmas as a time when the whole world comes together, similar to Katie’s point. She said that this time is peaceful and everyone is friendlier. Hana experienced her first Christmas when she was four and recently adopted from Africa. Ever since, she has loved and adored it. Every year she thinks about her first Christmas. She loves that “everyone can celebrate with family and food.”
To get an outsider’s view on Christmas I talked with Nabeeha Noor, a Muslim in high school. Noor said that Christmas is a time for everyone to come together, whether or not one celebrates the religious holiday. She sees it as that time of year when “everyone gets together and puts aside disagreements.” Bee feels included in the Christmas celebration in that she sees people being friendlier and happier. Although the Muslim religion does not have a holiday like Christmas, Bee loves this time of year and feels that anyone can celebrate Christmas.
Perhaps the least biased view was from the children I interviewed. Schuyler Gooley (13) spoke about Christmas with a glimmer in her eye and a smile on her face the whole time. She loves her family’s tradition: buying a tree together, buying gifts, going to church on Christmas Eve, opening the stockings before the presents, and then driving to see her cousins Christmas Day. Christmas to her is a fun holiday in which she celebrates the birth of Jesus, while some of her friends celebrate without a religious component.
Rachel Gooley (15) said that she loves the holiday because it is spirited. And because everyone feels that spirit, whether or not he or she celebrates the holiday.
My version of Christmas:
1. Attending the Christmas Eve service at my church year.
2. Celebrating the birth of Jesus and my religion as a whole.
3. Lighting a new advent candle each Sunday starting end of November.
4. Seeing both sides of the family and family friends, the day of and days surrounding Christmas.
5. Going into Manhattan to see the Christmas windows, the tree in Rockefeller center, and Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
6. Waking up early and opening presents Christmas morning.
