You don’t have to be a Christian to enjoy Christmas. These students seem to be making a bigger deal out of it than most Christians.

Canton Winer of USA Today reports.

Students speak: Celebrating Christmas as an atheist

When University of New Hampshire freshman Rebekah Londoff returns home for winter break this year, she plans on celebrating Christmas like many of her classmates — with carols, a holiday dinner and presents under a Christmas tree.

Unlike most of her classmates, however, Londoff identifies as an atheist. Despite her disbelief in God or religion, she says she expects her break to be fairly typical.

“I don’t think my experience differs too much from religious students’ breaks,” Londoff says. “I still celebrate Christmas like everyone else. My family and I go through the same traditions…We just leave out any religious aspects.”

Londoff is far from alone. Many atheist students have echoed her sentiments that religion, to them, is not a central focus of their Christmas celebrations.

“I love Christmas,” says JD Cooper, a senior at University at Albany, SUNY. “I will be spending Christmas break being the holly-ist, jolliest person on the block, and I don’t see why being an atheist should stop me. For me, Christmas is about celebrating family, friends, food and fun, and it has nothing at all to do with Christ.”

Bryant Powell, a junior at Murray State University in Murray, Ky. says that as an atheist, the season is not without its discomforts.

“I wouldn’t say that my holiday break experience differs from that of the average student insofar as I’m atheist and they aren’t,” Powell says. “Because of my long history of religious imagery being used to tell me that my life is not worthwhile or that I’m incapable of love, Christmas can occasionally be a source of stress or discomfort for me, especially hearing songs about Christ’s love over the radio every time I go to Walmart. That said, [I’ll] go home, eat some ham, open presents, build a snowman, play video games, same as everybody else.”


 
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