Ask An Atheist: Do You Avoid Holidays?
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Are there certain holidays that Atheists avoid due to their religious connections?
Avoidance is not really the word. Most religious holidays are not embodied in secular celebration in the U.S. (think how much Ganesh festivals get noticed outside the Hindu religious frame).
The big ones are highly secularized, of course, where Easter (chocolate bunnies and colored eggs), Halloween (a chance to do cosplay and party shamelessly) and Christmas (binge out on solstice celebrations, tinsel optional) can’t be “avoided” without living in a cave, but the religious aspects of them may be deemed optional and even peripheral.
I am something of a contrarian, though, who even as a kid adamantly refused to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day festivities in grade school, precisely because it was EXPECTED.
