It’s Christmas again, and year after year, atheists around the nation do nothing but sneer at all of us who so insensitively celebrate a religious holiday at the expense of every un- and non-believer out there. Why all the humbugging from these folks, anyway? I’ll be exploring Atheism as a belief system in the days to come, but for now, a few thoughts on Christmas. First, from David Harsyani:

If I were a believer, I would have commemorated the Jewish revolt against the Greek religious imperialism of the second century B.C. this month. Fun.

You, on the other hand, are far more likely preparing to celebrate the birthday of the one true messiah, the son of God, the King of Kings, he who died for all our sins and brings peace to all mankind.

I grew up Catholic and though my lifestyle doesn’t reflect my upbringing—to be caricatural, I do not fast, nor eat merely fish on Fridays—I still celebrate the holiest of days by dropping by for Mass. I also greet people “Merry Christmas,” even when I receive a “Happy Holidays.” I hate a lot of this political correctness crap. So, what does Christmas mean to a non-Christian in the United States?

It’s a day of rest, for one. Since the country is densely populated with people who actually celebrate Christmas, they have little incentive to work. Many places offer holiday pay, which means they don’t have to work for the day, too.

It’s a day to be with family. Since they know they’re getting paid, they get to hang out with family. Some people travel across the country to do this. If for any reason, people can’t be with their families, they reach out to their friends and spend the day together.

It’s a great time for business, and the better non-Christian businessmen don’t mind greeting people “Merry Christmas,” except the obviously non-Christian clientele, of course.

It’s a time for good will. I mean, ferChrissake, a large majority of the world is celebrating the birth of our Christ and Savior on this day that our Church agreed to do so. It’s a time for people to be nice to each other, or at least, nicer than they usually are.

If you’re Jewish, Muslim, or whatever non-Christian believer, the option is there on this day to do with it as you please. This invitation applies to atheists, too, but too many of them are in this terrible funk that just makes you want to punch them in the mouth.

I mean, what do militant atheists want? They want people to reject religion for reason. Sure. By logical extension, they want people to not celebrate Christmas, which removes the reason to take off work in droves on that date. They want people to work on December 25. They want people to not go meet their families on this day. They want people to stop being nice to each other on this day. They want people to reject this holiday because it offends their sensiblities and to them, the irrational behavior surrounding this day would be imprisoning. No wonder that (from same article, emphasis Harsanyi’s):

USA Today also relayed that a University of Minnesota study taken that year found that Americans rank atheists as the most disliked minority group in the entire country, topping other groups who richly deserve such honors, like journalists, for instance.

Any other day, I would tell the militant atheists to get the fuck out of our lives and pull that stick out of their asses. But today, well, at least tomorrow, it’d be great to rub salt in their woods and greet them a “Merry Christmas.”