Why is that believe-in-nothing antitheists -- groups that mistakenly refer to themselves as atheist, in my view -- are so against Christmas displays and demand either removal of Nativity scenes or equal displays? Many of these groups revere the fact that they do not celebrate such holidays. (Then some give gifts at Christmas so their kids feel like other kids who celebrate Christmas for its religious and/or cultural traditions.) Why do groups such as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (comical parody of religion), the so-called Satanic Temple (Florida's claims they don’t even worship or revere Satan, they just like the attention-getting name), silly people with Festivus poles (a comical Seinfeld television show invention), want to have holiday displays to declare their lack of support for holiday displays of others?
One reason to be loudly contrarian seems universal among these groups: a devotion to glibness, cynicism and sarcasm powers their beliefs, such as they are. The thought process is something like, If some can have faith on display, well then by something-other-than-god, I will display my lack of belief. Which might be OK, but rather than take a high road, they are glib and mocking.
The term "antitheist" more accurately describes people and groups that claim to be atheists, but are in effect against religions and wish to fight a community wishing to display traditional decorations on public property. There is no declaration of a state religion in a Nativity scene, nor is it demanding everyone attend church. It is as much a cultural thing as it is a religious thing, to many people.
To their credit, these antitheist groups are OK with Christmas displays on the grounds of churches and private homes, just not in front of city halls, or courthouses. They take the First Amendment and distort it, though, to be a "freedom from religion" (which is the name of one such group) that is instituted in this country. Well, it's not so. The Constitution banishes the formation of a state religion, it does not demand religion be isolated to private households and churches. If one doesn't have even a passing fancy for the ideals of any religion, what purpose is it for them to demand banishing faith from the public square, but for being contrarian, or whining or mean?
Yet, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, various pagans, and even agnostics, don’t get bent out of shape over the Christian Nativity scenes and the like. Why? Perhaps in part since Christianity is a good part of the founding tenets of the country and is the majority religious faith in the country, so it does have a cultural standing that tends to overshadow, but not consume, other beliefs. It might seem unfair or imbalanced, but it's also a nod to tradition in the society, religious and not.
I find mocking Nativity scenes the same as mocking any other longstanding tradition -- coming from a place of insecurity or lack of comprehension. But to formalize it? What is that about?! Pettiness, it seems to me.
After getting past any issues one might have with a religious scene, what is the message of the Nativity? The message is not that you must believe in the faith that Baby Jesus founded or go to jail. It is hope and possibility -- endless possibilities, to believers. Who's not fond of the idea of endless possibilities, even if one is so jaded as to find the idea naive? (Aside: I know plenty of atheists that I wouldn't consider antitheist. I hope they don't celebrate these petty actions by groups who seem to have a grudge to settle. They might get a laugh out of it, but would they engage in building one of these displays? God, I hope not.)
It seems that these so-called atheist groups focus cynically not on the message, but on appearances: If Nativity scene, then sarcastic contrary exhibition. While I'm not one, I would think a good atheist would let others live by some faith, and let it alone.
I consider some groups to be fake atheist groups since their actions are antitheist (as I mentioned earlier). I figure a real atheist would not much care about religious displays or be threatened or even bothered by them. Atheists, by definition, don't believe in any god and think those who do are either silly, brainwashed or unsophisticated. Unless someone is harassing them, how is it anything but an ego trip for supposed atheists to demand a non-holiday holiday display, or that a holiday display be taken down? How is this unlike a person distortedly believing that all Muslims are terrorists since a minority are, in fact, Islamists? It's a perceived threat based on an irrational, groundless premise.
In addition to actually being anti-religious, not just atheist, grudging groups such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation don't accurately perceive the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It does not say religion should be banished from all state affairs, but that the formation of a state religion is a no-no, and, other than that, it insists upon the free practice of religion.
The majority of Christians in the United States, I dare to guess, are against the formation of an official religion themselves. If only for practical reasons: there are so many sects of Christianity, they'd never decide on something, even if they wanted one. Aside from the ridiculous prospect of a state religion in the U.S., state religions and dictatorships or monarchies go together. Democracy does not thrive with a theocratic government. Even in Westernized, comparably openminded, theistic states, the government is in effect a monolith that is not open to people of differing faiths. Or lack of one.
Why is it antitheists are the ones always kicking up a stink at Christmas, and any time of year due to Crucifixes on state-owned land? If anyone should want to put up a challenge to Christianity, I would think it would be those of other faiths -- members of those faiths who have an insecure grasp of their own faith or resent the fact that the United State fairly well has a Judeo-Christian foundation. Instead, it is nonbelievers that wish to impose their unbelief on others. It is they who prefer to not get along, in their irreligious, mocking behavior. So, who's the biggest of the problem children? Christians who like to display Baby Jesus scenes or the antitheists who wish to formally mock those scenes?
Why is it so common that people to believe in something other than people? Maybe it is because men screw all sorts of things up, but we can imagine, and endeavor, to something higher. And it's not aspiring to glib sarcasm of others' beliefs that most of us look toward.
What about Pantheists?
If anyone could bring an interesting spin into the holiday mix, I think it would be the relatively esoteric pantheism. This is a philosophical and religious belief that God (or, god) is everything. That’s a nice sentiment, at least, and runs around the edges of most every faith. It rejects the idea that God takes any particular physical form (so, for some Christians, that could be interpreted as a deal breaker, seeing Jesus had been God in a mortal man's body, but the Bible also relates that God is found in everything).
Via Wikipedia: “As a religious position, some describe pantheism as the polar opposite of atheism.”
A Christmastime display that suggests god and the universe are the same would beat what we are stuck with, which seems quite unserious: a display of an angel falling into a sea of fire, or a Festivus pole, both of which now stand in the State Capitol Rotunda in Tallahassee, Florida.
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