Krismas/12 Days of Secular Celebration
From Tetrakatus Productions - The Art of Jacob Walker
Krismas is not alone as being a Secular Holiday in December. In fact there are several other celebrations, each worthwhile, that make up a 12 day period, with Krismas just being one of them. All of these holidays can celebrated by anyone regardless of religion or lack thereof.
Celebrations
Day 1 & 2 (December 21 & 22) - Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice generally occurs December 21 or December 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. Many atheists celebrate this holiday[1], although so do some religions, but it isn't inherently religious.
Day 3 (December 23) - HumanLight
HumanLight occurs on December 23. It is a Humanist winter celebration, that was conceived as an expression of specifically humanist ideals and sentiments: the positive vision of a peaceful, ethical, enlightened and happy world that we, as humans, can bring about without reliance on concepts of supernatural entities.[2] HumanLight is meant to be a positive holiday, and hence criticism of the faith community is inconsistent with the intended message of HumanLight.[3]
Day 4 & 5 (December 24 & 25) - Krismas
Day 5 (December 25) - Crispness
Crispness is celebrated by the Church of Reality on December 25, as Newton's birthday because Newton actually was born on December 25. It is called Crispness because it's about keeping your mind crisp. It is the day that they celebrate the Tree of Knowledge, which represents the sum total of all human understanding. Krismas and Crispness seem to be fairly compatible with each other, and can both be celebrated, or combined together, etc.
Day 5-11 (December 25-31) - World Week
World Week celebrates the people of the Earth. It begins on December 25 and ends on December 31.
The first day, Home Day, is your continent's day. After that, you simply move eastward from continent to continent. The seventh day is Antarctica Day, or World Day, because Antarctica is shared by all nations.[4]
Day 6 (December 26) - Boxing Day
Day 6-12 (December 26-January 1) - Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is generally considered to be an African-American secular celebration in America about African heritage. Given that science strongly suggests that all humans have our origin from Africa[5], I believe that this is another secular holiday that many of us may wish to celebrate. Kwanza is celebrated from December 26 to January 1st.
Authors Note: I'm sure that my statement here might upset some people, including some with "white" skin, and others with "black" skin. But science is science, and to teach that we are not all truly African in origin is as bad as teaching creationism. The only criticism that seems relevant is that Kwanzaa celebrates many of the more recent traditions (past thousand years) of Africa, and it is very difficult to know whether those of us who descended more recently from other continents had any ancestors who celebrated similarly to these more recent African traditions.
Day 11-12 (December 31-January 1) - New Year's Day (Gregorian Calendar)
New Years Day is Completely Secular, and occurs on January 1, although most of the partying starts on December 31 during New Years Eve.
Works Cited & Notes
- ↑ American Atheists Winter Solstice Celebration web page accessed on November 23, 2007
- ↑ HumanLight - History web page accessed on November 23, 2007.
- ↑ HumanLight - Celebration Ideas web page accessed on November 23, 2007.
- ↑ World Week Website, accessed 12/14/07
- ↑ Human Evolution article in Wikipedia accessed on November 23, 2007
