My atheist Christmas in China
Growing up Jewish, I never liked the holiday -- until I moved to a place that completely divorced it from religion
Monday, Dec 23, 2013 07:00 PM EST
Emily Matchar
Growing up Jewish in North Carolina, Christmas was a drag. Stores were closed, friends couldn’t play, random strangers on the street would shout, “Merry Christmas, Jesus loves you!”
“Be polite,” my mother would whisper when I made faces in response, one of many rules surrounding the holiday, which also included don’t tell friends Santa isn’t real (but their parents were lying to them!) and don’t call anyone on Christmas morning.
The trappings of Christmas were alluring – the lights, the music, the food, the presents, the sense of festivity. But they were for Christians, not for us, and that was that.
As an adult, my Jewish identity doesn’t run much deeper than my love of kugel, but I’m happy to celebrate the Jewish holidays entirely for their trappings – I’ve got latke-making down to an art – and ignore the religious side. And my non-Jewish husband is happy to celebrate with me. But, until recently, I couldn’t bring myself to celebrate Christmas with him.
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/24/my_atheist_christmas_in_china/
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