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A humanist perspective on midwinter holiday traditions (.mp3) 
IHS Listener Essay: A humanist perspective on midwinter holiday traditions
The following WAMC/Northeast Public Radio Listener Essay was authored by Matt Cherry, executive director of the Institute for Humanist Studies. [Read bio] Broadcast Dec. 20, 2004, the essay takes a look at the history and diversity of midwinter holiday traditions in the United States and in the Roman Empire.
Media are invited to contact Matt Cherry for commentary about the Institute's position on humanism and holiday traditions by e-mail or: phone +1 518 432 7820, fax +1 518 432 7821.
WAMC/Northeast Public Radio Listener Essay
Broadcast Dec. 20, 2004
By MATT CHERRY
Institute for Humanist Studies
It's become a rite of the season, like the first school closing due to snow. Every December, we see arguments about the "true meaning" of the holiday season.
Many Christians like to remind us that "Christ is the reason for the season."
Well...yes...but no. The holiday tradition is a lot more complicated -- and a lot richer -- than many so-called traditionalist would have us believe.
When my Christian friends explain the roots of Christmas, they take us back 2,000 years to a small town in a remote corner of the Roman Empire. I'd like to follow their lead. But instead of Bethlehem, let's look at the heart of the empire and see what we can learn from midwinter festivities in ancient Rome.
Most Romans celebrated the festival of Saturnalia. This culminated with a great feast and the exchange of gifts on Dec. 25. In the Roman calendar this day was called Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun -- that's S-U-N. It marked the rebirth of the sun after the shortest day and the return of light and life itself.
The different cultures living in Rome also celebrated their own religious traditions. The Jews celebrated Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
Many Roman soldiers worshipped the Persian sun-god, Mithra. They believed that Mithra was born of a virgin on Dec. 25.
Midwinter was also the birthday of the Egyptian god, Horus, and the Greek god Dionysus.
And, on the Winter Solstice, the German gladiators celebrated Yule, the turning of the year. Their festivities included evergreens, such as holly and fir trees, which represent the triumph of life over the cold and death of winter.
Does some of this sound familiar?
Let's return to present day America. Like Rome, we have a great diversity of cultures living side by side. Jews still celebrate Hanukkah and pagans celebrate Yule.
And then there's Christmas. Now the Bible doesn't give a date for the birth of Jesus, or even a season, but in the fourth century the western Church chose Dec. 25 to compete with the midwinter festivals of the pagans. Over the centuries, it has become one of the most important days in the Christian calendar.
And what about the more than 30 million Americans who identify with no religion? Well, some ignore the holiday season entirely, but many others find secular ways to take part in midwinter festivities.
The African-American holiday of Kwanzaa is a secular celebration of traditional African values of family, community and self-improvement.
Some humanists have recently started a festival called HumanLight on Dec. 23. HumanLight celebrates the light of reason and human potential.
And what will this humanist be doing on Dec. 25?
My wife Shannon and I are celebrating a secular version of Christmas with my family from England. We'll decorate the house with evergreens and then exchange gifts before eating a feast of seasonal foods.
But for me, Dec. 21 is the most important day of the season, because it was on the winter solstice that Shannon accepted my proposal of marriage. And that celebration? That's something I'm not going to broadcast.
So whatever you're doing this holiday season, I wish you a merry everything and a happy always.
--Matt Cherry is the executive director of the Institute for Humanist Studies in Albany, N.Y. www.HumanistStudies.org
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