Here's what everyone was asking for, an article about Christmas from a lady who "loves" Christmas but hates, you know, Christ.
That's the UK for you.
Polly wants you to know that Christmas is wonderful, as long as you divorce it from the "religious" aspect, AKA the REAL meaning of Christmas.
As a cultural Christian, I share the goodwill. As a humanist I am glad to see archaic beliefs and damaging traditions losing their grip.
Ahh, she hates the religious baggage of Christmas, unless, of course, it's HER religion (secular humanism), in which case we ALL need to adopt her "tolerant" and "progressive" worldview.
This is the first Christmas since time immemorial that most people in this country are not Christians. The latest census found those identifying as Christian fell from 59% to 46% in a decade, with 8 million people shifting to "no religion", which is now the second-largest English group, and the largest in Wales. The number of atheists is probably higher, as some tick the Christian box as their cultural identity, without having any religious belief. In that sense, I feel culturally Christian, so deeply imbued with its myths, paintings, hymns and parables.
But as a vice-president of Humanists UK, I celebrate any decline in superstition, any rise in those who look life and death in the eye with no expectation of anything beyond this earth.
No hope for life after death and no hope for anything beyond earth!
Now THAT'S what the holidays are all about!
The entire article is just a perfect example of the secular misunderstanding of Christianity. Tonybee, in the name of the holiday season, just sets up strawman after strawman only to burn them in her yuletide fire.
Here are some of the responses to this Scrooge who thinks she's bold and original.
