Christmas Songs for Atheists and Other Grinches

stiggy wiggy

stiggy wiggy

Well-known member
Do You Not Hear What I Don't Hear?

O Come All Ye Faithless

Little Drummer LGBQT Person

I Saw Mommy Dissing Santa Claus

What Fully Viable Post-Birth Entity is This?

White X-mas

Frosty the Snowperson

Subjectively Moral King Wenceslas

O Historically and Geographically Disputed Town of Bethlehem
 
stiggy wiggy said:
Do You Not Hear What I Don't Hear?

O Come All Ye Faithless

Little Drummer LGBQT Person

I Saw Mommy Dissing Santa Claus

What Fully Viable Post-Birth Entity is This?

White X-mas

Frosty the Snowperson

Subjectively Moral King Wenceslas

O Historically and Geographically Disputed Town of Bethlehem
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"I'm dreaming of Joey's Dark Winter"

A reprisal from last year. Such fond memories..
 
It's weird when a Christian tries to make fun of atheists by appealing to a secular Christmas icon...
 
Here's a few more, some of them actually sung by schoolchildren in Christmas assemblies.

While Shepherds washed their socks by night,
All seated round the tub,
The Angel of the the Lord came down,
And gave their socks a scrub.

And when their socks were squeaky clean,
And sparkling like a gem,
The Sheppard's put them on again,
And walked to Bethlehem.

And when they got to Bethlehem,
All looking nice and neat,
The Christ child said you've got nice socks,
But next time wash your feet.

Hosanna plays for Chelsea.

Hark the Herald angels sing Beechams pills are just the thing
Peace on earth and mercy mild 2 for an adult 1 for a child

We 3 kings from Orient are, selling knickers at sixpence a pair, they're fantastic, double elastic, very safe to wear...!

Hark, the hairy angels sing.

Most highly flavoured gravy.
 
mikeT said:
It's weird when a Christian tries to make fun of atheists by appealing to a secular Christmas icon...
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Hardly no effort is involved.

Atheists going berserk over The Christ Mass while singing Christmas carols is just too much to pass up.
 
Furion said:
Hardly no effort is involved.

Atheists going berserk over The Christ Mass while singing Christmas carols is just too much to pass up.
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Not in the UK. Over here Christmas is 95% secular, and hardly any one gives religion a second thought.
 
The Pixie said:
Not in the UK. Over here Christmas is 95% secular, and hardly any one gives religion a second thought.
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You keep saying that word Christmas. I don't think you want to admit what its about, but think you can take that reality and replace it with your own.

It's cool, I get it.

But I have seen enough atheists telling me they like to sing the songs of Christmas, and it just warms the cockles of me wee little heart.
 
Furion said:
You keep saying that word Christmas. I don't think you want to admit what its about, but think you can take that reality and replace it with your own.

It's cool, I get it.

But I have seen enough atheists telling me they like to sing the songs of Christmas, and it just warms the cockles of me wee little heart.
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The meaning of words change over time. Christmas nowadays means a secular celebration, even if the etymology has Christian origins. Just as the etymology of Easter comes from the Pagan goddess Eostre.

I mean, it is not like we have any reason to think Jesus was actually born on the 25th of December. That date only appeared mid-fourth century. The holly and ivy, and kissing under the mistletoe are Pagan, as is the Christmas tree.
 
The Pixie said:
The meaning of words change over time. Christmas nowadays means a secular celebration, even if the etymology has Christian origins. Just as the etymology of Easter comes from the Pagan goddess Eostre.

I mean, it is not like we have any reason to think Jesus was actually born on the 25th of December. That date only appeared mid-fourth century. The holly and ivy, and kissing under the mistletoe are Pagan, as is the Christmas tree.
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As I said, I get why you rationalize it as you do. I just notice when atheists take part, it's an interesting aspect to people living in enmity with God.
 
stiggy wiggy said:
Do You Not Hear What I Don't Hear?

O Come All Ye Faithless

Little Drummer LGBQT Person

I Saw Mommy Dissing Santa Claus

What Fully Viable Post-Birth Entity is This?

White X-mas

Frosty the Snowperson

Subjectively Moral King Wenceslas

O Historically and Geographically Disputed Town of Bethlehem
Click to expand...
One change for the woke:

"White KKKmas"
 
The Pixie said:
Not in the UK. Over here Christmas is 95% secular, and hardly any one gives religion a second thought.
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Where do you get your numbers? Do you include the entire UK?
Your numbers don't match the census but then there are Christians who don't celebrate Christmas for a number of reasons.

1.Main points​

This page is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg) (PDF, 349KB)
  • The religion question is voluntary; 94.0% (56.0 million) of usual residents answered the question in 2021, an increase from 92.9% (52.1 million) in 2011.
  • For the first time in a census of England and Wales, less than half of the population (46.2%, 27.5 million people) described themselves as “Christian”, a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3% (33.3 million) in 2011; despite this decrease, “Christian” remained the most common response to the religion question.
  • “No religion” was the second most common response, increasing by 12.0 percentage points to 37.2% (22.2 million) from 25.2% (14.1 million) in 2011.
  • There were increases in the number of people who described themselves as “Muslim” (3.9 million, 6.5% in 2021, up from 2.7 million, 4.9% in 2011) and “Hindu” (1.0 million, 1.7% in 2021, up from 818,000, 1.5% in 2011).
  • Wales had a greater decrease in people reporting their religion as “Christian” (14.0 percentage point decrease, from 57.6% in 2011 to 43.6% in 2021) and increase in “No religion” (14.5 percentage point increase, from 32.1% in 2011 to 46.5% in 2021) compared with England and Wales overall.
  • London remains the most religiously diverse region of England in 2021, with over a quarter (25.3%) of all usual residents reporting a religion other than “Christian”; the North East and South West are the least religiously diverse regions, with 4.2% and 3.2%, respectively, selecting a religion other than “Christian”.
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2.Religion in England and Wales​

The religion question was voluntary​

The census introduced a voluntary question on religion in 2001. In the census data, religion refers to a person’s religious affiliation. This is the religion with which they connect or identify, rather than their beliefs or active religious practice. As the question is voluntary, be cautious when comparing figures between different areas or between censuses because of varying response rates.
Percentages are calculated out of the overall population as opposed to out of the population who answered the religion question. This aids comparison across time and between areas, as the percentage of the population who answer the question varies.
In total, 94.0% of the overall population in England and Wales (56.0 million people) chose to answer the religion question in 2021. This is a higher percentage than in 2011, when 92.9% (52.1 million) answered the religion question and 7.1% (4.0 million) chose not to answer.

Religious composition of England and Wales​

The 2021 data show that the largest changes since 2011 were for those describing their religion as “Christian” and those reporting “No religion”.

Figure 1: The percentage of the population reporting “No religion” has increased​

Religious composition, 2011 and 2021, England and Wales​


Notes:​

  1. The base population used to calculate percentages is the overall population for England and Wales.

As in 2011, the most common response to the religion question in England and Wales was "Christian" (46.2% of the overall population, 27.5 million people). This was the most common religious group in both England (46.3%) and in Wales (43.6%).​

However, the number of people who described themselves as "Christian" decreased to less than half the population for the first time. It was a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3% in 2011 (33.3 million people). This continues the decrease since 2001, when 71.7% (37.3 million) described themselves as "Christian".
This coincided with an increase in the number of people reporting "No religion" to 37.2% (22.2 million) in 2021 from 25.2% (14.1 million) in 2011. Again, this continues the trend between 2001 and 2011, when the number of people reporting "No religion" had risen from 14.8% (7.7 million people).
There are many factors that may be contributing to the changing religious composition of England and Wales, such as differing patterns of ageing, fertility, mortality, and migration. Changes may also be caused by differences in the way individuals chose to answer the religion question between censuses.




Religion, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics

The religion of usual residents and household religious composition in England and Wales, Census 2021 data.
www.ons.gov.uk
 
The Pixie said:
The meaning of words change over time. Christmas nowadays means a secular celebration, even if the etymology has Christian origins. Just as the etymology of Easter comes from the Pagan goddess Eostre.

I mean, it is not like we have any reason to think Jesus was actually born on the 25th of December. That date only appeared mid-fourth century. The holly and ivy, and kissing under the mistletoe are Pagan, as is the Christmas tree.
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That is why some Christians don't celebrate it.
 
Caroljeen said:
Where do you get your numbers? Do you include the entire UK?
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Got to admit, it was just based on my perception of Christmas, rather than actual figures. But note that I am not talking about the numbers of people who are Christians, I am talking about the percentage of Christmas that is Christian.

How many people went to church on Christmas day? What percentage of programmes on TV had a religious theme? What percentage of the decorations have a religious theme? How much of their waking hours did the average person spend thinking about Jesus or just praying? I suspect the figure is rather less than 5% - but I accept I have no figures to back that up.

Caroljeen said:
Your numbers don't match the census but then there are Christians who don't celebrate Christmas for a number of reasons.
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This is not the same, but worth discussing anyway.

There is an issue here about what counts as Christian. Is someone who goes to church for weddings, Christenings and funerals, but does not give religion a thought outside of that a Christian? Plenty of people put Christian on forms as a default, without actually being religious. Your census shows a huge leap for "no religion" from 25.2 to 37.2 in ten years, and I would suggest a part of that is people deciding "no religion" is a better label, rather than a huge change in beliefs.

Bear in mind UK church membership is steadily declining. The latest figure I found is 10.3% ten years ago (here), I would guess it is nearer to 5% by now. I appreciate there are plenty of Christians who do not attend church, but I think this also indicates the figure of 46.2% for Christians is a serious over-estimate.
 
The Pixie said:
Got to admit, it was just based on my perception of Christmas, rather than actual figures. But note that I am not talking about the numbers of people who are Christians, I am talking about the percentage of Christmas that is Christian.

How many people went to church on Christmas day? What percentage of programmes on TV had a religious theme? What percentage of the decorations have a religious theme? How much of their waking hours did the average person spend thinking about Jesus or just praying? I suspect the figure is rather less than 5% - but I accept I have no figures to back that up.


This is not the same, but worth discussing anyway.

There is an issue here about what counts as Christian. Is someone who goes to church for weddings, Christenings and funerals, but does not give religion a thought outside of that a Christian? Plenty of people put Christian on forms as a default, without actually being religious. Your census shows a huge leap for "no religion" from 25.2 to 37.2 in ten years, and I would suggest a part of that is people deciding "no religion" is a better label, rather than a huge change in beliefs.

Bear in mind UK church membership is steadily declining. The latest figure I found is 10.3% ten years ago (here), I would guess it is nearer to 5% by now. I appreciate there are plenty of Christians who do not attend church, but I think this also indicates the figure of 46.2% for Christians is a serious over-estimate.
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I would bear this analysis out, again based more on personal observation than serious data. I would add that church attendance has a strong cultural dimension in the UK. Church weddings may fill a church with people, none of whom other than the vicar and the organ player, would attend otherwise. I, as a committed and life long atheist, attend Church several times a year, in all sincerity, to mark occasions like Remembrance Day. The ritual and indeed the music have an existence that transcends the literal sense of the words. I enjoy singing hymns, particularly carol's, and my Christmas baking is invariably accompanied by the service of o lessons and carols on Radio 3. Christianity is part of our culture, like Morris dancing, and the Burning of the Clavie. And yes, we have forgotten what it means, or grown out of the superstition that it came from, and the vast majority of us don't care. We can cherish the buildings, the music and the ritual without believing in the magic spells.
 
Temujin said:
I would bear this analysis out, again based more on personal observation than serious data. I would add that church attendance has a strong cultural dimension in the UK. Church weddings may fill a church with people, none of whom other than the vicar and the organ player, would attend otherwise. I, as a committed and life long atheist, attend Church several times a year, in all sincerity, to mark occasions like Remembrance Day. The ritual and indeed the music have an existence that transcends the literal sense of the words. I enjoy singing hymns, particularly carol's, and my Christmas baking is invariably accompanied by the service of o lessons and carols on Radio 3. Christianity is part of our culture, like Morris dancing, and the Burning of the Clavie. And yes, we have forgotten what it means, or grown out of the superstition that it came from, and the vast majority of us don't care. We can cherish the buildings, the music and the ritual without believing in the magic spells.
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Did you put "Christian" on your census paper?
 
Temujin said:
I would bear this analysis out, again based more on personal observation than serious data. I would add that church attendance has a strong cultural dimension in the UK. Church weddings may fill a church with people, none of whom other than the vicar and the organ player, would attend otherwise. I, as a committed and life long atheist, attend Church several times a year, in all sincerity, to mark occasions like Remembrance Day. The ritual and indeed the music have an existence that transcends the literal sense of the words. I enjoy singing hymns, particularly carol's, and my Christmas baking is invariably accompanied by the service of o lessons and carols on Radio 3. Christianity is part of our culture, like Morris dancing, and the Burning of the Clavie. And yes, we have forgotten what it means, or grown out of the superstition that it came from, and the vast majority of us don't care. We can cherish the buildings, the music and the ritual without believing in the magic spells.
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There ya go!

I just knew we had secret carolers here, singing life to the birth of Jesus Christ.
 
Furion said:
There ya go!

I just knew we had secret carolers here, singing life to the birth of Jesus Christ.
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Nothing secret about it. I'm an enthusiastic if unlovely singer. I haven't added any alternative lyrics to this thread because, having originated in the rugby club post match bath, they are not really suitable for publication. I don't mind what I sing, and it's absolutely not true that the devil has all the best tunes.
 
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