How to Celebrate Christmas When You're Not Christian

There’s a classic episode of “South Park” in which Kyle (the Colorado town’s token Jewish kid) sings the heartbreaking ballad “A Lonely Jew on Christmas Eve.” The fact is, as secular as Christmas has become, it can still be a tough slog for anyone who happens to be Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, any other religion or atheist. How can you make it through this holiday without losing your religious identity (much less your sanity)?

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Focus on your own traditions. Of all religions, Judaism is the best positioned to compete with the Christmas juggernaut, with its eight-day celebration of Hanukkah. The same can’t be said for other faiths. For example, the Muslim feast month of Ramadan ends in late October, but remember that the interfaith Kwanzaa celebration begins on the day after Christmas and lasts for an entire week.
2. Feel free to borrow. Because Christmas has become so all-encompassing, many religions and cultures have incorporated—sometimes intentionally, sometimes not—various Yuletime traditions. Although the more orthodox may disagree, it really doesn’t reflect badly on your observance of your own religion if you set up a small, secular Christmas tree in your den or string up a few lights. On the other hand, if you aren’t inclined to make these concessions, your neighbors (and, eventually, your kids) will understand.
3. Limit your exposure. Tolerance and open-mindedness are all well and good, but there’s no need to encourage your kids to watch a “Davey and Goliath” marathon on the Christian Broadcasting Network on Christmas Day. The trick is to soak up the secular warmth of the Christmas holidays while avoiding the dogma (this, incidentally, is how most Christians observe the holiday as well).
4. Go with the flow. At this point in American history, no amount of petitioning or protest is going to make Christmas any less of a national holiday. If you’re irritated by all this attention to the traditions of one religion, keep in mind that there’s been an increasing trend toward secularizing Yuletime, to the extent of calling it “the holidays” in schools rather than Christmas. In a multicultural, democratic society, that’s really all you can ask, isn’t it?

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