Ayaan Hirsh Ali has narrated this article for you to listen to.
This is my second Christmas as a Christian. As an atheist, I had dismissed the bright lights and customs of Christmas as traditions that had evolved to keep our spirits up as the cold of winter creeps in. But the more I learn about, and participate in, the rituals of my adopted faith, the less Grinch-like I become. Christmas isn’t just crass commercialism, it’s vital to a western revival. Celebrating it is more important than ever.
The date of 25 December was significant before the birth of Christ of course. It coincided with the Ancient Roman celebration of Winter Solstice, just as 25 March was the Spring Equinox. The 25th was also, as of 274 ad, the Roman holiday Sol Invictus – the celebration of the rebirth of the sun, which lasted until the Emperor Constantine enshrined Christianity as the religion of Rome in 313 ad. Constantine also set the Christian Sabbath on a Sunday – the day of the Sun. Sol Invictus followed Saturnalia: the week of festivities celebrating the Roman god Saturn.
Atheists would say this proves that Christianity is just one among many competing superstitions. But just because Christianity has its roots in our political and philosophical traditions doesn’t make it false. Ritual is important. A decorated tree, the exchanging of gifts and a roasted goose are an excuse to gather the family around the hearth. In an age when family breakdown, divorce and single-motherhood is rife, a rekindling of that hearth helps heal our culture.
So do the stories of our faith. Jordan Peterson has written a new book about how the biblical stories informed all the assumptions upon which western liberal democracies rest.
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