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christ[f83,jmc]		Atheists for Christmas

	The lawsuits by "Protestants and other Americans United . . ."
and Madeline O'Haire McCormick etc. against various public celebrations
that have religious overtones have always repelled me, although
I have always been and remain an atheist.  I was delighted
when Mrs. McCormick's son, in whose name many suits were filed,
turned into a Jesus freak.

	In the first place, the suits strike me as a form of
bullying.  Atheism to me is the absence of belief in God, not
a crusading religion of its own.  To my view, except for a the
Moslem religion and a few odd sects, the excesses of militant
religion have been sufficiently tamed so that we atheists can
live in peace and suffer no discrimination.  Moreover, the mainline
churches have institutionalized this tolerance.  We atheists
should be tolerant too - and most of us are.

	In the second place, the Christmas spirit of good will is
a good thing, and the Christians deserve credit for developing it
and maintaining it.  A holiday mainly based on giving presents to
children is a good thing.  The extent to which the spirit of good
will is fortified by the carols, creches and other Christian
symbols is unclear, and there is no sense trying to break something
just to make everything uniform.  When I was a child my atheist
parents were not shy about making their unbelief known, but they
also gave us children presents.  I did the same for mine.

	Here's an idea.  Would it be possible for some atheists
to intervene in one of these suits as a friend of the court and
claim that we atheists are not harmed by the celebrations being
objected to?