What would be a good holiday for atheists?

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I don't mind having the day off every year for Easter, or any of the other religious holidays, but it would be nice to have one annual holiday honoring atheism. What are your thoughts? What would be an appropriate day? The first that came to my mind was Charles Darwin's birthday. However, he described himself in a private letter as an agnostic.

Since most atheists are agnostic, that doesn't strike me as unfitting.
But no part of atheism requires someone believing in this or that scientific theory, or even the method as a whole.
That's kind of the problem, isn't it? What do a group of people whose only commonality is lacking a pervasive, stupid belief celebrate, exactly?

Not needing a special holiday.

Careful. Quoting me might give you FEMINIST COOTIES.

I agree with your entire post. I would be happy to settle for a day celebrating agnosticism! Are there any other candidates? Carl Sagan's birthday would be at least as satisfying to me.

A lot of atheists don't know who he is, either- I didn't, until recently, after 23 years of atheism.

Sharing the same days off as the religious seems like the most logical thing for a supposed lack of belief system. Saves money and is convenient to people to people who don't share the share your point of view. Deifying Charles Darwin's birthday comes off as laughable to me, what is the difference between that and celebrating Jesus Christ's birthday?

Why do you always have to act the idiot? WTF is wrong with you? I see more hostility from you towards people you disagree with than anyone else in PPR.

I don't equate it to deification. It is more like celebrating George Washington's birthday, or Lincoln's. BTW, some speculate that Lincoln was a non-believer. Jefferson certainly was. Maybe a holiday that celebrates Jefferson would be appropriate. Here in the US, it would not be thought of as honoring agnosticism or atheism, however.

Instead of a day off, could we get paid overtime for a full work week? I don't need ceremony but I like money and work

Darwin still works. The issue isn't just his belief, but also the importance of Darwinian evolution to an atheist perspective on the workings of the world. Darwin makes sense of biology, psychology, and man's place in the universe.

Does it matter though? Some atheists still celebrate Christmas. Many nerdy people celebrate pi day.(And enough atheists are nerds where that's viable) A day commemorating Bertrand Russell(birth, death, whatever) is also quite viable, as the man was a major atheist intellectual, he did come up with Russell's teapot, but he also did important work in Set Theory, philosophy, and in promoting pacifism. He even won a Nobel Prize in Literature. I think Carl Sagan's popularity is really as a popularizer though, and popularizers will lose their fame and status over time. The solstices could work, as they are popular for celebrations in history. The potential list can go on and on.

I'm sure other possibilities can exist. I also doubt it really matters too much. An atheist can pick any day they wish to be a holiday, or just still stick to a traditional one.

Maybe Ayn Rand's birthday, at least for Conservative Atheists?

I object

On topic: Darwin Day seems reasonable to me. What would you do to celebrate Darwin Day? Light bonfires? Eat a special meal with food items chosen to represent evolutionary development?

Oh no, not feminist cooties!


Run away, run away!


<Urk> They got me.




That was a successful attempt at humor. It contained no insults, personal or otherwise.

If you want to call out someone for being hostile, make sure they're actually being hostile when you're quoting them, and especially don't be more hostile in your response.

not a bad idea. Start with bacterial mat dipping sauce with early arthropod-analogue orderves (we'll use shrimp) and... jeez, the meals probably won't be all that gastronomically appealing for like 96% of the courses!! ! Assuming each course represents a geologic epoch that is