Since we have this day off because it is a Christian high holy day, and since Christianity was the primary religion of our civilization for the last 1,700 years

Since we have this day off because it is a Christian high holy day, and since Christianity was the primary religion of our civilization for the last 1,700 years or so, I don't have any problems celebrating Christmas as an unbeliever. I even went to a Christmas service and listened to some solid carol performances and a nice little speech by a priest. It makes me feel connected with my history. For somewhere around 1,500 years (since the Christians co-opted Christmas), people have been doing almost exactly the same thing on December 25th. That's kind of cool to think about and participate in. On the down side, it makes me realize just how radical the coming post-religious world is. This is going to be a century that is more eventful than we would probably like.