Reddit mentions of The Atheist's Guide to Christmas

>Atheists do not celebrate Christmas, nor do Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Jehovah's witnesses, Hindus, or any other non Christians.

I have atheist and Jewish friends who celebrate Christmas. Also, OP's class consists -- according to him -- of atheists and Catholics (he teaches in China), so he's suggesting atheist Chinese children celebrate Christmas too.

Here's a Jewish FAQ that is very cold to the idea of Jews celebrating a secular Christmas, touting that "82% of Jewish households never have a Christmas tree." That suggests 18% of Jews did have a Christmas tree in their home.

Here's an atheist Christmas song (he mentions the sun because he's Australian and December is summer for them). Here's a book about an atheist's approach to Christmas. Ask /r/atheistparents/ if there are any parents celebrating Christmas with their kids. Or read their discussions on the subject.

Heck, the holiday itself was lifted from earlier pagan traditions --- decorated trees, wreaths, feast, gift giving, mistletoe, you name it near the winter solstice. Those are pagan in origin, and now are secular traditions. Santa himself is a conglomeration of several figures real and mythical, including Odin (old man, long beard, cloak, flying through the winter sky on an 8-legged horse giving gifts). The idea of a winter holiday celebration with gift giving, etc. has been co-opted by many cultures throughout history. Non-Christians celebrating a winter holiday they call, for the sake of continuity within their country's culture, Christmas... is just a continuation of that very human habit. Many atheists (in America) grew up in religious homes, so really they're just continuing the tradition they grew up with, minus the religious element. Are there atheists who don't celebrate Christmas? Sure, they exist too.

To be clear, when I say a secular Christmas I mean a holiday being celebrated without mention or thought of Jesus that is nonetheless called Christmas and has many of the trappings associated with Christmas (decorated tree, Santa Claus, etc.).

Educate yourself on the origins of the holiday then CELEBRATE THE SHIT OUT OF IT!

This helped me: http://www.amazon.com/Atheists-Guide-Christmas-Robin-Harvie/dp/0061997978/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322001698&sr=8-1