Why does Richard Dawkins sing Christmas carols?

when i sing silent night, i think of when the fighting stopped in the trenches in germany during the first(?) world war. always have. living through another year. considering my family, making it all the way to christmas can be quite an accomplishment. also, having the rest of your family make it to another christmas. being together is something to celebrate in and of itself. why do we celebrate on december 24? because it's near the solstice. and maybe, just maybe, spring will come.i find it funny that you aren't concerned why christians celebrate in december considering that jesus was born in march.

wrong. putting up a tree makes your house smell like love. *snuggles*

i currently use a plastic tree. i make up for it with candles. when i can afford it, i will be killing more trees.

because then the inside of my house won't smell good.the trees provided for christmas are grown on seasonal farms for the express purpose of being cut down for christmas (i feel like i'm having a domesticated animals discussion). i really would love to grow live trees, but most of the places i've been don't have nurseries, and just try to find a live christmas tree at lowes.it's like the land outside my mother's neighborhood. it's owned by the papermill and leased to a hunting club. they grow pine trees on it. they cut them down periodically and replant. they clear the underbrush. everyone's happy. these aren't old growth forests or wild lands they're clearing.and why kill a tree? well. i dunno. but generally they get taken to become mulch here. why kill flowers? survival of the one with the shears.

i completely agree. he accuses moderates of making the world safe for extremists... what is he doing?

you could call it the age of warm fuzzy bunnies. it doesn't matter what you call things. you should know better than to make points like that. they called it enlightenment because they thought they were awesome. mental masturbation and self-congratulatory drivel.Edited by brennakimi, : No reason given.

i've seen episodes of his show. that's enough to tell me he's a jerk and i have no interest in reading his book. unfortunately, i've decided to do it and bought it last year. it's not very high on my list, though. i'm still trying to get through reproductive rights and wrongs.

not all evidence is "scientific evidence(tm)"

oh please. not using words because you fall into a different belief system is stupid.

i didn't.i do find it odd that someone who claims that moderate christians empower murderous fundamentalists of all stripes simply by existing would want to sing christian-type christmas carols and describe himself as "culturally christian". i don't care what he does with his free time. i care the stones that he throws.

i don't condemn him for celebrating holidays. i condemn him for saying i'm empowering murderers.

i didn't say it wasn't okay. i just think it's odd that he'd want to associate himself with murderers... since we apparently all are.

because those words (or rather their meanings) have been around longer than christianity. do you really think it's all that novel? do you think no "pagan" religion has a concept of "sin" or "holy"? please. because he said he was "culturally christian". that would inspire the assumption that he's not celebrating a pagan holiday, but a religious one.also, last time i checked, paganism was a (or rather many) religion. i wonder if he thinks he has to light his yule log or spring won't come.it's not an issue with him celebrating "christianity", it's an issue of him associating himself with religious events when he preaches so vehemently that religious people of all stripes are enabling murderers.you people spend so much time denouncing "christian" superstition, why not "pagan" superstition?Edited by brennakimi, : No reason given.

but you're missing the point. i don't care if he celebrates any holiday. i just wonder why he does given that he thinks religious people are enabling murderers.

why? it's not going to produce anything. he's a great scientist when he has his science hat on. all else, he's a jerk. why do i say this when i don't know him? because all the evidence he's presented to the public demonstrates that he's unnecessarily judgmental of everyone who disagrees with him. discussing him won't convert anyone. it also won't result in any substantial addition to knowledge. it won't result in anything but more accusations about what awful people the religious are (there's enough of that) and more accusations about what assholes atheists are (there's also enough of that). and in the mean time, we reasonable people who just wish people would stop attacking each other about every damned thing get stepped on most of all. i'm somehow enabling murderers, but i can't be, because they don't recognize that i'm a christian. i'm a fucking dirty heathen to everyone. i get it. gret. you've made your point. go find a new hobby.it's not productive in any way.