No, I don’t “celebrate” Easter in the sense of a religious holiday, but I love decorating Easter eggs. I love the Easter candy. I love the colorful ornaments and how nice they look in my yard.

I decorate for Christmas. The beautiful lights are amazing and I hate to see them go when the season is over. 

I say, “Happy Easter and Merry Christmas” because it goes beyond the religiousness. It is tradition, and that’s it. If you take it to mean that I am wishing you a happy holiday in the religious sense, and you celebrate these holidays religiously, then that’s great. If you don’t, then you don’t, but that is no reason to go ballistic over it or to take it personally.

It should also not come as a surprise that an atheist feels this way. There are plenty of Jewish people who celebrate Christmas, along with their own traditional holidays. There are many people who celebrate Kwanza and Christmas. Maybe ‘celebrate’ is the wrong word, as it is not necessarily a celebration. Often, it is just decorating and enjoying the season and the feel in the air. It is about enjoying loved ones and good times. It is celebrating life and living.

Bottom line: Who cares if you say or celebrate Christmas or Easter. If you do, you do, and if you don’t, you don’t. Whatever you do, just live and let live.