Guest Conan, I think the general response to Jimmy C's wasn't Let's ignore this, it's that it isn't relevant to THIS thread. I am not forced to celebrate either Ramadan or Hanukkah the way I have Christmas shoved down my throat, as it feels to me sometimes, living in the USA. So I have no issue with the way Ramadan and Hanukkah are celebrated here, since they are irrelevant to the problem I posted about, which was getting away from the Christianity and still having a midwinter family holiday on Dec. 25th, since that is the day we all have off from work or school. I am NOT pushing for Ramadan and Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or even a pagan Solstice or other non-monotheistic celebrations being as publicized and ubiquitous as Christmas; I'm trying to get the religious aspects of Christmas to be as low-key as those other holidays are, or in my family, eliminated as irrelevant to anything WE celebrate on that day. Even the one Christian niece doesn't celebrate the Birth of Jesus on that day, she celebrates family and love and everything we do. Should she want to pray or anything we wouldn't stop her, but if she does so far she must be doing it in private (very polite of her but not required by us), since I've never seen her do it.

And about that Quintus quote, an atheist friend of mine once told me that he figured, if he were wrong about the existence of god(s), then he still wasn't worried, as he was living a good life and doing good deeds, and that would certainly be good enough for any god(s) whether you worshipped them or not. If not then that god or those gods aren't worth worshipping at all. So why worship? Seems very similar...