Agnostic Holidays
Despite growing up in a household in which both Christian and Jewish beliefs were represented and supported, Sarah McCauley defines herself as agnostic. This scenario demonstrates the overall trend in the United States during the 20th and 21st centuries of a growing percentage of agnostics and atheists in the population. In 2008, 34.2 million people in the United States claimed to have “no religious identification,” which is a 7% increase from 14.3 million in 1990, to comprise 15% of the nation’s total population (Kosmin). Interestingly, although religious views seem to be in the decline, commercialism during the religiously affiliated holidays has remained at a steady rate. This trend implies that more and more citizens of the United States are superficially practicing the culture of a religion without the connection of its underlying beliefs. Therefore, reasons must exist for these holidays other than to celebrate a God. Sarah McCauley cites the importance of traditions, a desire to please older generations, and personal relationships, as reasons for continuing the apathetic celebrations that many can relate to today.
Even though the United States strives to hold the status of a secularized nation, several obvious examples exist that suggest otherwise. For instance, public schools and most companies will receive a day, or multiple days, off for Christmas, Easter, and the like. Therefore, religious holidays remain an important national tradition - one that is not likely to dwindle, no matter how many agnostics are present. In theory, atheists and agnostics should not celebrate such holidays because they disagree with the fundamental beliefs that these holidays celebrate. However, there are many traditional aspects that any group of people can support. For example, Sarah McCauley claims that Christmas not only acknowledges the birth of Jesus Christ, but it also brings forth the ideas of generosity and family togetherness. In addition, Lent recognizes Jesus’ time spent in the desert, but according to McCauley, from this event comes the idea of sacrificing an item from one’s life in order to strengthen one’s character. If atheists and agnostics were not to partake in these traditions, they would most likely lose an opportunity to grow together as a family and as a person. Moreover, separating the religious ideas from the traditional ones allows one to really think about his or her beliefs. Sarah McCauley states that “celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah, and not attending church or synagogue, allowed me to develop my own ideas of religion.”
Just like holiday traditions, older generations have a lasting effect on teenagers’ religious beliefs. McCauley felt pressure from grandparents growing up to attend church services and to commit to their religions. Like numerous other young adults, McCauley did not feel the same strong convictions that older generations guided her towards. Yet, most youth do not wish to purposefully disappoint his or her parents and/or grandparents, so church and synagogue services are attended with secret apathy. For McCauley, being “exposed to very conservative and strict religions” has shaped her ideas and may have ultimately led to her agnosticism.
Whether one realizes it or not, the religious views of family and friends infiltrate and influence the ones held personally. Even if one does not agree with every opinion relayed, exposure to various beliefs remains key to distinguishing what one considers fact and fiction, and can even lead to new pathways of belief. For example, McCauley says “many of my friends are religious, and this has allowed me to explore and see other views.” Yet, there is a difference between blindly accepting the views in which one was brought up and critically analyzing a religion in order to decipher one’s own feelings. Many agnostics and atheists reached their lack of belief through assessing their surrounding religions, finding faults in them, and deciding to stray from these beliefs. McCauley recalls asking important question throughout her adolescence, like “If there is a God, then why is there suffering?,” in order to critically evaluate religious claims. This separation from the religious community in one’s home can cause stress on familial relationships. Religious parents do not wish their child to strike down God because they hold concern for his or her soul to be saved from damnation. Therefore, the child may consider agnosticism or atheism to be a saving of the soul from false views, while parents may consider it the soul’s damnation.
For many young adults, “finding oneself” is a long, drawn out process. Discovering one’s own, independently formed, religious views remains an important step in that process. Though some agnostics and atheists may have just inherited their own parents’ lack of beliefs, or copied a friend’s, most like Sarah McCauley gained that position by critically assessing the religions to which they were exposed. Therefore, participating in traditionally religious holidays is to be expected because, although they may not share the religious beliefs, they may believe in the universal values connected to those holidays.
Works Cited
Kosmin, Barry A. and Ariela Keysar. American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) 2008. Trinity College., Mar. 2009. Web. 28 Oct 2011. <http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/AmericanReligionSurvey-ARIS/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf>
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