Some of us are very aware of what Christianity is actually about and think that the less religious our society becomes the better it will be for everyone. We have good reason to believe this.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-secular-life/201410/secular-societies-fare-better-religious-societies
Perhaps you do actually know the tenets of Christianity, but the majority of Americans today do not.
I do not agree, nor does an internet article prove, that the world would be better off without religion.
Fine, let's call it Satanmas or Secularmas then. If it's a secular holiday, then no one should have a problem with the name change. But lo and behold, at least a quarter of the country gripes every year about keeping the "Christ in Christmas".
What percentage of the populace would take offense if Ramadan took the place of Memorial Day or anything like that because it wouldn't be 100% secular.
I pledge allegiance...under Buddha...
Doesn't our money say In Muhammad We Trust?
Happy New Year (the 2018th year of our Lord, of course)!
I wouldn't mind at all if we started using a new name for the commercialized gift-centric holiday that has become synonymous with Christmas.
I haven't heard a single person this year complaining about Christ in Christmas. Not one. This rather weak conversation is the only time I've discussed it this year.
People in many jobs /schools already can "take off" minority religion holidays, and we've already lost Good Friday to Martin Luther King Day.
As for the pledge and money, yes, those are true, but I don't think people think about them often.
When people complian about religious references in the public space I wish they would remember that explicit atheism (the belief that their is no deity) is as much a religious point of view as one of the many forms of theism.
Which is why we have freedom OF religion ...
not freedom FROM religion. That is, we have our choice of religions (or no religion)
not freedom from other people expressing their opinions.
Your argument fundamentally misunderstands (or perhaps intentionally misrepresents) what atheism is. It is not a religion, any more than not collecting stamps is a hobby. It is the absence of belief in counterfactual narratives. It does not presuppose or require a complete understanding of a factual narrative, only that you willing abandon the obviously wrong ones.
I've never understood why atheists want to share their thoughts on non-belief. I like to talk about things that interest me: books, movies, recipes, even sales at the grocery store ... but I have no desire to talk about sushi, music, or cross fit because I am not interested in them. I couldn't care less whether other people love them and want to talk about them, but I avoid topics that aren't "me".
For example, prayer is a lie. It doesn't work.
Why would a non-believer expect prayer to work?
Prayer isn't like a vending machine or a wishing well. You don't insert prayer /sit back and wait for a blessing. Sometimes the answer to prayer is no -- or wait.
I am not a fan of this attitude, that the minority has to submit to the will of the majority and shut up. Religious people are the majority in the US (a very powerful majority at that!), and the rest of us have to fall in line.
No,
actual religious people (of any religion) are a minority in America today.
People who participate in Christianity in a minor way (i.e., celebrate Christmas and Easter but don't think much about God in between) and are not offended in any way by a public prayer, etc. are the real majority.