Believe,
So, who is more deluded the A) man who believes and celebrates or B)the man who does not believe but celebrates the birth of God's Son anyway...a
God he does not believe in?
I pick A) the man who believes and celebrates because he has not done his research and has accepted the story about a virgin who got pregnant by God and had his child that grew up and went around his country preforming miracles of which there is no proof. That is certainly more towards the delusional way of thinking than the B) man that don't believe and still celebrates,, because the non believer needs proof to believe in a wild story about a child being God's son and being born without intercourse from a man and then later in life preforming all sorts of miracles. I really think this is a no brain er about who is delusional or who has the greater capacity or inclination towards being delusional.
Which man has more integrity?
Need more information,, which can not be deduced from a simple belief and unbelief celebrators illustration. The nonbeliever-celebrator may have way more integrity towards things that are way more important than a celebration of a mythological virgin birth in a stable, to such a man this is a trivial and not worth the effort to display personal actions which betray personal beliefs. He may see it as not that important and not an integrity issue as you feel so strongly it is.
Which man lives according to his belief and conscience?
Both men do. Belief or nonbelief in the factual origins of a celebration has nothing to do with living as one believes if one celebrates with full knowledge of the originating falsehood he merely doesn't believe it to be true and for whatever reason he believes it better to celebrate than not to celebrate. Both men are thus living according to beliefs and conscience.
To celebrate tells your neighbors you believe. If you don't
believe why not tell the world by not celebrating? Or is that too hard to do?
I see your whole argument is resting on a false assumption that your neighbors have some inherent right to know your personal business. News flash! "it is none of your neighbors business what you believe", which I think trumps your neighbors have a right to know assumption.
And as far as your suggestion to tell the world your personal business well that seems a little ridiculous, and a wee bit pretentious.
