Because "militant atheism" and "non-theism" both fall under what are classically thought of as "atheism." Some atheists firmly believe there is no God; some atheists do not believe there is a God.
And as for Christian/etc., this wasn't a question about your views of anything other than God, so that's not appropriate. The militant atheism/non-theism divide is more similar to the theist/deist divide or the strict agnostic/open agnostic divide.
And dammit, I'm going to have to put in that disclaimer after all.
Why is it that I was able to administer this survey to 200 members of my church and they all answered it, yet so far two people on my friends list have taken issue with the questions I used because the survey's definitions don't match what they call themselves (and what you call yourself wasn't the question anyway)?
Probably because people put a lot of emotional investment in what they call themselves, especially when it comes to matters of faith(or lack thereof). What they are is what they call it, and it causes conflict for many when the choices offered call what they believe something else.
Those who are in UU or something similar are not as rigid about names and beliefs in general, though I am sure that there are exceptions there too.
The survey would have likely gone smoothest if you had listed the definings of the beliefs without naming the beliefs themselves. Once there is a handle to get cought up in, people get caught up.
My point is, when someone says "What are you doing for the holidays?" do you tell them where you'll be for Bastille Day or for Christmas? For el Día de los Muertos or New Year's? When someone says something about where they're spending "the holidays," which ones do you include in that? Surely you don't take it to mean they're talking about where they'll be on July 14.
In other words, the question isn't "what holidays do you celebrate?"; it's "which of 'the holidays' do you celebrate?"
FWIW, I think my most common response to holiday greetings would not be greetings back but some variation on "Thank you[, and the same to you]".
And in my perception, people in Germany are a whole lot less aware of other holidays than in the States, so "Frohe Weihnachten" is pretty much universal. Even if people say "Frohes Fest" or "Frohe Festtage" (happy holiday; happy holiday days), I think it's always Christmas which is implied.
It's not "Froliche Weinachten"? That's what I was taught. (That being the only German my mother passed on to us other than "bitte (schön)" and "danke (schön)" and ... Hender holk? Don't know how to spell it, she used to say it when we were little and she was dressing us and wanted us to put our arms up so she could put our shirt on.)
"Fröhliche Weihnachten" -- that works, too. I can't put my finger on the difference between "froh" and "fröhlich", since they're both basically "happy, joyous". ("Froh" can also be "glad", e.g. in "I'm glad you did well in the test/you came out of the accident unharmed".) Perhaps "froh" is a bit more "happy" and "fröhlich" is a bit more "merry".
At any rate, I've heard either adjective in the situation, and I couldn't tell you off-hand which is more common, either.
Hender holk? Don't know how to spell it, she used to say it when we were little and she was dressing us and wanted us to put our arms up so she could put our shirt on.)
Probably "Hände hoch"? That's "hands up". Without context, though, my first association with that phrase would be a stick-up (is that the word? armed robbery where the gunman demands everyone's hands in the air) rather than a child being dressed :)
Hand, Hände (hand, hands) -- one of the words that changes vowel in its inflections.
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And as for Christian/etc., this wasn't a question about your views of anything other than God, so that's not appropriate. The militant atheism/non-theism divide is more similar to the theist/deist divide or the strict agnostic/open agnostic divide.
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Why is it that I was able to administer this survey to 200 members of my church and they all answered it, yet so far two people on my friends list have taken issue with the questions I used because the survey's definitions don't match what they call themselves (and what you call yourself wasn't the question anyway)?
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Those who are in UU or something similar are not as rigid about names and beliefs in general, though I am sure that there are exceptions there too.
The survey would have likely gone smoothest if you had listed the definings of the beliefs without naming the beliefs themselves. Once there is a handle to get cought up in, people get caught up.
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(The comment has been removed)
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(The comment has been removed)
In other words, the question isn't "what holidays do you celebrate?"; it's "which of 'the holidays' do you celebrate?"
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And in my perception, people in Germany are a whole lot less aware of other holidays than in the States, so "Frohe Weihnachten" is pretty much universal. Even if people say "Frohes Fest" or "Frohe Festtage" (happy holiday; happy holiday days), I think it's always Christmas which is implied.
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At any rate, I've heard either adjective in the situation, and I couldn't tell you off-hand which is more common, either.
Hender holk? Don't know how to spell it, she used to say it when we were little and she was dressing us and wanted us to put our arms up so she could put our shirt on.)
Probably "Hände hoch"? That's "hands up". Without context, though, my first association with that phrase would be a stick-up (is that the word? armed robbery where the gunman demands everyone's hands in the air) rather than a child being dressed :)
Hand, Hände (hand, hands) -- one of the words that changes vowel in its inflections.
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