Hindus, don't say "Merry Christmas"

If You Must Say Something, Say "Happy Holidays"

It has become common, even within staunch circles, to hear Hindus wishing each other a “Merry Christmas”.  It is easy to see why Hindus might be misled into this practice since Christmas as of late has become extremely commercialized and people often forget its underlying religious message. However, this practice is more dangerous than some assume.  It gives credence to the person behind the holiday, Jesus Christ himself. But who was Jesus, and is he someone Hindus should inadvertently be praising?

First, Hindus may want to take a look at the name of this holiday.  The word “Christmas” is a truncation of “Christ’s Mass”, meaning it is a time to focus on and commemorate Jesus Christ.  The holiday is indeed a time for Christians to venerate the founding prophet of their religion, their foretold messiah who would fulfill the covenant of the god of the bible to bring the entire earth to the “one true religion” as laid out in the Christian holy book.  Certainly, Jesus is claimed to be the “King of Kings”, the one ruler and sovereign in this world to whom all other peoples should and eventually will bend. But who was Jesus anyway, what was he the messiah of?  Jesus (if he existed) practiced the religion of the Old Testament of the bible then prevalent in Israel.  He was not a Hindu nor did he promote the Vedas.  Jesus was a proponent of biblical morality, biblical prophecy, and biblical tradition.  While one may hold their own opinion on these, it is certain to say that these are not the same as Vedic or Hindu morals and teachings, and often times they are in direct opposition to our beliefs.  Indeed, the bible holds a great deal of animosity toward members of other faiths, especially "pagans" and so did Jesus. 

Before I get to Jesus’ opinion about members of other religions, you might want to take a look at where he was coming from.  Jesus’ biblical religion had replaced the old and indigenous Canaanite and Phoenician religions some centuries earlier, the bible says this was done by force and extreme violent accompanied by inane hatred.  The Canaanites’ sin was that they did not worship the one true god of the bible. Once the religion of the Bible was established over the Canaanite peoples, their temples were destroyed, their religion forbidden and the native people were forced into indentured labor and various forms of slavery, including sex slavery.  These harsh conditions were again not created by superfluous ideology but were the central tenets of the Old Testament of the Bible.  Some argue that the Bible's description of events are not historical, but still, they are of course an “ethical” narrative that teaches Christians how to behave and think, regardless of their reality.

Now fast forward to Jesus’ time. The Old Testament prophesied of a coming messiah (or perhaps messiahs) who would lead the entire earth to the recognition of this one true religion and that eventually every other “false” religion would subside under his reign.  Jesus claimed to be this messiah, the very one to fulfill the Old Testament’s promise.  Verily, Jesus himself stated: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” – Mathew 5:17.  But the Old Testament had called for the death, enslavement and severe mistreatment of the pagan peoples of the region along with the abolition of their religion.  Many people believe that Jesus spoke kindly of all peoples, but Jesus did not care for pagans at all. While one might think that he would have made reconciliations for these past hatreds and atrocities, Jesus was very clear that “pagans” were to be treated as if they were foreign usurpers (Roman tax collectors) and he despaired of them as being superficial, materialistic and babbling. If Jesus were really as loving as many claim, he would not have heaped further disdain upon people whom his religion had genocided and enslaved, and to refer to pagans as foreign usurpers is obviously a veiled command for further violence. 

What Did Jesus Christ Say About Pagans?

 Pagans Are Materialistic “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33 NIV)

Pagans Babble
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, Who is unseen. Then your Father, Who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:6-8 NIV)

Pagans Are Like (Roman) Tax Collectors
“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15-17 NIV)

Some Things Are Too Low, Even For Pagans
“He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” (Matthew 5:45-47 NIV)

So when you say “Merry Christmas” you are definitely endorsing the messiahship of a man who cared little to repent for the hatred and death his religion had caused and even called for more.  Some may object to this, they may think that to them Christmas is more about fun.  But let me ask every Hindu this, even if Islam eventually became much less of a threat and resembled something closer to modern Christianity, how comfortable would you feel in saying “Happy Birthday Prophet Mohammad”?  Even if Islam were not an imminent threat, you would certainly think twice before endorsing the founder of the Muslim religion as his hatred for pagans was much more physically violent and murderous.  It is a fact that the Muslim world has experienced extended periods of enlightenment and secularism, however, the religious trappings of Islam such as holidays have always kept the embers of hate and destruction alive, ready to flare back up when the opportunity arises.  The same applies to Christianity. However, Hindus may also want to use this occasion to spread a new message that can counter Jesus.  Refusing to say “Merry Christmas” gives us a good opportunity to explain who we are and why we don’t celebrate Christmas, allowing others to learn more about Hinduism as opposed to Christianity.  Or, an alternative to this would be to point out that Christmas is actually built upon ancient pagan holidays which were misappropriated by Christians.  Either way, these are better alternatives to openly celebrating the birth of Jesus by saying "Merry Christmas".  A good politically correct alternative is to respond with "Happy Holidays".