Sententia // Perspective

This article was originally published in December 2006, and has been republished from the original Sententia.net.

Decorated trees, gift giving, Santa Clause, turkey dinner…

In case you’ve been hiding in a very dark hole for a very long time, you’re probably aware that December 25th  is Christmas Day. Christmas is, of course, the time when Christians mark and celebrate the birth of Jesus approximately 2000 years ago.

It’s also a time when shopping centers are packed, merchants are trying to clear out stock before the New Year, and children sit on the knee of jolly men in red suits. Because of this, there are those who say that Christmas has become more of a commercial holiday than a religious one. Largely, this comment comes from Christians who want the focus to remain on (or return to) the “reason for the season” — Jesus’ birth.

Multiculturalism Meets Christmas

But what about those who are not Christian? What remains of the holiday when you take Christ out of Christmas for those who do not acknowlege him in Christian terms?

There are those non-Christians who don’t celebrate Christmas and who — quite frankly — are insulted by Christmas cards, invitations to Christmas parties, Christmas carols on the radio, and even the man in the red suit. But how do you know who is who? Making generalizations is always hard, and fraught with problems, but here are some general guidelines for attitudes toward Christmas from members of other religious traditions.

The two religious traditions in which some of the most strong opposition to Christmas celebrations can be found are Judaism and Islam.

Jewish Responses

Just because Hanukkah and Christmas occur around the same time of year, that doesn’t mean that Hanukkah is just a Jewish version of Christmas — or that gift-giving is necessarily still appropriate.

The truth is that while some less-traditional families do give gifts, many traditionally observant Jews are expressly opposed to anything that resembles Christmas celebrations. The reasons vary, but be it that Jews do not recognize Jesus as Messiah, Jesus as divine, Jesus as anything more than a turn-of-the-era rabbi, or Jesus at all, you’d be hardpressed to find a Jewish family that celebrates Christmas as anything to do with the Christian “reason for the season.”

Some families do view the end of December as time to spend together, and some will even have a big dinner together (kosher, of course!), to share in each other’s company and enjoy a respite from school and work — but this is very rare. More typical is for a family to instead put greater emphasis on Hanukkah, and do gift-giving and celebrations around that Jewish festival.

But there are also a large proportion of Jews who want nothing to do with anything that resembles the Christian festival, and so they celebrate Hanukkah in the traditionally smaller ways, and treat Christmas as pretty much any other day. Judaism 101 has a great article on what Jews do on Christmas.

Muslim Responses

This last response — treating Christmas like any other day — is one of the more prevalent responses to the holiday found among Muslims. Although Muslims do not recognize Jesus as divine, they do recognize him as a holy man, one who lived a good life and is to be emulated in many ways. Marking December 25th is therefore seen as not necessarily a bad thing.

But when Christians are celebrating the virgin birth of Jesus, Son of God, Muslims are bound to be uncomfortable. Not only that, but I’m sure we’re all well aware of the historical tensions between Christians and Muslims, which leads Muslims in many areas of the world with a profound distaste for anything Christian. But technically, the official reason for not celebrating Christmas (as far as I could find) is as follows:

“1. [Holidays] should have its evidence from the scriptures or from the authentic sayings of the Messenger.
2. The Messenger himself and his companions should practice and propagate it.
3. The Scripture or the Messenger’s sayings in which this belief system is present should be preserved from alterations or perishment. (For more, see What Every Muslim Should Know About Christmas)”

Because Christmas does not meet these criteria, and because Muslims do not — and cannot — celebrate Jesus’ divinity, Christmas is generally seen as a no-no in the Islamic community. The reactions to Christmas celebrations vary from person to person, and family to family. Some are outright against the celebration. Others take the approach described by a young Muslim girl:

“My family still gives gifts to our friends and other people who celebrate it, but we don’t give gifts to each other. We don’t have things like tinsel or trees in our house but my sister and I make paper chains.”

Although they do not celebrate Christmas, Muslims do celebrate Eid (the end of Ramadan) in a similar fashion to that of Christmas — so much so, that it has been called a “Muslim Christmas” (though this is very inaccurate!). But Eid is not Christmas, and ought not be confused with Christmas.

Buddhist Responses

Buddhists, on the other hand, don’t seem to care one way or another about Christmas. They generally view it as a time to spend with family. Some do recognize Jesus as an enlightened man, but this tends not to be factored in as a reason for celebrating Christmas.

A central tenet of Buddhism is that one should not cling to things (material or otherwise), and so gift-giving can be a bit dicey, but for most Buddhists, it’s not a problem at all. If they are on their way to enlightenment, then you aren’t going to derail them by giving them a box of chocolates.

Traditional Buddhist winter celebrations also feature some aspects which are easily syncretized with Christmas. In particular, it is tradition to decorate representations of what the world looked like when the Buddha realized enlightenment. Trees, ornaments, flowers, fruit and many other typical elements of Christmas have been adapted to suit this purpose.

In addition, the traditional date of observing the Buddha’s enlightenment falls on December 8th, but in countries like the United States and Canada, this is often pushed back to the 25th for convenience. You can read more about some Buddhist Christmas celebrations from the Edmonton Buddhist Meditation Group.

Hindu Reponses

Responses to Christmas are perhaps most varied among Hindus. Many Hindus see Christmas as a time of peace, love and joy, and thus have no problem celebrating it. For them, as for many non-Christians, Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus, and so it’s alright with them.

Some other Hindus prefer not to celebrate Christmas, and the reasons vary: for example, some see it as a time when many animals are needlessly killed, while others just don’t see the need for a Hindu to celebrate a Christian festival.

Rather than celebrating Christmas, many Hindus prefer to celebrate Pancha Ganapati. This festival to the five-faced elephant God lasts from December 21 to 25, and often includes the exchanging of greeting cards and gifts, the singing of songs and chants, and the offering (and consumption) of sweets to Lord Ganesha. Beliefnet has more on the details of this Hindu celebration.

We Wish You A Merry…

There are, of course, many other religious traditions that I haven’t mentioned in this post — not to mention all the varieties of Christianity which each celebrate Christmas in their own way. But the important thing to remember is that not everyone appreciates being wished a merry Christmas. Most are used to it, and many have given up on trying to explain why they don’t celebrate Christmas. But in a season that is supposed to be about peace, love and understanding, isn’t it worth trying to share a bit of that with everyone? Meet others on their terms, and peace, love and understanding can’t be too far behind.

For more non-Christian views of Christmas, check out this 2005 article from the BBC.