namste SM and kshama,
A Hindu who is placed in a Christian country or colony in the native country or otherwise might choose to celebrate Christimas as a gesture of fraternal goodwill, but NOT as a Hindu Festival.
A Hindu DOES NOT need to celebrate Christmas, although he might accept Jesus Christ as an avatara of God. Ed Viswanathan is clear in his statement that "Christ can be considered as an AVATAR, even though there is no mention about Jesus Christ in any of the Hindu scriptures." This means that Hindus might accept Jesus as an avatAra of God, but only that much. A Hindu does NOT accept Jesus in the place of a Hindu God that he/she prays to, as otherwise there would have been ISJCON clubs vieing with with ISKCON!
That said, satguru sivAyasubramunIyasvAmi of the famous Himalayan Academy is very clear as to what Hindus should celebrate in the place of Christmas:
Daddy, Do We Get Toys for Christmas, too?
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/reso...a_Ganapati.pdf
He is very emphatic in his following statement about the topic of this thread:
"Quite honestly, however, many Hindus do celebrate Christmas and would ask, "What's wrong with that?" My answer is that it dilutes and weakens our noble tradition and leads children astray. Each religion educates its young in a sectarian way, for religionists believe that to learn one specific path is sufficient and necessary. Therefore, education should not be diluted by taking in all religions under one banner."
IMO, this should settle the issue for the Hindus.
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