Lately groups representing Christian communities in the country felt outraged by the recent decision to strip Christmas day of his public holiday status.
Claiming that decision is a regressive one that goes against the spirit of a pluralistic society where citizens from different faiths have all equal rights, these advocacy groups feel betrayed by a government that lacks respect and inclusion for those who do not belong to mainstream religions.
Are we really backtracking with this decision? Can the decision be seen in the lights of a more assertive government, with certain of its representatives, especially Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa, advocating for the resurrection of the Hindu state?
How should we take a government with a stronger stance toward certain undeniable, though, limited forms of proselytism being undertaken by certain Christian churches?
What about certain inflexible ways and practices established by certain new churches towards deeply entrenched local practices shared by most of the society?
What about certain international nongovernmental organizations with strong Christian values who entered the country following the earthquake? Are they here to support the reconstruction efforts alone or are here to take advantage of the reconstruction to spread a radical version of the gospel?
The real problem is not the fact that some segments of the population embrace a new faith. After all an intimate domain like faith should not become a concern of the state: citizens are free to pray any kind of religious belief as long as it does not clash with the “value” system shared by mainstream society and does not go against the rules of the nation.
The problems arise when such conversions, and let’s here take for granted that all happen freely and without any forms of coercion, bring to radical forms of believes that outright reject any form of syncretism with the main religions.
This is what in reality is happening with certain churches who are preaching a form of Christianity that see the world only through “white or black” lens, not accepting any form of amalgamation or respectful or better humble co-existence with the local believes.
For example the practice of not allowing newly converted Christian to celebrate Dashain or receiving the tika in certain important Hindu occasions is not only out of touch with the reality but also insensitive.
The incredible blue print of how Hinduism and Buddhism can live together and respect each other seems to be totally disregarded.
While it is true that between these two there is deep and historical bound, being Buddhism an offspring of Hinduism, I believe that key Christian values like love, compassion, a sense of fairness and justice are of such universal scope and dimension that should not be a problem for recently established churches not only to co-exist with but also to thrive in harmony with the mainstream religions here.
Yet given the proven instances of radical views, of total rejection of local costumes and practices, it is obvious that certain segments of the society are increasingly worried about the aggressive postures and attitudes of certain new Christians.
Moreover, not for profit organizations that joined the reconstructions efforts should not have any hidden agenda.
While there is no wrong in making clear and transparent the source of their daily inspiration at work, be it either the Bible or the Koran or the Torah, their work should be exclusively focused on development and prosperity of Nepali people.
Going back to the decision of the Government to abolish Christmas as a public holiday, the true is that day will continue to be a public holiday but only for Christians, something that makes absolute sense to me.
In a plural society with so many different traditions and celebrations, the only way forward is to select a core of public holidays for all like the days of Dashain that is a pillar of the national traditions.
For the myriads of other public holidays related to different religious festivals, the government should ensure a fixed but more limited amount of holidays, allowing the flexibility to pick and choose the public holiday a person wants to celebrate.
With Christmas just becoming a commercial holiday for the mainstream society where very few fully understand its true values, the decision taken by the government makes only sense and it is a first step in the right direction.
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