Celebrating Christmas can be a dangerous thing. Every year in America, 15 thousand people are hospitalized while putting up seasonal decorations. So you can imagine how dangerous it would be in a country that banned Christmas.
Places That Banned Christmas
North Korea
There is a handful of countries that banned Christmas – the most strict of which is probably North Korea, where only one religion is permitted by the state. That religion is Cheondoism, a pantheistic belief system that merges confusion thought and modern religion. It emerged in the 1800s to combat the spread of Christianity in Asia, and in the 1900s, North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung developed a strong respect for it. Somehow, that respect lives on, and there is even a Cheondo political party allowed to wield minor power in North Korea. Unfortunately, though, Christmas is not part of their tradition. So any North Korean caught practising it can be given the death penalty. On the bright side, who needs father Christmas when this jolly fat man is about.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan is another one. Unlike North Korea, it’s a perfectly normal nation with a perfectly normal dictator. Technically the holiday is not banned in Tajikistan – rather, it is heavily restricted. But when you consider people aren’t allowed christmas trees, presents, or to dress up as Santa, it’s clearly banned in all but name. These restrictions have only been in place since 2015, so at least people there have some memories of Santa. They were introduced as part of an effort to distance Tajikistan from it’s Soviet past. The Soviet version of santa clause is Ded Moroz – so for obvious reasons, a holiday focusing mainly on him was a strong link to communism. By the way, why is evertything Russian more scary. Ded Moroz sounds like some kind of demonic spirit… but anyway.
All countries in Central Asia seem to have introduced some kind of policy to de-Russify itself. It’s just a shame Christmas was singled out in Tajikistan. There is also Somalia, Brunei, and until recently, Saudi Arabia.
Puritan New England
Believe it or not, some of the most anti Christmas societies in history have been puritanical Christians. In fact, it was banned in the state of Massachusetts for 22 years. From 1659, anyone caught celebrating Christmas would be heavily fined. Colonies in New England at the time were harshly puritanical – and they pointed out the bible does not mention Christmas at all. They considered it more pagan than Christian, too. In other words, they associated it with heretical hedonism – something puritans really really really do not approve of. And nor did the Japanese.
Japan
For 2 and a half centuries, Christianity was banned in Japan. In fact, almost no foreigner was allowed to set foot on Japanese soil- and any Japanese caught contacting the outside world could get the death penalty. This was Japan’s Edo period, and her rulers greatly feared the spread of Christianity. Spanish and Portuguese missionaries had previously flooded into the country, converting people on mass, and in 1837 a massive catholic rebellion kicked off. Around 40 thousand rebels rose up, causing the government to raise an army 200 thousand strong.
In the end, the catholics were defeated, and 37 thousand of the rebels killed. For a brief moment, the rebellion was a genuine threat to the Shogunate, and that’s how they would always view foreign religions. So if you were caught celebrating Christmas during this period, very not good pretty bad things would happen to you.