My problem with Santa

  I posted a link to a great article earlier about Santa, and got a little push back from it, which is OK. It is OK to have differing views on things, and as long as the earth continues to spin in orbit, people are going to disagree. I still think the article had some great points, some of which I had never considered. (link is here)

  Since I am in the mood to blog, and this is on my mind, I decided to blog about my problem with Santa.

  I don't hate Santa. And I know Santa can be traced back to St. Nicolas and all that....but I am still not a Santa fan. I have a few songs about Santa on CD, and I really like the song "Hey Santa", but I own no Santa decorations or do I send any Christmas cards with Santa on or in them.

  I can remember my parents taking my sisters and I to visit Santa, but I can never remember them telling us he was real and brought our gifts. My grandma always wrote "from Santa" on our gifts from her, but we all knew they were from her and my grandpa.

  I like lists, so I will list things I don't like with this Santa thing.

1)I feel it is lying to your kids to tell them he is real and brings their presents. No, it really is. Don't sugarcoat it or say "but....". It is deceiving a child. There's no exception in the Bible for it. Moses 3:1 "Thou shalt not lie, except in things related to Santa. That lie is OK." Really, why argue that point? Is it any different than lying to them about other things? I see no difference.

2) Hinged on that one is something that is brushed aside by parents who tell their kids Santa is real and brings their gifts: If you tell them Santa is real and Jesus is real, how do you know that isn't going to mess them up some day. Just saying it won't is not going to do away with the possibility of it. There are many people who grew up in the church and became atheists. There may not be a way to find out, but there is the very real possibility that there are people who don't believe in God because Mommy and Daddy told them Santa and God were real, then they found out Mommy and Daddy had been lying about Santa all of those years....... so what about God? I know, I know. I have pointed that out to people before and they just shoot it down, but all of the mocking and poo-pooing of the idea does not take away the fact that there is a danger of lying to kids about one thing being real, and expecting them to believe you about God.

3) This may seem silly and humorous, but there is no way I'd buy gifts for a kid, wrap them, watch them open them excitedly....... and let some mythical fat guy in a red suit bought those gifts. No way, Jose'. Uncle Mark bought those with his own money, and the kids are going to know they are from Uncle Mark.... not Santa. Honestly, why would anyone give gifts and let the receiver think they came from someone else? It seems.....dumb.

4) Christmas is too commercialized. We are too focused on everything but the real meaning of Christmas...... and to toss Santa into the mix and let Jesus compete with Santa seems insulting. And forget the statues of Santa kneeling at the manger...... I'd like to smash every one I see. Putting a mythical figure at the manger..... why not throw in the Easter bunny, tooth fairy, and a leprechaun instead of the shepherds and wise men?

5) God's attributes are applied to Santa. "He knows when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake,  he knows when you've been bad or good.......". Only God knows that...... and to give those attributes to a mythical figure borders on sacrilege.

6) Christmas is a religious observation of the birth of our Savior. Christians above all others should seek to keep the holiday Christ-centered, not Santa-centered. I fail to see how one can keep the holiday Christ-centered, while letting kids believe a lie and being a mythical figure into the celebration and observation. Does everything we do have something to do with Jesus? Not necessarily, but the Christmas tree, cookies, gift giving are not trying to take Jesus' place in the way Santa is.

7) Most good parents would question the wisdom in some man they don't know holding their kids on his lap, with the world we live in today.... yet so many perch their kid on strange men's laps every Christmas.......because he has a Santa suit on. A pedophile could be under that suit..... it would be a dream job for them. Who wants to take that chance?

  I'll never have kids. It is a sad fact, but it is a fact. But if I did, I'd want them to learn about Jesus from the start. I'd want them to avoid the struggles I've had to believe. I'd want Christmas to be so Christ-centered that they had no doubts about what Christmas was all about. And that would mean barring the door to Santa.

 Jesus gets too easily pushed aside among all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas.... why let Santa also get in the way?