The letters in the name Santa, rearranged, spell “Satan.” dun, dun, DUN!!!
Well, we did tell our kids there was no Santa Claus, on the “If you lie about that, you’ll lie about other stuff, too” theory. We told them about Saint Nicholas secretly giving dowries to poor girls instead, and how we give gifts in his memory, and because it’s fun.
That admission enabled us to say that we couldn’t afford some things they wanted, or that we didn’t think they should have things like that yet. They were pretty reasonable about what they wanted when they understood that elves weren’t making goodies in a workshop at the North Pole, and they didn’t seem upset that Santa wasn’t real. We did ask them not to spill the beans to other kids, though.
I’m with you TOJ. I’ve got no problem if other folks do Santa with their kids. I think this is a conscience thing, not a “God will hate you if you do this” thing. Our kids are told that adults like to pretend just like kids do, that St. Nick was a kind, giving man who helped those who couldn’t help themselves, and that we give gifts because we love them.
We love decorating for Christmas and listening to music (even Santa stuff). We both did Santa growing up, but I don’t ever remember actually believing in him. So far, both versions of Christmas (Santa vs. No Santa) seem to be quite fun for the whole family. That’s just me though.
I think TOJ’s position is quite reasonable. We don’t tell our kids that there is a Santa – we want them to believe us when we tell them about God. If we admit that we lied about a being who lives forever, and sees all that they do, they may be inclined to think we’re lying about God.
I **do** like the story of St Nicolas and secret giving.
Y’know, my parents raised me and my sisters without us ever really believing in Santa Claus, but it was never in a malicious sort of way. I don’t recall ever even arguing about the existence of Santa in school as a kid–he existed for other people and that was OK, and he didn’t for me and that was OK too. So it’s entirely possible to not participate in a tradition while not being absurdly over-the-top about it.
Why is this so difficult to understand? Why must every argument become the epic battleground for Christianity? Why can’t things just plain be a difference of opinion once in a while, as opposed to THE WORST SIN EVER?
By the way, in case anyone’s wondering what my family did instead, we still gave gifts, just it was about giving gifts because they loved and cared about us, and as soon as I got old enough to at least go to school, I remember wanting to get presents for my family too because I wanted them to know I loved them in return. So it still was a great holiday about giving and love and all that.
Also, I’ve never had a Christmas at home since I was five years old (we’ve gone on mission trip-type things or to visit relatives every Christmas since (actually, the last couple of years, it was mostly me who went by myself!)), so the actual Christmas day never mattered much. That probably helped the whole Santa-doesn’t-matter-much thing!
I remember going through a period of Santa=Satan and getting all sanctimonious with correcting people and all that but after a while people begin to avoid you and think you’re no fun, you’ll always find something wrong with everything. That’s part and parcel of what’s wrong with fundamentalism, there is always something wrong with it, nothing can be just for the fun of it.
After a while I tempered the Santa = Satan thing with thinking Santa was a good guy and we should be like him. He was a good example of Christ likeness in that he was a giver.
My husband is still somewhat stuck in the mode of thinking that Santa takes away from Jesus. It doesn’t need to be so. There’s no reason why they can’t co-exist as long as we remember the real reason for Christmas. But now I’ve come to love everything about Christmas, Santa included. I always have loved Rudolf the red nosed reindeer, and all of the Christmas traditions. 😀
Isn’t “Santa Biblia” spanish for “Holy Bible”?
Sí!
Come to think of it, when I was growing up in Costa Rica, the question us kids would ask each other on Christmas morning was: “¿Qué te trajo el Niño?” (“What did The Child bring you…”)
Which only adds a whole new set of issues to rant about… I’m going to have to ask my IFB church back home how they deal with THAT heresy…
♪♫ It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year….♪♫
🙄
😀
I feel special. 🙂
Anyway, the Elf on the Shelf is just creepy, because he has a creepy FACE. So, I love to go to Pinterest and see all the things people have done with him, in his creepiness. Pretty funny. There are, of course, those who take him very seriously, and think he is cool. Shudder.
My 9-year old is completely captivated by the Elf on the Shelf. If it helps his behavior, I’ll take it. The YouTube videos from the EOTS company are pretty clever.
I am for Whatever Works. 🙂
You pragmatist, you!
Or WAFFLER, even! 😀 While the Elf is certainly NOT to my taste, I have been a mommy of small ones, and I do know how satisfying it is to find something that WORKS. I very much doubt that Laura is mind-controlling her child with the Elf! 😉
I hate the Elf on the Shelf. I think it’s a fundy U flashback of “someone” always watching and reporting on everything you do. Not to mention his creepy little eyes and pointy little face. I wish him ill.
ROFL! 😆
That’s great!! The fundy view of God is alot like Santa. Always watching and waiting for the screwups so he can put you on the naughty list and give you your coal.
One friend says that the God most Americans believe in is pretty much indistinguishable from Santa Claus, except perhaps for the clothes he wears.
This is exactly why Santa is fundamentalist’ly wrong. I listened to pastors raving about evil Santa and how God’s powers had been attributed to Santa. Every where at once, know’s and see’s everything… um lives forever… I can’t remember the rest. But then he wears red, the devils color of course and his name is a pathetically disguised form of Satan.
I was flat-out told by someone in a Southern Baptist Sunday school class that Santa was the gateway drug for atheism, because of all the similarities between Santa and the SBC vision of God, and ‘won’t your kids think you’re lying about one if they find out you’ve lied about the other?’
I seem to recall remembering all the times I’d been terrified, awake with my head under my pillow hoping Santa wouldn’t realize I couldn’t sleep and wouldn’t therefore skip the house… and realizing, ‘Whoa, waitaminute, THAT’S how the adults in the church I grew up in think I should be treating God?’ 😯
I don’t think I realized that the Elf on the Shelf was supposed to be watching kids and reporting on them. I thought he was supposed to take kids on adventures while they slept, hence all the fun, quirky places you find him in.
I think my older two are too old for the elf now, but I think in a few years it will be fun for them to help do this with their baby sister.
As for Santa we never made a huge deal either way. We’ve had to celebrate Christmas on days other than Christmas because my husband was leaving for Iraq, so it’s never been a big deal to them. My daughter enjoys visiting Santa at the mall (which creeps me out, we let our kids sit on a strange mans lap) she always ask for a real camel. Thankfully I know ahead of time she’s asking for that so I can have him tell her our HOA doesn’t allow camels 😕
She really wouldn’t like a camel if she got one: they smell bad, and they spit at you if they’re annoyed. No wonder the HOA won’t allow them.
To me this seems like an attack on parenting styles. I don’t think there is a single parent who wants to “manipulate” their child so that they wont believe in Jesus.
I was raised to believe in Santa and I don’t feel lied to or betrayed. I know that my parents did it because they wanted me to have fun, and I did. Once I was old enough to know better, I knew better. Big surprise.
I’d also be really surprised if Satan designed Santa and Elf on the Shelf. I feel like he has more evil intentions than making kids happy…
I also think it’s fine to raise your kids without Santa. I just think this argument is as silly as arguing about cloth or disposable diapers. As a parent you parent your own way and you do what you feel is best for your child, it’s inappropriate to try to force it on everyone else.
+1
Well said. Xo 😉
Agree – where the Bible speaks to an issue, we can take a position, but where it is silent, we should give grace to our brothers & sisters. My way isn’t always the right way, and even though I think it is, I don’t have any call to impose my will upon others.
But, my point, which I did not make very clear, is that I do NOT believe that the Elf on the Shelf is Satanic in any way!!! 😉
Well, that makes one of us, Lol. Personally, I think he’s a little plastic minion. A plastic gateway to hell. A beady-eyed demon who encourages tattling. 😈
Beth, you rock. 😆
Do you want your kids to be dry, dull and boring, ripe for every manipulative Mog that comes by? Then rail against every fantastical whim and squash every possible creative thought. And fear, don’t forget the fear, cause if they believe in Santa now they will never, ever, EVER believe in God. Ever.
Exactly. 🙄 Why, why, WHY do fundies have to major on the minors? This is so TRIVIAL, in the great scheme of your child’s spiritual development. My guess is, no Narnia for this bunch, either. Because you KNOW how subversive C.S. Lewis is….
And, Santa beats puppies with baby seals.
😀 😀
I don’t do santa with my kids. They get gifts so they don’t care anyway. I’ve been in kind of a weird place regarding Christmas the past five or six years. I reject the secular consumerism and I feel pretty alone during this time I feel like I don’t belong anywhere and with anyone here on earth on Christmas day. I guess anytime happy family times are supposed to be happening I feel this way.
Wait, that last sentence makes me really sad! I do get the part about feeling alone, when one rejects the consumerism; that is where I am, also, and the way I combat feeling so out of place is by reading traditional Christmas stuff, mainly, of course, Dickens. The themes there ARE about the “real meaning” of Christmas.
But feeling out of it any time families are supposed to be happy makes me sad! I am very sorry this season feels that way to you! I hope this year, it is somehow better.
Will be offline for several hours, but anyway, I wish you well!
I’m sorry to hear that, too. It may sound trite, but you have a community that cares for you at SFL. Hugs to you, and I’ll be thinking of you this season.
PS Kudos for rejecting the consumerism. It’s my least favorite part of Christmas.
I’ll be okay guys, thanks for the sentiments. God is good all the time! It just gets really old being alone for all the major holidays. I do have lots of things to go to. Just had a moment. 🙂 I watched the elf clip, I had never heard of him, I’m surprised fundies haven’t invented a similar product!
Ok, I have a problem with Santa. Here it is:
In the typical Santa narrative, all kids by default are on the “nice” list. By their own will, they can remain there, as long as they keep their external bad behavior within socially acceptable limits throughout the year. As a result, they have “earned” their gifts, in a manner of speaking. Just be careful you don’t slip up on Christmas eve, since all it takes is one wrong move to fall out of Santa’s good graces – not to mention that the all-seeing elf on the shelf is there to rat you out!!
I would rather tell a story about Santa where he shows up in a town, showers the best gifts on the most undeserving children, while the “good” kids in conspire to run Santa out of town.
Seems to me that all the fundies who hate Santa tell their kids stories about God that sound like the traditional Santa narrative, instead of the one that scandalizes the people who think of themselves as the “good people” in society.
Well, from a modern perspective, all kids really were on the nice list. Coal was not originally a symbol of a bad, dirty, useless child; it was just something boring and practical, like socks. The good kids got dolls and drums. But everybody got something.
Why not tell the real Santa stories? Of course there’s Santa’s origin story, about the rich young man who is so anxious to avoid showing off his wealth that he hides outside the poor family’s house and slamdunks money down their chimney, thus saving three young women from being sold into slavery. My favorite, however, is from later in St. Nicholas’s career. So these guys fall afoul of the law, the Church, and a political enemy, the same thing in those times, and end up in jail, facing a bad end. They pray aloud, “Oh, if only Bishop Nicholas were here! He’s as upright and moral as they come and he isn’t afraid to speak truth to power! He would get us out of this mess!” That night, the corrupt official who has it in for these men wakes up to see Bishop Nicholas leaning over his bed. “So,” the Bishop says with a gimlet eye, “what’s this I hear about your latest set of shenanigans?” The men are released the next day and the official sends a letter to Bishop Nicholas begging him to please PLEASE never do that again. See, Nicholas was still alive at that time–just hundreds of miles away.
We tell our kids about the real Saint Nicholas and talk about people who give gifts at Christmas being Santa’s helpers. It helps that somebody–I have never found out who–had two very pretty dresses, way out of our price range, delivered to our house from the catalog company, with gift tags that read “From Santa.”
Somehow I missed The Elf on the Shelf. He/she/it sounds like a creepy little tattletale threatening to louse up your kids’ Christmas if they aren’t perfect. Who thought this was a good idea?
I don’t know but if they’d existed when I was a kit my mother would’ve zapped it up and threatened us with it. So I’m glad it didn’t exist then! My mother was not fundy by the way, but she had a few quirks I later found in Fundyville. 😥
There’s also a creepy little song for it, too. Completely reminds me of fundy U. Song sounds cheery until you think about it, and someone’s always watching, reporting, and judging.
Now ain’t that cute. Reminds me of a lot of Patch the Pirate songs. All geared to manipulate kids to be good… or else! 👿
Elf on the Shelf . . . I’m officially disturbed.
Now here’s a thought: in some countries, the children are told that Baby Jesus is the one who leaves the presents.
Should this be discouraged because it’s too close to the Santa story, or is it enough that these parents keep the focus on Jesus?
Cree-py! Either the fundies are right that Santa = Satan or Elf on the Shelf is right that Santa = Big Brother.
All the same, one more glass of Victory Wine and off to bed.
This is the first time I’ve heard of Elf on the Shelf, too
Here is how fundies should celebrate christmas:
1.) Replace Tree with Rock: tree is a pagan symbol of fertility left over front eh Roman period. Jesus describes himself as a rock, not a tree. So get a rock and decorate it.
2.) Do NOT celebrate on Dec 25th. the 25th was the birthday of the unconquered sun, a pagan winter solutes festival. Try like July 4th instead…
3.) Burn all references to “X-mas”: ignore that the greek “Chi (X) is the first letter of Jesus name used in greek. and has been used for thousands of years. and that the New Testiment was written in Greek. change to J-mas instead on all cards.
hahaaa, nice 😀
Good one.
You also have to remove the -mas part too as it refers to the Catholic Mass. We will have none of that Popery around here.
(Oddly, popery and potpourri are homonyms.) (We will have none of those floral sachets around here either.)
We wish you a merry J-day
we wish you a merry J-day
we wish you a merry J-day
and a happy new year!
I want presents I want presents I want presents I don’t care who brings them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gimme gimme gimme gimme preeeeesents!
was I good? Well, it depends on how good your definition of good is. Presents!!!!!!!!!!!!!Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on another note, I have to go to my old IFB church now because another youth pastor is leaving and I want to take it all in, bawling teens and all. It’s becoming a tradition. this church, if you’re on staff, you’re days are winding down. Ya have to realize that when they’re on staff, you always come or leave right dead center in God’s will. (Us normal laity people leave? “Aw, they just got bitter and left.”) Tonight the stage is set for another one of God’s mysterious workings and will.
With our first child, we did Santa with her but we told her that Santa is a game that we like to play. But we slowly got sucked into Santa more and more, until when our second child came along, we kept Santa going as long as we possibly could because we had so much fun for it. Once we told him it was us, he was delighted that we had done this for him for so long. I don’t regret any of it, not for a minute.
I told my daughter that Santa is a fictional character like Spiderman. I forgot that he was based off a real person! 😳
Of course he is. Peter Parker is real.
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
One person believes he may celebrate Christmas with Santa, while the weak person does not. Let not the one who celebrates Christmas with Santa despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who finds Santa ok, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person esteems Santa as better than no Santa, while another esteems all Christmas traditions alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes Christmas with Santa, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who includes Santa, includes Santa in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
(Idea shamelessly stolen from a friend of a friend about a different topic.)
lol. My only problem with Santa is that he can became the focus of Christmas time. We do Santa, I told my kids that he is so happy that Jesus came that he gives children gifts at Christmas. My oldest knows the truth now, and it hasn’t upset her at all.
LOL even funnier is that she’s talking to her self. in an argumentative way.
It is a he, he is a newlywed, and childless. Amazing that he is such an expert on child rearing. 🙄
It’s OK; most people have theories about the “perfect” way they will raise their children – we all know what happens to such theories when the children actually arrive, eh!?
On St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) we read the story of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, and give gifts. On Christmas Day, we read the story of Jesus’ birth and go to church. But other people can do what they want.
When we first moved to WI, the grocery store had signs “Don’t forget, St. Nick arrives the night of Dec. 5th.” I had never heard of that. But now I think I get it; thanks.
I have no problem with Santa Claus. Santa is the magic of Christmas. My children know that it is Jesus birthday, and know that is what we celebrate.
“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
“Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
“Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
“VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
“115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.”
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
That article clipping left me….strangely warmed 😀
Speaking of articles….fun story! My senior year at my Christian school, a few friends and I put together a school paper. I freaking LOVED it, since I got this column called “The Inexplicable.” I got the wonderful opportunity to open the kiddies’ minds to things like Big Foot, the Michigan Dog-Man (being from MI), and a special Christmas article about Santa! Ahhh….maybe thats part of the reason they wouldn’t hire me when I came back home from college. (though….I was told so many differing lies about that that it could be anything. Ahem…rambling…another story, another time.)
I can’t imagine a fundy school allowing a student newspaper to be published!!! I would love to see a column called “Tell Us What You Really Thing About Our School”, and other such titles sure to get most of the student body expelled and the paper shut down immediately… 😈
To the original Facebook post…….he says he will never lie to his children to get them to behave. If he is a good fundy, he will just beat them until they behave.
Heh — to quote an earlier poster “I am for Whatever Works” — go for the beating!
😀
(that was sarcasm, BTW)
I am the earler poster. I am totally opposed to beating. 👿
I knew it was you – just showing the danger of the “whatever works” philosophy.
Wow. Just… wow.
Isn’t he lying by telling his children Santa doesn’t exist? I mean, just because you can’t see him…
fundies do teach kids its ok for them to blame their lack of attention and bad behavior in sunday school on the wiggle worm
I just hope fundies won’t ruin Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us.
I prefer to celebrate the Winter Solstice and tell everyone “Happy Holidays”. My holiday is more inclusive and I can drink spiked egg nog.
“he says he will never lie to his children” Now there is a newsflash! A fundy who doesn’t lie, deceive and manipulate….come on now,…really? 😕
It’s easy to say you’ll never lie to your children, if you don’t have children.
Come to think of it, never having children is probably the one way to keep that resolution.
My faith in SFL is coming back!
I thought for sure that those not practicing the Santa tradition would be roasted over an open fire, but saw none of that, at least not up to this point.
I was raised with the Santa myth and must say I was very disappointed that my parents “lied” to me about it when I finally found out the truth. (I was 19 😆 )
I was determined not to do the same with my children, and so told them the truth, and did not participate in the Santa tradition, and it doesn’t appeared to have had any negative effect on them.
I believe in live and let live, as someone above said, the fundies want to make Santa the biggest sin ever and I just don’t buy into that.
I am very opposed to all the consumerism, and I am trying to get off of that train, but it is super hard, my wife looooooooves it, and if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!
AHH! I didn’t see that you put it here too!!! (Your computer skills are light years ahead of mine.) Oh well, they can look at it twice!
That was funny, Sims, good job! 😆
Its a very Chucky Christmas.
The facebook writer in the OP has so much misplaced outrage! Certainly he’s allowed to NOT do Santa with his future children, but why get so ridiculously incensed at what other people do? If he were not so separated from the world, perhaps he would find a lot more to be outraged about: like child prostitution and abuse.
Yes, no kidding.
Because clearly those issues stem from a misplaced belief in Santa Claus.
My parents never did Santa with us, and that was long before they were deep into the church. I’m not entirely sure what their reasoning was. They always told us that Santa wasn’t a real person but the spirit of Christmas and of giving.
We don’t actively do Santa with our kids, but I don’t have deep philosophical reasons for not doing so. I suppose it’s somewhere along the lines of not wanting to lie to them, having grown up without him myself, and thinking Christmas is magical and wonderful enough without him. We don’t make an issue of it, though. My kids will ask me if he exists, and I ask them what they think. They are iffy, because my husband’s firehouse does a bfast with Santa every year, and they have a guy who really does look just like a Santa.
So … there are way bigger issues about which to worry. Santa is hardly on my radar. If my kids want to belief in him, fine. I’m not telling them he’s real, and if they happen to think he’s real, what of it? They also think Power Rangers are cool. They’ll grow up one day.
Precisely, P.P.
Frustrated made the same point, and I happen to know that Frustrated is A-OK. 😉
Meh. I believe in Santa. I am Santa.
My kid is 16. He believes in Santa…or rather, he believes that if he states there is no Santa, he won’t get any presents.
😉
Dear Santa,
I’d like some Legos, some more memory for my computer, a gift card to B&N, and a new wedding band for the one I’ve lost. Thanks.
P.S. My brother’s been naughty, please bring him a case of the chicken pox.
So he believes in Belief? Sounds like he’d make a perfect fundamentalist Christian then. 😉
When you stop believing is when Santa brings you underwear.
Like!
That made me laugh
Our girls never believed in Santa either. They are 8 and 6. All of their friends do. We were broke with no changing it for a while. I lost my job became sick and we were drowning in medical debt. I just didn’t want them to think they were good all year and Santa jipped them.
We told them we bought the presents. It avoided the whole I’ve been good why doesn’t Santa bring us the big stuff we ask for.
On the flip side we told them Santa was a fun story, a fairytale like their princess stories. I label presents to their dad “from Santa” they get a kick out of it. They leave milk and cookies knowing their daddy eats them. We read The Night Before Christmas. We still have fun with Santa we just do not believe in him. We do make sure they don’t go spoiling it for other kids too.
The Christ Child is where “Chris Kringle” comes from. In Some countries the Magi bring the gifts on Epiphany (Jan. 6 from the non-liturgical).
I’m goIng to be Santa on Thursday for our High School’s Winter choir concert.
I am Mrs. Santa annually for one school, and this year, for two schools. Which makes me very happy. 😀
I loved it when Father Christmas came back to Narnia:
“Didn’t I tell you,” answered Mr. Beaver, “that she’d made it always winter and never Christmas? Didn’t I tell you? Well, just come and see!”
And then they were all at the top and did see.
It was a sledge, and it was reindeer with bells on their harness. But they were far bigger than the Witch’s reindeer, and they were not white but brown. And on the sledge sat a person whom everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man in a bright red robe (bright as holly-berries) with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest. Everyone knew him because, though you see people of his sort only in Narnia, you see pictures of them and hear them talked about even in our world—the world on this side of the wardrobe door. But when you really see them in Narnia it is rather different. Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly. But now that the children actually stood looking at him they didn’t find it quite like that. He was so big, and so glad, and so real, that they all became quite still. They felt very glad, hut also solemn.
“I’ve come at last,” said he. “She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening.”
And Lucy felt running through her that deep shiver of gladness which you only get if you are being solemn and still.
“And now,” said Father Christmas, “for your presents. There is a new and better sewing machine for you, Mrs. Beaver. I will drop it in your house as I pass.”
“If you please, sir,” said Mrs. Beaver, making a curtsey. “It’s locked up.”
“Locks and bolts make no difference to me,” said Father Christmas. “And as for you, Mr. Beaver, when you get home you will find your dam finished and mended and all the leaks stopped and a new sluice gate fitted.”
Mr. Beaver was so pleased that he opened his mouth very wide and then found he couldn’t say anything at all.
“Peter, Adam’s Son,” said Father Christmas.
“Here, Sir,” said Peter.
“These are your presents,” was the answer, “and they are tools not toys. The time to use them is perhaps near at hand. Bear them well.” With these words lie handed to Peter a shield and a sword. The shield was the colour of silver and across it there ramped a red lion, as bright as a ripe strawberry at the moment when you pick it. The hilt of the sword was of gold and it had a sheath and a sword belt and everything it needed, and it was just the right size and weight for Peter to use. Peter was silent and solemn as he received these gifts for he felt they were a very serious kind of present.
“Susan, Eve’s Daughter,” said Father Christmas. “These are for you,” and he handed her a bow and a quiver full of arrows and a little ivory horn. “You must use the bow only in great need,” he said, “for I do not mean you to fight in the battle. It does not easily miss. And when you put this horn to your lips and blow it, then, wherever you are, I think help of some kind will come to you.”
Last of all he said, “Lucy, Eve’s Daughter,” and Lucy came forward. He gave her a little bottle of what looked like glass (but people said afterwards that it was made of diamond) and a small dagger. “In this bottle,” he said, “there is a cordial made of the juice of one of the fire-flowers that grow in the mountains of the sun. If you or any of your friends are hurt, a few drops of this will restore you. And the dagger is to defend yourself at great need. For you also are not to be in the battle.”
“Why, Sir,” said Lucy. “I think—I don’t know—but I think I could be brave enough.”
“That is not the point,” he said. “But battles are ugly when women fight. And now”—here he suddenly looked less grave—”here is something for the moment for you all!” and he brought out (I suppose from the big bag at his back, hut nobody quite saw him do it) a large tray containing five cups and saucers, a bowl of lump sugar, a jug of cream, and a great big teapot all sizzling and piping hot. Then he cried out “A Merry Christmas! Long live the true King!” and cracked his whip and he and the reindeer and the sledge and all were out of sight before anyone realised that they had started.
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Chapter X: The Spell Begins to Break.
Well I’m bound for HELLFIRE & DAMNATION, I just got back from being Santa Claus for our high school choral concert. I greeted little kids afterwards and didn’t tell them they need to ask Je-he-sus I’m their hearts.
I love the song “Who’s Birthday is Christmas” by the Statler Brothers. It kind of puts things into perspective without being funnymentalist mean. (We don’t want any dislexic children selling their souls to Santa.) On another note, some fundy preachers are probably just jealous of Santa– “He sees you when you’re sleeping” and he knows where all the naughty girls live. He runs around saying “Ho, Ho, Ho” (who is he calling “Ho?”)
Late to the game, as usual, but I thought I’d share my experience. It relates to the idea that “lying” to your kids about Santa will make them not trust you about God.
I don’t remember how exactly we came to know about and believe in Santa. Likely, my parents just behaved as though Santa was real, so we believed. They might tell us the stories, but they never outright said, “Santa is real!” Mom made a practice of deflecting any questions as to Santa’s existence – kids aren’t known for their long attention spans 😉 So we were never lied to on the topic, just misled.
But I knew my parents (Santa is only one interaction among many between parent and child), and when I decided I wanted to know for sure, I knew I could trust Mom to tell me the truth. My trust was absolute, and Mom was worthy of it. She tried to deflect, but I got the truth in the end.
My point (as I preach to the converted) is that 1) it is possible to do Santa with your kids without telling a lie, and 2) your honesty in the totality of your relationships (with your kids and when they observe you with others) will determine if they trust you about God, not just the deal with Santa.
Sorry, I always write too much… 😳
Comments are closed.
A silly blog dedicated to Independent Fundamental Baptists, their standards, their beliefs, and their craziness.
First?
The letters in the name Santa, rearranged, spell “Satan.” dun, dun, DUN!!!
Well, we did tell our kids there was no Santa Claus, on the “If you lie about that, you’ll lie about other stuff, too” theory. We told them about Saint Nicholas secretly giving dowries to poor girls instead, and how we give gifts in his memory, and because it’s fun.
That admission enabled us to say that we couldn’t afford some things they wanted, or that we didn’t think they should have things like that yet. They were pretty reasonable about what they wanted when they understood that elves weren’t making goodies in a workshop at the North Pole, and they didn’t seem upset that Santa wasn’t real. We did ask them not to spill the beans to other kids, though.
I’m with you TOJ. I’ve got no problem if other folks do Santa with their kids. I think this is a conscience thing, not a “God will hate you if you do this” thing. Our kids are told that adults like to pretend just like kids do, that St. Nick was a kind, giving man who helped those who couldn’t help themselves, and that we give gifts because we love them.
We love decorating for Christmas and listening to music (even Santa stuff). We both did Santa growing up, but I don’t ever remember actually believing in him. So far, both versions of Christmas (Santa vs. No Santa) seem to be quite fun for the whole family. That’s just me though.
I think TOJ’s position is quite reasonable. We don’t tell our kids that there is a Santa – we want them to believe us when we tell them about God. If we admit that we lied about a being who lives forever, and sees all that they do, they may be inclined to think we’re lying about God.
I **do** like the story of St Nicolas and secret giving.
Y’know, my parents raised me and my sisters without us ever really believing in Santa Claus, but it was never in a malicious sort of way. I don’t recall ever even arguing about the existence of Santa in school as a kid–he existed for other people and that was OK, and he didn’t for me and that was OK too. So it’s entirely possible to not participate in a tradition while not being absurdly over-the-top about it.
Why is this so difficult to understand? Why must every argument become the epic battleground for Christianity? Why can’t things just plain be a difference of opinion once in a while, as opposed to THE WORST SIN EVER?
By the way, in case anyone’s wondering what my family did instead, we still gave gifts, just it was about giving gifts because they loved and cared about us, and as soon as I got old enough to at least go to school, I remember wanting to get presents for my family too because I wanted them to know I loved them in return. So it still was a great holiday about giving and love and all that.
Also, I’ve never had a Christmas at home since I was five years old (we’ve gone on mission trip-type things or to visit relatives every Christmas since (actually, the last couple of years, it was mostly me who went by myself!)), so the actual Christmas day never mattered much. That probably helped the whole Santa-doesn’t-matter-much thing!
I remember going through a period of Santa=Satan and getting all sanctimonious with correcting people and all that but after a while people begin to avoid you and think you’re no fun, you’ll always find something wrong with everything. That’s part and parcel of what’s wrong with fundamentalism, there is always something wrong with it, nothing can be just for the fun of it.
After a while I tempered the Santa = Satan thing with thinking Santa was a good guy and we should be like him. He was a good example of Christ likeness in that he was a giver.
My husband is still somewhat stuck in the mode of thinking that Santa takes away from Jesus. It doesn’t need to be so. There’s no reason why they can’t co-exist as long as we remember the real reason for Christmas. But now I’ve come to love everything about Christmas, Santa included. I always have loved Rudolf the red nosed reindeer, and all of the Christmas traditions. 😀
Isn’t “Santa Biblia” spanish for “Holy Bible”?
Sí!
Come to think of it, when I was growing up in Costa Rica, the question us kids would ask each other on Christmas morning was: “¿Qué te trajo el Niño?” (“What did The Child bring you…”)
Which only adds a whole new set of issues to rant about… I’m going to have to ask my IFB church back home how they deal with THAT heresy…
♪♫ It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year….♪♫
🙄
😀
I feel special. 🙂
Anyway, the Elf on the Shelf is just creepy, because he has a creepy FACE. So, I love to go to Pinterest and see all the things people have done with him, in his creepiness. Pretty funny. There are, of course, those who take him very seriously, and think he is cool. Shudder.
My 9-year old is completely captivated by the Elf on the Shelf. If it helps his behavior, I’ll take it. The YouTube videos from the EOTS company are pretty clever.
I am for Whatever Works. 🙂
You pragmatist, you!
Or WAFFLER, even! 😀 While the Elf is certainly NOT to my taste, I have been a mommy of small ones, and I do know how satisfying it is to find something that WORKS. I very much doubt that Laura is mind-controlling her child with the Elf! 😉
I hate the Elf on the Shelf. I think it’s a fundy U flashback of “someone” always watching and reporting on everything you do. Not to mention his creepy little eyes and pointy little face. I wish him ill.
ROFL! 😆
That’s great!! The fundy view of God is alot like Santa. Always watching and waiting for the screwups so he can put you on the naughty list and give you your coal.
One friend says that the God most Americans believe in is pretty much indistinguishable from Santa Claus, except perhaps for the clothes he wears.
This is exactly why Santa is fundamentalist’ly wrong. I listened to pastors raving about evil Santa and how God’s powers had been attributed to Santa. Every where at once, know’s and see’s everything… um lives forever… I can’t remember the rest. But then he wears red, the devils color of course and his name is a pathetically disguised form of Satan.
I was flat-out told by someone in a Southern Baptist Sunday school class that Santa was the gateway drug for atheism, because of all the similarities between Santa and the SBC vision of God, and ‘won’t your kids think you’re lying about one if they find out you’ve lied about the other?’
I seem to recall remembering all the times I’d been terrified, awake with my head under my pillow hoping Santa wouldn’t realize I couldn’t sleep and wouldn’t therefore skip the house… and realizing, ‘Whoa, waitaminute, THAT’S how the adults in the church I grew up in think I should be treating God?’ 😯
I don’t think I realized that the Elf on the Shelf was supposed to be watching kids and reporting on them. I thought he was supposed to take kids on adventures while they slept, hence all the fun, quirky places you find him in.
I think my older two are too old for the elf now, but I think in a few years it will be fun for them to help do this with their baby sister.
As for Santa we never made a huge deal either way. We’ve had to celebrate Christmas on days other than Christmas because my husband was leaving for Iraq, so it’s never been a big deal to them. My daughter enjoys visiting Santa at the mall (which creeps me out, we let our kids sit on a strange mans lap) she always ask for a real camel. Thankfully I know ahead of time she’s asking for that so I can have him tell her our HOA doesn’t allow camels 😕
She really wouldn’t like a camel if she got one: they smell bad, and they spit at you if they’re annoyed. No wonder the HOA won’t allow them.
To me this seems like an attack on parenting styles. I don’t think there is a single parent who wants to “manipulate” their child so that they wont believe in Jesus.
I was raised to believe in Santa and I don’t feel lied to or betrayed. I know that my parents did it because they wanted me to have fun, and I did. Once I was old enough to know better, I knew better. Big surprise.
I’d also be really surprised if Satan designed Santa and Elf on the Shelf. I feel like he has more evil intentions than making kids happy…
I also think it’s fine to raise your kids without Santa. I just think this argument is as silly as arguing about cloth or disposable diapers. As a parent you parent your own way and you do what you feel is best for your child, it’s inappropriate to try to force it on everyone else.
+1
Well said. Xo 😉
Agree – where the Bible speaks to an issue, we can take a position, but where it is silent, we should give grace to our brothers & sisters. My way isn’t always the right way, and even though I think it is, I don’t have any call to impose my will upon others.
But, my point, which I did not make very clear, is that I do NOT believe that the Elf on the Shelf is Satanic in any way!!! 😉
Well, that makes one of us, Lol. Personally, I think he’s a little plastic minion. A plastic gateway to hell. A beady-eyed demon who encourages tattling. 😈
Beth, you rock. 😆
Do you want your kids to be dry, dull and boring, ripe for every manipulative Mog that comes by? Then rail against every fantastical whim and squash every possible creative thought. And fear, don’t forget the fear, cause if they believe in Santa now they will never, ever, EVER believe in God. Ever.
Exactly. 🙄 Why, why, WHY do fundies have to major on the minors? This is so TRIVIAL, in the great scheme of your child’s spiritual development. My guess is, no Narnia for this bunch, either. Because you KNOW how subversive C.S. Lewis is….
And, Santa beats puppies with baby seals.
😀 😀
I don’t do santa with my kids. They get gifts so they don’t care anyway. I’ve been in kind of a weird place regarding Christmas the past five or six years. I reject the secular consumerism and I feel pretty alone during this time I feel like I don’t belong anywhere and with anyone here on earth on Christmas day. I guess anytime happy family times are supposed to be happening I feel this way.
Wait, that last sentence makes me really sad! I do get the part about feeling alone, when one rejects the consumerism; that is where I am, also, and the way I combat feeling so out of place is by reading traditional Christmas stuff, mainly, of course, Dickens. The themes there ARE about the “real meaning” of Christmas.
But feeling out of it any time families are supposed to be happy makes me sad! I am very sorry this season feels that way to you! I hope this year, it is somehow better.
Will be offline for several hours, but anyway, I wish you well!
I’m sorry to hear that, too. It may sound trite, but you have a community that cares for you at SFL. Hugs to you, and I’ll be thinking of you this season.
PS Kudos for rejecting the consumerism. It’s my least favorite part of Christmas.
I’ll be okay guys, thanks for the sentiments. God is good all the time! It just gets really old being alone for all the major holidays. I do have lots of things to go to. Just had a moment. 🙂 I watched the elf clip, I had never heard of him, I’m surprised fundies haven’t invented a similar product!
Ok, I have a problem with Santa. Here it is:
In the typical Santa narrative, all kids by default are on the “nice” list. By their own will, they can remain there, as long as they keep their external bad behavior within socially acceptable limits throughout the year. As a result, they have “earned” their gifts, in a manner of speaking. Just be careful you don’t slip up on Christmas eve, since all it takes is one wrong move to fall out of Santa’s good graces – not to mention that the all-seeing elf on the shelf is there to rat you out!!
I would rather tell a story about Santa where he shows up in a town, showers the best gifts on the most undeserving children, while the “good” kids in conspire to run Santa out of town.
Seems to me that all the fundies who hate Santa tell their kids stories about God that sound like the traditional Santa narrative, instead of the one that scandalizes the people who think of themselves as the “good people” in society.
Well, from a modern perspective, all kids really were on the nice list. Coal was not originally a symbol of a bad, dirty, useless child; it was just something boring and practical, like socks. The good kids got dolls and drums. But everybody got something.
Why not tell the real Santa stories? Of course there’s Santa’s origin story, about the rich young man who is so anxious to avoid showing off his wealth that he hides outside the poor family’s house and slamdunks money down their chimney, thus saving three young women from being sold into slavery. My favorite, however, is from later in St. Nicholas’s career. So these guys fall afoul of the law, the Church, and a political enemy, the same thing in those times, and end up in jail, facing a bad end. They pray aloud, “Oh, if only Bishop Nicholas were here! He’s as upright and moral as they come and he isn’t afraid to speak truth to power! He would get us out of this mess!” That night, the corrupt official who has it in for these men wakes up to see Bishop Nicholas leaning over his bed. “So,” the Bishop says with a gimlet eye, “what’s this I hear about your latest set of shenanigans?” The men are released the next day and the official sends a letter to Bishop Nicholas begging him to please PLEASE never do that again. See, Nicholas was still alive at that time–just hundreds of miles away.
We tell our kids about the real Saint Nicholas and talk about people who give gifts at Christmas being Santa’s helpers. It helps that somebody–I have never found out who–had two very pretty dresses, way out of our price range, delivered to our house from the catalog company, with gift tags that read “From Santa.”
Somehow I missed The Elf on the Shelf. He/she/it sounds like a creepy little tattletale threatening to louse up your kids’ Christmas if they aren’t perfect. Who thought this was a good idea?
I don’t know but if they’d existed when I was a kit my mother would’ve zapped it up and threatened us with it. So I’m glad it didn’t exist then! My mother was not fundy by the way, but she had a few quirks I later found in Fundyville. 😥
There’s also a creepy little song for it, too. Completely reminds me of fundy U. Song sounds cheery until you think about it, and someone’s always watching, reporting, and judging.
Here’s the link for the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ78McxRI6w
Now ain’t that cute. Reminds me of a lot of Patch the Pirate songs. All geared to manipulate kids to be good… or else! 👿
Elf on the Shelf . . . I’m officially disturbed.
Now here’s a thought: in some countries, the children are told that Baby Jesus is the one who leaves the presents.
Should this be discouraged because it’s too close to the Santa story, or is it enough that these parents keep the focus on Jesus?
Cree-py! Either the fundies are right that Santa = Satan or Elf on the Shelf is right that Santa = Big Brother.
All the same, one more glass of Victory Wine and off to bed.
This is the first time I’ve heard of Elf on the Shelf, too
Here is how fundies should celebrate christmas:
1.) Replace Tree with Rock: tree is a pagan symbol of fertility left over front eh Roman period. Jesus describes himself as a rock, not a tree. So get a rock and decorate it.
2.) Do NOT celebrate on Dec 25th. the 25th was the birthday of the unconquered sun, a pagan winter solutes festival. Try like July 4th instead…
3.) Burn all references to “X-mas”: ignore that the greek “Chi (X) is the first letter of Jesus name used in greek. and has been used for thousands of years. and that the New Testiment was written in Greek. change to J-mas instead on all cards.
hahaaa, nice 😀
Good one.
You also have to remove the -mas part too as it refers to the Catholic Mass. We will have none of that Popery around here.
(Oddly, popery and potpourri are homonyms.) (We will have none of those floral sachets around here either.)
We wish you a merry J-day
we wish you a merry J-day
we wish you a merry J-day
and a happy new year!
I want presents I want presents I want presents I don’t care who brings them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gimme gimme gimme gimme preeeeesents!
was I good? Well, it depends on how good your definition of good is. Presents!!!!!!!!!!!!!Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=30821266&ac=now
alikeitalot
on another note, I have to go to my old IFB church now because another youth pastor is leaving and I want to take it all in, bawling teens and all. It’s becoming a tradition. this church, if you’re on staff, you’re days are winding down. Ya have to realize that when they’re on staff, you always come or leave right dead center in God’s will. (Us normal laity people leave? “Aw, they just got bitter and left.”) Tonight the stage is set for another one of God’s mysterious workings and will.
With our first child, we did Santa with her but we told her that Santa is a game that we like to play. But we slowly got sucked into Santa more and more, until when our second child came along, we kept Santa going as long as we possibly could because we had so much fun for it. Once we told him it was us, he was delighted that we had done this for him for so long. I don’t regret any of it, not for a minute.
I told my daughter that Santa is a fictional character like Spiderman. I forgot that he was based off a real person! 😳
Of course he is. Peter Parker is real.
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
One person believes he may celebrate Christmas with Santa, while the weak person does not. Let not the one who celebrates Christmas with Santa despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who finds Santa ok, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person esteems Santa as better than no Santa, while another esteems all Christmas traditions alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes Christmas with Santa, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who includes Santa, includes Santa in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
(Idea shamelessly stolen from a friend of a friend about a different topic.)
lol. My only problem with Santa is that he can became the focus of Christmas time. We do Santa, I told my kids that he is so happy that Jesus came that he gives children gifts at Christmas. My oldest knows the truth now, and it hasn’t upset her at all.
LOL even funnier is that she’s talking to her self. in an argumentative way.
It is a he, he is a newlywed, and childless. Amazing that he is such an expert on child rearing. 🙄
It’s OK; most people have theories about the “perfect” way they will raise their children – we all know what happens to such theories when the children actually arrive, eh!?
On St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) we read the story of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, and give gifts. On Christmas Day, we read the story of Jesus’ birth and go to church. But other people can do what they want.
When we first moved to WI, the grocery store had signs “Don’t forget, St. Nick arrives the night of Dec. 5th.” I had never heard of that. But now I think I get it; thanks.
I have no problem with Santa Claus. Santa is the magic of Christmas. My children know that it is Jesus birthday, and know that is what we celebrate.
“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
“Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
“Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
“VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
“115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.”
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
That article clipping left me….strangely warmed 😀
Speaking of articles….fun story! My senior year at my Christian school, a few friends and I put together a school paper. I freaking LOVED it, since I got this column called “The Inexplicable.” I got the wonderful opportunity to open the kiddies’ minds to things like Big Foot, the Michigan Dog-Man (being from MI), and a special Christmas article about Santa! Ahhh….maybe thats part of the reason they wouldn’t hire me when I came back home from college. (though….I was told so many differing lies about that that it could be anything. Ahem…rambling…another story, another time.)
I can’t imagine a fundy school allowing a student newspaper to be published!!! I would love to see a column called “Tell Us What You Really Thing About Our School”, and other such titles sure to get most of the student body expelled and the paper shut down immediately… 😈
To the original Facebook post…….he says he will never lie to his children to get them to behave. If he is a good fundy, he will just beat them until they behave.
Heh — to quote an earlier poster “I am for Whatever Works” — go for the beating!
😀
(that was sarcasm, BTW)
I am the earler poster. I am totally opposed to beating. 👿
I knew it was you – just showing the danger of the “whatever works” philosophy.
Wow. Just… wow.
Isn’t he lying by telling his children Santa doesn’t exist? I mean, just because you can’t see him…
fundies do teach kids its ok for them to blame their lack of attention and bad behavior in sunday school on the wiggle worm
I just hope fundies won’t ruin Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us.
I prefer to celebrate the Winter Solstice and tell everyone “Happy Holidays”. My holiday is more inclusive and I can drink spiked egg nog.
“he says he will never lie to his children” Now there is a newsflash! A fundy who doesn’t lie, deceive and manipulate….come on now,…really? 😕
It’s easy to say you’ll never lie to your children, if you don’t have children.
Come to think of it, never having children is probably the one way to keep that resolution.
My faith in SFL is coming back!
I thought for sure that those not practicing the Santa tradition would be roasted over an open fire, but saw none of that, at least not up to this point.
I was raised with the Santa myth and must say I was very disappointed that my parents “lied” to me about it when I finally found out the truth. (I was 19 😆 )
I was determined not to do the same with my children, and so told them the truth, and did not participate in the Santa tradition, and it doesn’t appeared to have had any negative effect on them.
I believe in live and let live, as someone above said, the fundies want to make Santa the biggest sin ever and I just don’t buy into that.
I am very opposed to all the consumerism, and I am trying to get off of that train, but it is super hard, my wife looooooooves it, and if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!
http://imgur.com/a/R21Hm
Courtesy of the spectacular Sims!
AHH! I didn’t see that you put it here too!!! (Your computer skills are light years ahead of mine.) Oh well, they can look at it twice!
That was funny, Sims, good job! 😆
Its a very Chucky Christmas.
The facebook writer in the OP has so much misplaced outrage! Certainly he’s allowed to NOT do Santa with his future children, but why get so ridiculously incensed at what other people do? If he were not so separated from the world, perhaps he would find a lot more to be outraged about: like child prostitution and abuse.
Yes, no kidding.
Because clearly those issues stem from a misplaced belief in Santa Claus.
http://imgur.com/a/R21Hm
My parents never did Santa with us, and that was long before they were deep into the church. I’m not entirely sure what their reasoning was. They always told us that Santa wasn’t a real person but the spirit of Christmas and of giving.
We don’t actively do Santa with our kids, but I don’t have deep philosophical reasons for not doing so. I suppose it’s somewhere along the lines of not wanting to lie to them, having grown up without him myself, and thinking Christmas is magical and wonderful enough without him. We don’t make an issue of it, though. My kids will ask me if he exists, and I ask them what they think. They are iffy, because my husband’s firehouse does a bfast with Santa every year, and they have a guy who really does look just like a Santa.
So … there are way bigger issues about which to worry. Santa is hardly on my radar. If my kids want to belief in him, fine. I’m not telling them he’s real, and if they happen to think he’s real, what of it? They also think Power Rangers are cool. They’ll grow up one day.
Precisely, P.P.
Frustrated made the same point, and I happen to know that Frustrated is A-OK. 😉
Meh. I believe in Santa. I am Santa.
My kid is 16. He believes in Santa…or rather, he believes that if he states there is no Santa, he won’t get any presents.
😉
Dear Santa,
I’d like some Legos, some more memory for my computer, a gift card to B&N, and a new wedding band for the one I’ve lost. Thanks.
P.S. My brother’s been naughty, please bring him a case of the chicken pox.
So he believes in Belief? Sounds like he’d make a perfect fundamentalist Christian then. 😉
John Shore wrote a fantastic satire of this whole belief 🙂 http://johnshore.com/2011/11/28/get-thee-behind-me-santa-3/
When you stop believing is when Santa brings you underwear.
Like!
That made me laugh
Our girls never believed in Santa either. They are 8 and 6. All of their friends do. We were broke with no changing it for a while. I lost my job became sick and we were drowning in medical debt. I just didn’t want them to think they were good all year and Santa jipped them.
We told them we bought the presents. It avoided the whole I’ve been good why doesn’t Santa bring us the big stuff we ask for.
On the flip side we told them Santa was a fun story, a fairytale like their princess stories. I label presents to their dad “from Santa” they get a kick out of it. They leave milk and cookies knowing their daddy eats them. We read The Night Before Christmas. We still have fun with Santa we just do not believe in him. We do make sure they don’t go spoiling it for other kids too.
The Christ Child is where “Chris Kringle” comes from. In Some countries the Magi bring the gifts on Epiphany (Jan. 6 from the non-liturgical).
I’m goIng to be Santa on Thursday for our High School’s Winter choir concert.
I am Mrs. Santa annually for one school, and this year, for two schools. Which makes me very happy. 😀
I loved it when Father Christmas came back to Narnia:
“Didn’t I tell you,” answered Mr. Beaver, “that she’d made it always winter and never Christmas? Didn’t I tell you? Well, just come and see!”
And then they were all at the top and did see.
It was a sledge, and it was reindeer with bells on their harness. But they were far bigger than the Witch’s reindeer, and they were not white but brown. And on the sledge sat a person whom everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man in a bright red robe (bright as holly-berries) with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest. Everyone knew him because, though you see people of his sort only in Narnia, you see pictures of them and hear them talked about even in our world—the world on this side of the wardrobe door. But when you really see them in Narnia it is rather different. Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly. But now that the children actually stood looking at him they didn’t find it quite like that. He was so big, and so glad, and so real, that they all became quite still. They felt very glad, hut also solemn.
“I’ve come at last,” said he. “She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening.”
And Lucy felt running through her that deep shiver of gladness which you only get if you are being solemn and still.
“And now,” said Father Christmas, “for your presents. There is a new and better sewing machine for you, Mrs. Beaver. I will drop it in your house as I pass.”
“If you please, sir,” said Mrs. Beaver, making a curtsey. “It’s locked up.”
“Locks and bolts make no difference to me,” said Father Christmas. “And as for you, Mr. Beaver, when you get home you will find your dam finished and mended and all the leaks stopped and a new sluice gate fitted.”
Mr. Beaver was so pleased that he opened his mouth very wide and then found he couldn’t say anything at all.
“Peter, Adam’s Son,” said Father Christmas.
“Here, Sir,” said Peter.
“These are your presents,” was the answer, “and they are tools not toys. The time to use them is perhaps near at hand. Bear them well.” With these words lie handed to Peter a shield and a sword. The shield was the colour of silver and across it there ramped a red lion, as bright as a ripe strawberry at the moment when you pick it. The hilt of the sword was of gold and it had a sheath and a sword belt and everything it needed, and it was just the right size and weight for Peter to use. Peter was silent and solemn as he received these gifts for he felt they were a very serious kind of present.
“Susan, Eve’s Daughter,” said Father Christmas. “These are for you,” and he handed her a bow and a quiver full of arrows and a little ivory horn. “You must use the bow only in great need,” he said, “for I do not mean you to fight in the battle. It does not easily miss. And when you put this horn to your lips and blow it, then, wherever you are, I think help of some kind will come to you.”
Last of all he said, “Lucy, Eve’s Daughter,” and Lucy came forward. He gave her a little bottle of what looked like glass (but people said afterwards that it was made of diamond) and a small dagger. “In this bottle,” he said, “there is a cordial made of the juice of one of the fire-flowers that grow in the mountains of the sun. If you or any of your friends are hurt, a few drops of this will restore you. And the dagger is to defend yourself at great need. For you also are not to be in the battle.”
“Why, Sir,” said Lucy. “I think—I don’t know—but I think I could be brave enough.”
“That is not the point,” he said. “But battles are ugly when women fight. And now”—here he suddenly looked less grave—”here is something for the moment for you all!” and he brought out (I suppose from the big bag at his back, hut nobody quite saw him do it) a large tray containing five cups and saucers, a bowl of lump sugar, a jug of cream, and a great big teapot all sizzling and piping hot. Then he cried out “A Merry Christmas! Long live the true King!” and cracked his whip and he and the reindeer and the sledge and all were out of sight before anyone realised that they had started.
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Chapter X: The Spell Begins to Break.
Well I’m bound for HELLFIRE & DAMNATION, I just got back from being Santa Claus for our high school choral concert. I greeted little kids afterwards and didn’t tell them they need to ask Je-he-sus I’m their hearts.
I love the song “Who’s Birthday is Christmas” by the Statler Brothers. It kind of puts things into perspective without being funnymentalist mean. (We don’t want any dislexic children selling their souls to Santa.) On another note, some fundy preachers are probably just jealous of Santa– “He sees you when you’re sleeping” and he knows where all the naughty girls live. He runs around saying “Ho, Ho, Ho” (who is he calling “Ho?”)
Late to the game, as usual, but I thought I’d share my experience. It relates to the idea that “lying” to your kids about Santa will make them not trust you about God.
I don’t remember how exactly we came to know about and believe in Santa. Likely, my parents just behaved as though Santa was real, so we believed. They might tell us the stories, but they never outright said, “Santa is real!” Mom made a practice of deflecting any questions as to Santa’s existence – kids aren’t known for their long attention spans 😉 So we were never lied to on the topic, just misled.
But I knew my parents (Santa is only one interaction among many between parent and child), and when I decided I wanted to know for sure, I knew I could trust Mom to tell me the truth. My trust was absolute, and Mom was worthy of it. She tried to deflect, but I got the truth in the end.
My point (as I preach to the converted) is that 1) it is possible to do Santa with your kids without telling a lie, and 2) your honesty in the totality of your relationships (with your kids and when they observe you with others) will determine if they trust you about God, not just the deal with Santa.
Sorry, I always write too much… 😳