The False God of Christmas.

http://www.theignorantfishermen.com/2008/12/false-god-of-christmas.html ^ | unknown | George Zeller I.F.

[In veno, veritas]

Coal's no longer allowed. To appease the enviro movement, Santa's now leaving behind bottles of Everclear (ethanol) to the naughty.

[the long march]

Those lines of reasoning are the ones I was referring to.

[stinkerpot65]

I like Christmas and Santa Claus. However, if you are going to be technical:

1. December 25th was originally a pagan holiday. No one knows when Jesus was born.

2. Nowhere in the New Testament are we asked to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The only “celebration” Jesus asked for is communion or the Lord’s Supper, a celebration of his death.

3. Therefore, celebrating Christmas on December 25th is an optional, man-made construct with no biblical basis. To elevate it beyond that is dangerous territory.

[veracious]

Unfortunately, after years of Dec.25 Christ and some Santa around the edges, I’ve learned that this date is the birthday of Tammuz. Jeshua was born during the Fall Feasts, my research indicates September ‘03 BC, perhaps Yom Kippor. The Word teaches against mixing the cup, partaking of feasts demonic as His holydays. This has changed my family life.

[the long march]

Amen and amen

[bethelgrad]

I try not get myself lured into this stuff-—but what’s wrong with some made up fun with your kids? My boys know Jesus is real and Santa is just for fun. Doesn’t seem to have ruined their faith-—or mine since I too believed in Santa.

[MrEdd]

Santa is just like Tiger Woods.

He knows who all the bad girls are, and he sees them when they’re sleeping.

[x_plus_one]

Twas the night before Christmas

and all through the house

not a creature was stirring

not even a mouse

Clement Moore knew that Santa

was all in his head

but he wanted his children

to all go to bed.

[blam]

"I thought that the original Santa Claus was Sa’ami."

Yup, he is.

muawiyah will be along shortly to tell you about the mushrooms and flying reindeer of our ancestors.

Indigenous Christmas Origins

Pagan and Sami Roots of Today’s Santa Claus Myths

[amzgirl]

I read this originally a year or two ago and we decided to tell our little girl the truth. It has not diminished Christmas at all in our family. Thanks for reposting.

[hennie pennie]

Here's another one:

The Influence of Fly Agaric on the Iconography of Father Christmas

Most people are familiar with the traditional image of Father Christmas (aka Santa Claus). The 1823 poem of Major Henry Livingston Jr, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'1 crystallised this image, and countless Christmas cards reinforced it. Father Christmas appears as a rather plump, white-bearded old man, dressed in red clothing with white buttons and trimmings. Such imagery also frequently depicts him:

Flying through the air.
Flying through the air in or on a sleigh, pulled by reindeer.
Delivering children's presents down a chimney.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A6084218

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

you could also point out to your children,too, as I did, when they questioned me as they were growing up, that Santa is also a symbol of giving and giving in good cheer (not with a bad attitude,etc).

imho you are never too old,nor too educated to believe in the Spirit of Giving.

and for those who are bitter i guess it’s time for them to watch SCROOGE this year isn’t it?

GOD BLESS US ALL!

[muawiyah]

Santa (not his real name which is, properly translated, "Little Red Man") is a dwarf. His outfit is traditionally Sa'ami in style and color. He spends all year long at the North Pole (or close enough for government work) making tree ornaments, kitchen implements, and so forth ~ and baskets, don't forget the baskets. These are sold to the newcomers (Indo-European speakers) for hard cash.

When he's not busy with making crafts for gifts he's tending to his reindeer. He has several tame reindeer, and from time to time he is called upon to tend to the sick or sad, so he trudges across the snow, finds the buried tent, and drops down through the smoke-hole.

For a good time in his Arctic landscape that has neither grapes nor wheat, no wine and no beer, he may dabble in Amanita Muscaria, which is mildly hallucinogenic in this part of the world. His pet reindeer may join him and eat large quantities of this precious mushroom, get high as a kite, and find themselves rolling their eyes too and fro as they get the sensation that they are flying ~ as does Little Red Man himself.

Christianity has been trying to glom onto this Sa'ami archtypal image for most of a thousand years.

[muawiyah]

That I was ~ I don't miss these Santa threads, and as the years go along I become more and more convinced by the evidence that virtually all of the Santa legend arose out of the day to day life of the Sa'ami ~ particularly the Sa'ami brought to America as slave labor in the 1600s.

I do believe they rose above their origins in this sacred land, and the Santa Claus and Reindeer stories are memes granted to us as a gift so that we do not forget what went on before.

This year's Christmas note ~ My father flew a lot with a General John Christmas during WWII. The General was assigned a plane at Bolling so he could travel back and forth from Detroit to DC to both supervise the production of tanks, et al for use in the war, and to communicate the status of that production to the high command.

We recently filmed some of his interesting stories about those days. He's 90 now. He and Gene Autry were assigned space in the same NCO barracks for a while ~ Gene's wife was a member of the COTFB and encouraged her husband to "sing that song", and as you know from other posts, the COTFB is a piece of Sa'ami history.

Earlier this evening I spent some time talking with another Sa'ami about duck hunting during ice storms, hunting elk/reindeer in West Virginia, and where we put our gloves ~ which we don't need unless it gets really cold. He's one of the New Sweden colony descendants too.

[wintertime]

My sister’s 3 children were never lied to about this and they always had extraordinary Christmas times and are terrific young adults. T
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Although my husband and I were very plain that there was no Santa, my children still believed anyway. Once my 4 year old **insisted** that, “Yes, there is a Santa~” When I asked her how she knew this, she answered, “Allen, told me!” ( Allen, a neighbor boy, was also 4.)

The following year, my daughter then 5 found wrapped presents in my closet. I remember her so well as she stood in the hallway with arms akimbo, “Mom,...You were right! There is no Santa Claus. You have **never** lied to me!”

This became a family joke. When I wanted to make an impression about some moral or ethical lesson I was teaching them, I would say with a smile, “ Did I lie to you about Santa? Have I ever lied to you?”

[muawiyah]

My children know more about Santa than you’ll ever find in one place. Around here we understand him as a World Heritage icon, and a way to remember a part of the family history we didn’t know about.

[wintertime]

Around here we understand him as a World Heritage icon,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Good way to put it! :-)

[dfwgator]

[HarleyD]

We always told my son subtly that we're pretending to be Santa. No lies but we never emphasized the issue.

Christmas was always a joyous time when I was growing up. It's a warm glow one gets on Christmas to find presents under the tree from a mystery figure. I wish all children could be that fortunate, but I would not take that feeling away from any.

[KevinDavis]

My wife went to Catholic school many years ago.. She told me that someone dressed as Santa came over and they sang Christmas carols.. To me Santa is fun and I’m sure Jesus wouldn’t mind at all.. Some people needs to lighten up a bit..